196,883 research outputs found
Revisiting multi-stage models for upstream technology adoption: Evidence from rapid generation advance in rice breeding
No full textAdoption of new plant varieties has played a significant role in eradicating global hunger. Previous research has mainly focused on farmer adoption and impact of new crop varieties, although upstream adoption of technologies in plant breeding can generate substantial multiplier effects on downstream impacts. This study moves upstream in the innovation system to generate policy advice on adoption and transfer of accelerated rice breeding technologies. More specifically, we assess the determinants of global adoption of rapid generation advance (RGA) through a sample of 158 rice breeders operating in various research institutes worldwide. Moving upstream in the innovation system has important theoretical and empirical implications due to the smaller number of decision-making units in the adoption process and the increasing role of institutional and managerial factors that may overrule individual adoption motivations. We revisit multi-stage models and devise the most robust estimation method that can be used in this situation. To generate insights on the impact of individual versus institutional adopter characteristics on upstream technology adoption, we juxtapose the response curves of the determinants of RGA adoption in rice breeding among alternative adoption stages, levels of conditionality and model specifications. Our findings confirm the importance of institutional and managerial factors and suggest that adoption and transfer of breeding technologies require breeding institutes to provide an enabling environment in which breeders are encouraged to take risks and are given sufficient freedom to experiment with and implement new technologies.Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grant/Award Number: OPP1076488 and OPP1194925.
Financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA (Grants no. OPP1076488 and OPP1194925) and the CGIAR Research Program on Rice is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank Bert C.Y. Collard, Joshua N. Cobb and Jauhar Ali for their great research support. Our thanks are also due to the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts
Large-Scale Atmospheric Drivers of Snowfall over Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica
No full textMonthly RACMO2 snowfall rates (1979-2015, in mm w.e. per month), as described in Lenaerts et al., 2018 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annals-of-glaciology/article/climate-and-surface-mass-balance-of-coastal-west-antarctica-resolved-by-regional-climate-modelling/E3DD6D0DA914C6031F96A548AF53603A), and used in this paper
De arbeidskwaliteit van uitzendwerk: knelpunten en ongelijkheden
No full textSummary This report discusses the quality of work of temporary agency workers in Belgium, based on a large (N = 6.088) and matched survey of both agency and non-agency workers. As a follow-up to the previous, more general descriptive HIVA – KU Leuven report in 2014, this report specifically focused on bottlenecks and issues for those who (risk) staying longer in agency work.
As dimensions of quality of work, we discuss (1) terms of employment, (2) work content, (3) working conditions, and (4) labour relations. In the area of terms of employment we focus on (inequalities in) wages and the quantity and quality of training. Task autonomy and control over working time are discussed as aspects of work content. With regard to working conditions, the emphasis is on (the degree of information on) safety and health at work. Finally, with regard to labour relations, we look at the degree of employee participation, in addition to the relationship with manager(s), colleagues, and the trade union.
Based on the survey results and analysis, main conclusions w.r.t. bottlenecks and issues, are that agency work is strongly driven by extrinsic motivations, it has a lower quality of work than regular, permanent work, it reinforces (cumulative) processes of labour market inequality, and local trade union presence can mitigate negative effects of agency work to some degree.
The following report summaries are also available:
Dutch report summary, 9p: "De arbeidskwaliteit van uitzendwerk: knelpunten en ongelijkheden".
French report summary, 9p: "La qualité du travail intérimaire: obstacles et inégalités".
English and Dutch executive summary, 2p.
Contact the authors for more info:
Maarten Hermans: [email protected], +32 16 37 20 92, @hermansm.
Karolien Lenaerts: [email protected], +32 16 32 53 61, @ka_lenaerts.
This research was funded through, and carried out in collaboration with, ACV-CSC.Please cite this report as: Hermans, M. & Lenaerts, K. (2020). De arbeidskwaliteit van uitzendarbeid: knelpunten en ongelijkheden. HIVA – KU Leuven. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3634102
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
Get PDFFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
Intern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
Get PDFIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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