23 research outputs found
"Take me out to the ballgame" : baseball as determinant in selected American fiction
No full textVita.Serious baseball fiction has been narrated from several different perspectives. Among the best American baseball novels are Ring Lardner's "You Know Me Al," a first person epistolary novel; Mark Harris' "The Southpaw," "Band the Drum Slowly," and "A Ticket for a Seamstitch," a trilogy of first person central novels; Philip Roth's "The Great American Novel," using the first person peripheral viewpoint; Bernard Malamud's "The Natural," a third person omniscient narrative that focuses mainly on a central character; and Robert Coover's "The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.," a metafictional novel using a central reflector before moving into an unmediated presentation of the fictional world within the fiction. Tin these novels baseball serves as a determinant of microcosm, character, structure, action, and ethics. Baseball's ordered society provides a workable microcosm for America, for it is filled with both stereotyped and particularized representatives of many segments of American society. Lardner places his fictional characters in the midst of actual major league players. Harris and Malamud present fictional teams within the context of major leagues peopled by fictional characters. Roth creates a fictional league parallel to the majors. Coover's microcosm is complete in an association created by J. Henry Waugh, his central character. The combination of meticulous statistics and myriad legends gives an author both individuals and stereotypes upon which to base his characters. Characters may be based on the stereotypes of the rookie or star or on the peculiarities of a Babe Ruth or a Joe Jackson. Characters may also be developed by their baseball actions or their attitudes toward the game. The novels use the season cycle of baseball as the determinant providing the time frame of the action. In addition, the feeling of baseball time as determined by the individual game suggests the timeless past and the timeless future, for game time is not controlled by a clock, being endless - incomplete until the last out is made and a decision reached
Iowa History and Culture : A Bibliography of Materials Published Between 1952 and 1986, 1989
No full textThis bibliography was compiled by two reference librarians, Patricia Dawson and David Hudson with the goal of making it easier of tracking down material on Iowa history and culture. This supplements the Iowa History Reference Guide published in 1952 by William Petersen
Competition and Regulation Times. December 2000. Issue 3.
No full textTitle: Don't ignore NZ's e-Leadership Abstract: New Zealand is a world leader in preparedness for electronic commerce, according to recent research from NZISCR Author: Lewis Evans, David Boles de Boer, Bronwyn HowellTitle: Relevance rules. Translation talks. Abstract: What is the place for private and public research? Together! Author: Adrian OrrTitle: Yes, Virginia, Christmas really is a dead (weight) loss Abstract: Judy Bethwaite delves into her Christmas stocking to see whether Santa's offerings match her expectations, and asks the eternal question: "Who bears the cost when Santa gets it wrong?" Author: Judy BethwaiteTitle: In search of a healthier constitution somewhere between the electoral college and MMP Abstract: The recent US presidential election failed to establish a winner within the 18-hour time slot that modern media allow for such matters. Many touted this "failure" of the Electoral College system as a potential constitutional crisis. Author: Charles CangialoseTitle: Has corporatisation made our public hospitals sick? Abstract: Bronwyn Howell asks why corporate model, successfully used to run private nonprofit hospitals in New Zealand, has failed to significantly improve the performance of our public hospitals. Author: Bronwyn HowellTitle: Unique New Zealand needs unique competition laws Abstract: New Zealand's small size may be a significant and inherent "barrier to entry" with implications for the way we regulate firms, writes Prof. Lewis Evans, Executive Director of ISCR. Author: Lewis Evans Title: The state of our State-Owned enterprises Abstract: It is difficult to make simple generalizations about the performance of State-Owned Enterprises, a recent ISCR study found. "THE SOE model created probably the best environment in the last century for state-owned businesses to operate efficiently" says co-author Prof. Lewis Evans, Executive Director of ISCR, "yet the most striking thing about our study is the wide range of performance by SOEs. The companies had different starting points, and they were affected differently by changes to markets and regulatory conditions during the period we studied," he says. Author: Neil Quigley, Lewis EvansTitle: The Rural-Urban digital divide in New Zealand: fact or fable? Abstract: Is there really a "digital divide" separating urban and rural New Zealand?If the furore surrounding the recent Telecommunications Inquiry is to be believed, rural New Zealanders' uptake of electronic commerce is severely retarded by poor telephone lines and the absence of high-capacity cabling in country areas. Author: Bronwyn Howel
Competition and Regulation Times. October 2000. Issue 2.
No full textTitle: Better the devil you own Abstract: Most of New Zealand's electricity distribution industry is owned by "energy trusts", yet the trusts' potential for resolving natural-monopoly problems seems to be largely unappreciated, according to recent research by Professors Lewis Evans and Neil Quigley. Author: Neil Quigley, Lewis EvansTitle: The costs of telecommunications regulation Abstract: There is ample evidence that consumers have benefited from the new entry, technological change and improved levels of service that have been associated with New Zealand's light-handed regulatory regime for telecommunications. Author: Neil QuigleyTitle: E-Tail therapy: Cool, but not quite the real thing Abstract: Bronwyn Howell uses a virtual crystal ball to look into the future of shopping. Author: Bronwyn HowellTitle: Telecom's "Kiwi Share" Do consumers still need it? Abstract: The Kiwi Share imposed on Telecom New Zealand Ltd. when it was privatised in 1990 was to some extent a political construct. The Government was planning to sell New Zealand's largest company, and the consumer protections in the Kiwi Share helped make that more palatable, writes Prof. Lewis Evans, Executive Director of ISCR. Author: Lewis EvansTitle: North America's value-laden mergers policy Abstract: Businesses in the United States and Canada are facing new uncertainties as they adjust to changes in how economic efficiency is taken into account when regulators consider merger proposals, Prof. Frank Mathewson writes from Canada. Author: Frank MathewsonTitle: A New Zealand prospective on the efficiencies defence Abstract: New Zealand's current competition laws, like Canada's, are relatively new. The Commerce Act (the "Act") and Canada's Competition Act were both passed in 1986. New Zealand's law recognises the "efficiencies defence" described by Prof. Mathewson in his article in this newsletter, but applies it in a special context, writes Mark Berry and Michael Pickford. Author: Mark Berry, Mike PickfordTitle: Should collusion be illegal when it improves economic effeciency? Abstract: Economic efficiency was increased by collusion relating to the removal of a free car wash offer in Auckland, argue Professors Lewis Evans and Neil Quigley. They suggest that punishing collusion that increases economic efficiency calls into question the deeming provisions of section 30 of the Commerce Act, and the validity of a process that considers harm when assessing the penalty, but not when deciding liability. Author: Neil Quigley, Lewis EvansTitle: domainnameportabilityissue.co.nz Abstract: Proposed changes to the governance of the Internet in New Zealand might give undue power to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and may fall foul of the Commerce Act, a study by ISCR has found. Author: Lewis Evans, David Boles de Boer, Bronwyn Howel
Free entry in infrastructure
No full textWith a policy of free entry, individuals, firms, or community groups who wish to supply power, water, and sanitation services can do so with minimal legal restrictions. Free entry is the opposite of"exclusivity"or"legal monopoly". Free entry is allowed in most industries, but governments usually allow only one provider of power, water, and sanitation in any given area. This is supposed to prevent wasteful duplication and ensure a supply of essential services to poor and marginal areas. But monopoly water and power utilities often operate at high cost, lack funds to invest, and provide low-quality, unreliable service. Worse, poor and marginal areas are often unserved. When the monopoly model doesn't work, it is time to look at alternatives. The authors provide examples of alternative solutions in developing countries: *In Karachi, Pakistan, the Orangi Pilot Project provides sanitation in an unplanned settlement. Roughly 800,000 working class people lived in an area where sanitary conditions were medievaland a long-hoped-for sewerage system never came. Starting in 1980, a charitable group developed a low-cost approach to piped sanitation, explained the technology to the community, and catalyzed community action. Householders and neighborhoods funded the construction of household pourflush latrines and sewerage lines. * In Paraguay, 300 to 400 private individuals and aguateros supply good quality piped water to areas unserved by the public water company. Unlike the public company, the aguateros allow payment of connection fees on installment, making it easier for low-income consumers to connect. * In Yemen, small-scale electricity providers innovatively meet the rural and village demand for electricity that the public utility does not meet. These entrants seldom duplicate investments, although some government intervention to ensure interconnection could improve efficiency. Limitations on entry may sometimes be justified for environmental reasons or to promote private sector investment, but those cases are rare. Legalizing alternative providers will allow them to expand and meet new needs. Limits on their entry may be needed sometimes, but limits should be the exception, not the rule, the authors argue. Generally, free entry should be allowed in power, water, and sanitation.Health Economics&Finance,Decentralization,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research
Retaliation as a response to procedural unfairness: a self-regulatory approach
No full textWhen does procedural unfairness result in retaliation, and why do recipients of unfair treatment sometimes pursue and other times inhibit retaliation? Five studies addressed these questions. The authors proposed and found that regulatory focus moderates retaliation against an unfairness-enacting authority: Promotion-focus participants were more likely to retaliate than prevention-focus participants. Promotion focus was associated with, and also heightened the accessibility of, the individual self. In turn, individual-self accessibility influenced retaliation. In fact, prevention-focus participants were as retaliatory as promotion-focus participants under conditions of high individual-self accessibility. Implications for the procedural fairness and regulatory focus literatures are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered
Competition and Regulation Times. June 2000. Issue 1.
No full textTitle: Internet cheaper in NZ: Our regulations better? Abstract: Strong competition is quickly reducing Internet charges in New Zealand, according to a new study from the Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation. Author: Lewis Evans, David Boles de Boer, Christina EnrightTitle: Was "Women's Lib" bigger than "Rogernomics" for labour markets? Abstract: Social and economic historian Tim Mulcare says that the direction of labour market reforms owes more to the social changes of the 1960s than the economic reforms of 1984, and should not have come as a surprise. Author: Tim Mulcare Title: Regulating when people are few and far between Abstract: Population density has emerged as a significant factor when New Zealand compares its prices with those in other countries. Author: Dan Alger, Joanne LeungTitle: Is a Crony Capitalist taking your Asian dividends? The case for regulatory or legal constraint. Abstract: In a guest lecture at ISCR, Professor Leslie Young explored the dividend payment practices of corporations in Europe and East Asia and found evidence for the theory that "crony capitalism" may have contributed to the Asian financial crisis. Author: Mara Faccio, Larry H.P. Lang, Leslie YoungTitle: Macroeconomic Stability: Good Luck, Good Policy or Good Management? Abstract: Good macroeconomic policy isn't the only influence keeping New Zealand's macroeconomy relatively stable. Responsive managers and new technology deserve some credit says Bob Buckle. Author: Robert A. BuckleTitle: Size matters, and so does the pace of change Abstract: Tis the season to be reviewing, judging by the New Government's industry reviews of telecommunications and electricity. But is it the season to be regulating? Author: Lewis EvansTitle: Good contracts are an alternative to Co-operative structures Abstract: How to share risk between growers and processors is a common problem in many of our land-based industries. In New Zealand these issues are sometimes dealt with by co-operatives and other forms of vertical integration- some of which are statutory monopolies. But some industries handle the issues a different way. Author: Neil Quigley, Lewis Evans, Haleigh BoydTitle: Being certain about what you are regulating - and why Abstract: In his editorial in this newsletter, ISCR's Executive Director, Prof. Lew Evans suggested that unique aspects of New Zealand, combined with the pace of change, might mean that effective New Zealand regulations will be different from those overseas. Even so, Prof. Evans says in this feature article, there are some overseas lessons that should not be ignored. Author: Lewis EvansTitle: The world is spinning faster Abstract: If you think things are changing faster and faster, you're right - and that has implications for how markets are regulated. Author: Rajishree Agarwal, Michael GortTitle: Breaking up is bad to do Abstract: With the proposed enforced break-up of Microsoft now before the US courts, it is timely to review the costs and benefits of previous attempts to regulate Microsoft. Author: George Bittlingmayer, Thomas Hazlet
Uma aplicação da transformada wavelet à verificação on-line da assinaturas manuscritas
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação.Neste trabalho foi implementado um método direto que utiliza a transformada wavelet como o principal recurso para a verificação on-line de assinaturas manuscritas. As assinaturas, obtidas na forma de curvas x(t) e y(t) com o auxílio de uma prancheta digitalizadora, passam por uma etapa de pré-processamento e em seguida são submetidas a uma transformada wavelet. A partir destas funções transformadas, são obtidos números que caracterizam de maneira única cada assinatura. Em seguida, com base nestes números, são estabelecidas medidas de dissimilaridade (distância) entre cada assinatura a ser testada e uma assinatura padrão, previamente escolhida de uma amostra de dez assinaturas fornecidas pelo usuário durante um processo de cadastramento. Assume-se que toda nova assinatura deverá produzir distâncias até a padrão que estejam dentro de uma faixa aceitável em torno de médias verificadas no cadastramento. A determinação destas distâncias é efetuada de maneira não-linear, com o auxílio de uma técnica típica de reconhecimento de sons conhecida como "Dynamic Time Warping" (DTW). Esta técnica permite uma compensação em virtude de variações naturais no ritmo de escrita de cada pessoa a cada nova assinatura. Para recuperar a informação relativa à velocidade, perdida pela uniformização imposta pelo pré-processamento, é utilizada ainda uma outra medida de distância, calculada a partir do desvio das funções de warping para as diagonais correspondentes. A fim de justificar a inclusão da transformada wavelet, foi implementado um segundo sistema de verificação, seguindo uma abordagem em que as funções x(t) e y(t) são diretamente confrontadas com a assinatura padrão. Neste caso, as características são as próprias coordenadas dos pixels que descrevem cada assinatura e as medidas de dissimilaridade passam a ser simplesmente as normas das distâncias entre as curvas, cuja correspondência entre pontos também é determinada com o auxílio do DTW. A partir dos testes desenvolvidos, foram obtidas taxas de erro aceitáveis para este tipo de biometria nos dois sistemas implementados. O bom desempenho do caso em que as wavelets não foram incluídas, no entanto, sugere que, em ambos os sistemas, o principal mecanismo de verificação é a comparação não-linear entre parâmetros efetuada pelo DTW
Causes and management of exotic riparian plant invasion in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona
No full textDepartment Head: N. LeRoy Poff.2009 Fall.Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-95).The ecological, economic and social impacts of invasive plant species on native plant communities have stimulated broad concern among researchers, land managers and the general public. Riparian areas are of particular concern because they are critical to regional biodiversity despite covering a small percentage of the landscape. Controlling harmful invasive plants is an important challenge for land managers and understanding how to effectively remove exotic species is essential to managing native ecosystems such as riparian areas. In the southwestern United States (U.S.), the most dominant riparian plant invaders are the woody species tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima Ledebour, T. chinensis Loureiro, and their hybrids) and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.). Tamarisk and Russian olive have invaded riparian habitats throughout Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeastern Arizona. The goals of my research were to: 1) describe the history and mechanisms of exotic plant invasion into Canyon de Chelly, 2) understand the niche space requirements of tamarisk, Russian olive and native cottonwood in terms of light and water and determine if tamarisk and cottonwood are facilitating the invasion of Russian olive, and 3) describe response of the riparian ecosystem to exotic plant removal and determine the effectiveness of two different removal strategies. My results from analyzing the history of invasion showed that although plantings and river regulation by dams probably played a role in tamarisk and Russian olive invasion into Canyon de Chelly, these species required hydroclimatic drivers and stream bed adjustments for wide-spread establishment. Controlled experiments and field surveys in my second research study demonstrated that Russian olive is exploiting empty niches along wide gradients of water and light availability in southwestern riparian ecosystems. However, Russian olive invasion does appear to be limited by seed dispersal. Finally, I found that both cut-stump and whole plant removals similarly reduced exotic species cover and increased native species cover after two years. Both removal methods also reduced aerial seed rain inputs of tamarisk seeds, cut-stump removals increased available nitrogen near dead Russian olive boles within two years of removal, and both treatments seem to have no effect on ground water levels. This research helps guide the management of riparian plant communities in Canyon de Chelly, across the southwestern U.S., and informs our understanding of exotic plant invasions
Agent-Based Modeling of Culture's Consequences for Trade
No full textIn this thesis, culture is interpreted as a property of a group of people who share the meaning they attach to symbols, have a common way of expressing their opinions and feelings, and share value systems to judge what is good or bad. The unwritten rules of a culture govern the interpretation of observations and emotions and how to react appropriately. The rules are embedded in an individuals’ mind, form childhood on, by interactions with group members. People often are not aware of differences between their own unwritten rules and those of people having a different cultural background. This may result in unwarranted distrust or unwarranted trust, with serious consequences for the future of relationships. Cultural differences are known to have their effects on trade. Signals that indicate benevolence and trustworthiness of a trade partner in one’s own culture may be interpreted differently by people having a different cultural background. Hofstede (2001) has identified five dimensions of cultural differences: ? Given ingroup relation with relatives and community members may have a different impact on professional relationships in different cultures. ? The impact of hierarchical relationships on the freedom of action of trade partners may be different across cultures. ? Some cultures are oriented toward cooperation and care-taking; others are oriented toward performance and competition. ? Xenophobia is a wide-spread phenomenon in some cultures, while people in other cultures may be more open to the unknown. ? In some cultures people are anxious to keep up their status and display their societal success, while in other cultures thrift and perseverance are seen as virtues. Cultural differences may have their effects in trade on the acceptability of potential partners, on progress and success of negotiations, and on the extent to which partners live up to the negotiated contracts. In a research project Meijer (2009) developed a gaming simulation to study the role of trust in supply networks of food products. The game is called the TRUST & TRACING game. In this game, the producers are informed about product quality. The other players either have to trust the suppliers on their quality statements, or they can have the products traced by an independent authority, but the latter will cost them a fee. In addition to the financial considerations, they must take into account that showing distrust may bring damage to their relationships. Experiments with human subjects in different cultures have shown that the considerations lead to different actions in different countries. It was also found that the inclination to grab an opportunity to defect was different across countries. The subject of this thesis is a computer simulation of the TRUST & TRACING GAME. The purposes of the computer simulation are: ? Validation of theories about, implemented in models of, the players’ behaviors ? testing of hypotheses about relations of rules of the game and parameters of individual players with aggregated game statistics, ? the design of useful game configurations to be played with human players. In the computer simulation the players’ rolls are realized by software agents. The questions which are answered in this thesis concern the modeling of culture’s consequences for the decisions taken by the agents. Such an agent is a computer program which simulates the behavior of human players. In a multi-agent simulation a group of software agents is acting and interacting simultaneously. Autonomy is an important property of software agents. The agents decide what to do; there is no central computer program that imposes decisions on them. Important functions of agents in the present simulation are to approach new potential trade partners, to negotiate about a transaction and to exchange proposals, and, when the negotiation has ended successfully, to exchange products, and to decide and request a trace to be performed. The agents’ decision mechanisms are implemented according to models and data available from scientific literature. To model the influence of culture on the decision making, an expert systems approach is taken, using the Synthetic Cultures according to Hofstede en Pedersen (1999). To develop an expert system, knowledge engineers represent knowledge about some domain of application as a set of rules that can be interpreted by a computer system. Since culture is considered as a set of rules, such an approach is a natural way to model it. The development of expert systems always is an interdisciplinary project. In this case the work of Geert Hofstede has been used and an expert on this work and on Synthetic Cultures has been involved in the formulation of the rules. Synthetic Cultures are imaginary cultures in which the effects of a single dimension of culture are emphasized, isolated from the effects of the other dimensions. The purpose is to make the differences related to that dimension teachable. In reality the differences may be less pronounced and may be mixed with differences related with the other dimensions. In this thesis an approach has been elaborated to compute the simultaneous effect of several dimensions. The approach is based on the principle of weak disjunction, which implies that, if several dimensions have a similar effect, only the strongest effects counts. For instance, if dimension A would have an effect of 75% and dimension B would have an effect of 25%, then their simultaneous effect would be 75%. Expert systems must at least have face validity. An expert in the domain of application mustaccept the decisions that the system produces and the reasoning that leads to these decisions, as being believable. For this purpose computations for specific cases can be made, of which the results are judged by the expert. Further, the results of sensitivity analysis can be judged by an expert. Sensitivity analysis of a model is performed by studying how model outputs vary in relation with systematic variation of input parameter. In addition to face validity, the model must be tested empirically. To that end outputs from gaming simulations with human participants can be compared with outputs from multi-agent simulations. For example, Meijer et al. (2006) found different outcomes from the TRUST & TRACING game between games played in the United States and in the Netherlands. Compared with the Dutch, American players are found to be more eager to buy top quality products, have a stronger inclination to opportunism, anticipate to a greater extent on their partners to defect, and have a stronger preference for quality certification. These differences where reproduced by the multi-agent simulation. The main question of this research is, whether an expert systems approach is feasible to develop a valid model of cultural differentiation in multi-agent simulations, to be applied in research with gaming simulations. The conclusions are: 1. Effects of dimensions of culture can be modeled as an expert system based on Synthetic Cultures. Modeling the simultaneous effects of several dimensions as an expert system proved not feasible: the complexity exceeded the intellectual powers of both expert and modeler. 2. The simultaneous effect of several dimensions can be modeled by weak disjunction of effects. The results have face validity and have empirically been verified for a limited number of cases. 3. Sensitivity analysis of this model is a complex undertaking if both cultural parameters and other parameters are simultaneously varied, because of the strong interactions between these types of parameters. When only the culture parameters are varied (with a fixed setting of the other parameters), or only the other parameters are varied (in a fixed cultural setting), straightforward sensitivity analysis is feasible. Furthermore, it was found that the sensitivity of aggregate model outputs may greatly differ from sensitivity of individual level outputs: parameters that do not affect the aggregate system performance, may affect results of individual agents. 4. This thesis proves that multi-agent simulation is a potent instrument to be used in research with gaming simulations, in particular for the purpose of validation of behavioral models. A problematic issue is, that similarity of the outputs of gaming simulations and multi-agent simulations is no sound proof that the agent correctly implements the human decision making mechanism. This issue is known as under-determination. A validation method is proposed, which builds on the model’s composed structure. Under-determination can be avoided by separate validation of the components in micro-games. The results of this research contribute to the methodology of cultural adaptation of intelligent software agents. This is relevant for the development of research instruments (like the TRUST & TRACING game), educational and training applications to make people aware of cultural differences, and affective human-computer interfaces in a globalizing world.MediamaticsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
