bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimal Taxation of Bequests in a Model with Initial Wealth*
Authors: Brunner Johann K. , Pech Susanne
Published: October 2015

We formulate an optimal‐taxation model where parents leave bequests to their descendants for altruistic reasons. In contrast to the standard model, individuals differ not only in earning abilities, but also in initial (inherited) wealth. In this model, a redistributive motive for an inheritance tax – which is equivalent to a uniform tax on all expenditures – arises, given that initial wealth increases with earning abilities. The introduction of the inheritance tax either increases intertemporal social welfare or has an ambiguous effect, depending on whether the external effect related to altruism is accounted for in the social objective.
Influence of Finite Amplitude Disturbances on the Nonstationary Modes of a Compressible Boundary Layer Flow
Authors: Turkyilmazoglu M.
Published: October 2015

A weakly nonlinear stability analysis is performed to search for the effects of compressibility on a mode of instability of the three‐dimensional boundary layer flow due to a rotating disk. The motivation is to extend the stationary work of [1] (hereafter referred to as S90) to incorporate into the nonstationary mode so that it will be investigated whether the finite amplitude destabilization of the boundary layer is owing to this mode or the mode of S90. Therefore, the basic compressible flow obtained in the large Reynolds number limit is perturbed by disturbances that are nonlinear and also time dependent. In this connection, the effects of nonlinearity are explored allowing the finite amplitude growth of a disturbance close to the neutral location and thus, a finite amplitude equation governing the evolution of the nonlinear lower branch modes is obtained. The coefficients of this evolution equation clearly demonstrate that the nonlinearity is destabilizing for all the modes, the effect of which is higher for the nonstationary waves as compared to the stationary waves. Some modes particularly having positive frequency, regardless of the adiabatic or wall heating/cooling conditions, are always found to be unstable, which are apparently more important than those stationary modes determined in S90. The solution of the asymptotic amplitude equation reveals that compressibility as the local Mach number increases, has the influence of stabilization by requiring smaller initial amplitude of the disturbance for the laminar rotating disk boundary layer flow to become unstable. Apart from the already unstable positive frequency waves, perturbations with positive frequency are always seen to compete to lead the solution to unstable state before the negative frequency waves do. Also, cooling the surface of the disk will be apparently ineffective to suppress the instability mechanisms operating in this boundary layer flow.
The Small Vorticity Nonlinear Critical Layer for Kelvin Modes on a Vortex
Authors: Caillol P. , Maslowe S. A.
Published: October 2015

We consider in this paper the propagation of neutral modes along a vortex with velocity profile being the radial coordinate. In the linear stability theory governing such flows, the boundary in parameter space separating stable and unstable regions is usually comprised of modes that are singular at some value of r denoted rc, the critical point. The singularity can be dealt with by adding viscous and/or nonlinear effects within a thin critical layer centered on the critical point. At high Reynolds numbers, the case of most interest in applications, nonlinearity is essential, but it develops that viscosity, treated here as a small perturbation, still plays a subtle role. After first presenting the scaling for the general case, we formulate a nonlinear critical layer theory valid when the critical point occurs far enough from the center of the vortex so that the vorticity there is small. Solutions are found having no phase change across the critical layer thus permitting the existence of modes not possible in a linear theory. It is found that both the axial and azimuthal mean vorticity are different on either side of the critical layer as a result of the wave–mean flow interaction. A long wave analysis with O(1) vorticity leads to similar conclusions.
An Infinite Asymptotic Expansion for the Extreme Zeros of the Pollaczek Polynomials
Authors: Zhou Jian‐Rong , Zhao Yu‐Qiu
Published: October 2015

In this paper, we first establish an integral expression for the Pollaczek polynomials Pn(x; a, b) from a generating function. By applying a canonical transformation to the integral and carrying out a detailed analysis of the integrand, we derive a uniform asymptotic expansion for Pn(cosθ; a, b) in terms of the Airy function and its derivative, in descending powers of n. The uniformity is in an interval next to the turning point , with M being a constant. The coefficients of the expansion are analytic functions of a parameter that depends only on t where , and not on the large parameter n. From the expansion of the polynomials we obtain an asymptotic expansion in powers of n−1/3 for the largest zeros. As a special case, a four‐term approximation is provided for comparison and illustration. The method used in this paper seems to be applicable to more general situations.
Teaching for Racial Justice: A Participative Approach
Authors: Reddie Anthony G.
Published: October 2015

This article outlines an ongoing method the author developed for seeking to enable predominantly White students in theological education (those training for authorized public ordained ministry) to engage with the central tenets of racial justice. The quest for racial justice has been an important part of the mission of the major church denominations in the United Kingdom over the past twenty years, as they have declared that “Racism is a sin.” Ordained ministers are now charged with the task of seeking to lead church congregations into faithful, anti‐racist forms of practice – namely, the quest for racial justice. This paper outlines the working method the author has developed in order to conscientize ministers in training for this significant task.
INTERPRETATION AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
Authors: Southgate Christopher , Robinson Andrew
Published: October 2015

We offer a general definition of interpretation based on a naturalized teleology. The definition tests and extends the biosemiotic paradigm by seeking to provide a philosophically robust resource for investigating the possible role of semiosis (processes of representation and interpretation) in biological systems. We show that our definition provides a way of understanding various possible kinds of misinterpretation, illustrate the definition using examples at the cellular and subcellular level, and test the definition by applying it to a potential counterexample. We explain how we propose to use the definition as a way of asking new questions about what distinguishes life from non‐life and of formulating testable hypotheses within the field of origin‐of‐life research. If the definition leads to fruitful new empirical approaches to the scientific problem of the origin of life, it will help to establish biosemiotics as a legitimate philosophical approach in theoretical biology and will thereby support a theological appropriation of the biosemiotic perspective as the basis of a new theology of nature.
BLAZING A NEW TRAIL FOR SCIENCE‐AND‐RELIGION
Authors: Haag James W.
Published: October 2015

Science‐and‐religion must be cognizant of the future on several fronts. A challenge that remains central to our endeavor is the issue of diversity—not topical diversity, but participant diversity. As a way of initially addressing this problematic, I suggest a threefold tactic. First, there needs to be a refocus of primary attention toward the realm of public/ethical issues. Second, with this shift comes the need to avoid extreme positions by finding a middle ground. Third, a highly promising path worth pursuing toward this end is paved by the once‐again burgeoning theory of emergence.
IMAG(IN)ING THE BUDDHIST BRAIN: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION
Authors: Colzato Lorenza S. , Silk Jonathan A.
Published: October 2015

Buddhism has captured the imagination of many in the modern (Western) world. Recently, scientists have seemed eager to discover whether claims about Buddhist meditation can be verified experimentally. Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence that mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow practitioners to achieve different levels of awareness, as measurable for instance in reaction times to stimuli. The goal of this section of articles in Zygon is to address recent developments in this area. The contributions address a wide array of questions, although they certainly do not cover the whole ground of what one may consider “problems” of meditation. Yet, we believe that the issues addressed here have widespread implications and that they constitute a strong argument for the richness of the meditation domain.
INVESTIGATION OF STOCHASTIC PAIRS TRADING STRATEGIES UNDER DIFFERENT VOLATILITY REGIMES
Authors: BARONYAN SAYAT R. , BODUROĞLU İ. İLKAY , ŞENER EMRAH
Published: October 2015

We investigate several market‐neutral trading strategies and find empirical evidence that market‐neutral equity trading outperforms in 2008, the first full year of the global financial meltdown. In our experiments we use 14 distinct market‐neutral trading strategies, using the combination of seven trading methods and two selection methods of pairs trading.
The Peace Path of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens: Making Place for Cultures of Peace
Authors: Berbrier Mitch
Published: October 2015

In this article, I argue that there has been inadequate attention to the role of place and materiality in sustaining peace cultures. In this regard, I introduce and examine the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, which have had a continuing presence in Rockefeller Park in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1926. Their website boasts that they are “arguably one of the world’s first peace gardens.”1 It is one of several similar claims made over many decades. I critically assess this claim, concluding that the Cleveland Cultural Gardens have never lived up to their potential as a site for peace activism, and that they are a gravely underutilized resource in this regard. More attention to the role of places dedicated to nurturing peace cultures would be good for both the peace movement and for the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.
Nonviolent Resistance and Culture
Authors: Sørensen Majken Jul , Vinthagen Stellan
Published: October 2015

This article investigates what culture means for nonviolent resistance. While literature on nonviolence has had a tendency to look instrumentally at culture, this article suggests an intertwined relationship. Activists are themselves embedded in their own cultures, and there is no “outside culture.” The authors suggest an innovative model of three strategies for analyzing the cultural aspects of a nonviolent struggle: (1) occasionally borrowing existing powerful symbols and cultural elements, such as flags or religious symbols, which is then applied; (2) partially remodeling“old” culture in the spirit of nonviolence. This strategy is illustrated through the Khudai Khidmatgar of the North‐West Frontier Province in the 1930s and shows how the nonviolent struggle there, was “negotiated” with Islam and a traditional code of honor; and finally, (3) systematically creating a nonviolent movement culture, which is a much more complex process, is illustrated through the movement for landless workers in Brazil, the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra.
When the Time Is Right: Regime Legitimacy as a Predictor of Nonviolent Protest Outcome
Authors: Johnstad Petter Grahl
Published: October 2015

According to nonviolent strategist Gene Sharp, legitimate authority is a fundamental source of political power.1 Following Sharp, this paper explores the role of regime legitimacy in affecting the outcome of protest movements, finding that protest success or failure can be predicted through an analysis of the ruling regime’s political legitimacy. The first part of the paper conceptualizes regime legitimacy and discusses some specific causal means through which the level of legitimacy may serve to influence protest success. The second part utilizes this concept of regime legitimacy on two contrasting cases—the 1980s Solidarity movement in Poland and the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China. On the basis of this analysis, part three thereupon operationalizes a scale of quantitative measurement for regime legitimacy and constructs a data set of twenty‐three cases of nonviolent protest with regime legitimacy scores, obtaining a clear division between high‐legitimacy cases where protest failed and low‐legitimacy cases where protest succeeded. Part four finally tests this model on a set of twelve new cases taken from the 2011 Arab Spring, obtaining a range of predictions that so far converge with how these cases have played out.
Peace Education across Cultures: Applications of the Peaceable Schools Framework in the West Bank
Authors: Brion‐Meisels Linda , Brion‐Meisels Steven
Published: October 2015

Since 1992, the authors have worked with a diverse group of U.S.‐based teachers and community workers who have developed and used a comprehensive framework to promote and sustain peaceable schools and communities. The framework draws on European, African heritage, Latino, and Native American traditions, but our applications have mostly been within U.S. contexts. In this article, we describe what we learned while using the framework with Palestinian colleagues during an 18‐month collaboration. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) with the goal of “cultivating an environment of tolerance, dialogue and civic engagement in Palestinian and Israeli schools,” Seeds of Peace contracted with Peace First to lead a series of workshops for Palestinian educators; Peace First worked with Lesley University faculty to provide teacher training support. The contract for this project did not include cross‐border issues or collaborations; the workshops focused on communication, critical thinking, respect for diversity and dispute resolution/classroom management. Although the project focused on practice, it also included a small research component—designed to test the usefulness of the Peaceable Schools and Communities framework in a new context. In this article, we review the framework and research that helped guide our work, summarize what we learned, and provide some follow‐up information. We suggest connections to broader peace education in the region, but we do not address broader regional issues. We close with recommendations about how U.S.‐based peace education models might be successfully applied and re‐shaped for work in new cultural contexts.
Education, Languages and Linguistic Minorities in the EU: Challenges and Perspectives
Authors: Guliyeva Gulara
Published: October 2015

Although, with the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, two provisions of EU primary law now refer to ‘minorities,’ there are no explicit EU competences and policies to promote the rights of minority groups in education. Nevertheless, EU law has a strong potential to impact the educational rights of linguistic minorities in Member States. To evaluate the right to access education, with an emphasis on the needs of minorities to preserve their identity, this paper first discusses the EU's relevant competences in education (Part II) and then in languages (Part III). Based on the analysis of relevant EU provisions, the paper concludes that EU law is unlikely to offer meaningful protection to linguistic minorities without explicitly endorsing their educational rights. However, to do so, the EU needs a stronger competence in education and minority rights.
Geographic Deregulation and Competition in the U.S. Banking Industry
Authors: Yildirim H. Semih , Mohanty Sunil K.
Published: October 2015

We examine the effects of geographic deregulation on state‐level competition in U.S. banking markets over the period 1976‐2005. The empirical results confirm that the U.S. banks in general operated under monopolistic competition during the period examined. After partitioning the sample based on bank size we find that the market competition for large banks in Delaware, Oregon, and Rhode Island can be characterized as monopolistic while small banks in Arizona and Massachusetts seem to have operated under the conditions of perfect competition. The removal of geographic restrictions appears to have very limited and non‐uniform effect on state‐level competitive conduct. There is some evidence that the U.S. banking industry might have actually experienced a less competitive behavior in recent years due to increased market power of larger banks.
Late presentation for HIV diagnosis and care in Germany
Authors: Zoufaly A , an der Heiden M , Marcus U , Hoffmann C , Stellbrink HJ , Voss L , van Lunzen J , Hamouda O ,   the ClinSurv Study Group
Published: October 2015

Objectives

Antiretroviral therapy reduces mortality and morbidity in HIV‐infected individuals most markedly when initiated early, before advanced immunodeficiency has developed. Late presentation for diagnosis and care remains a significant challenge. To guide public health interventions effectively it is crucial to describe the factors associated with late presentation.

Methods

Case surveillance data for all individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection in Germany in the years 2001–2010 and data for the years 1999–2010 from the German Clinical Surveillance of HIV Disease (ClinSurv) cohort study, a large multicentre observational study, were analysed. Factors associated with late presentation (CD4 count < 350 cells/μL or clinical AIDS) were assessed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression methods.

Results

Among 22 925 eligible patients in the national surveillance database, 49.5% were late presenters for HIV diagnosis. Among 6897 treatment‐naïve patients in the ClinSurv cohort, 58.1% were late presenters for care. Late presenters for care were older (median 42 vs. 39 years for early presenters), more often heterosexuals from low‐prevalence countries (18.1% vs. 15.5%, respectively) and more often migrants (18.2% vs. 9.7%, respectively; all P < 0.005). The probability of late presentation was >65% throughout the observation period in migrants. The probability of late presentation for care clearly decreased in men who have sex with men (MSM) from 60% in 1999 to 45% in 2010.

Conclusions

In Germany, the numbers of late presenters for HIV diagnosis and care remain high. The probability of late presentation for HIV diagnosis seems to be particularly high for migrants. These results argue in favour of targeted test promotion rather than opt‐out screening. Late presentation for care seems to be an additional problem after HIV diagnosis.
Should Central Banks Target Consumer or Producer Prices?
Authors: McKnight Stephen
Published: October 2015

Should central banks target consumer price inflation (CPI) in the setting of monetary policy, as has been orthodoxy in most of the developed world since the 1990s? Several prominent recent studies have argued against this, based on the finding that targeting CPI can make expectations of higher consumer prices self‐fulfilling. If the central bank responds to an extrinsic‐shock‐driven rise in CPI expectations by driving up the real interest rate, the argument goes, the resulting improvement in the terms of trade can increase consumer prices even if producer prices fall. These studies are, however, based on a flawed assumption that what motivates current transactions is the money consumers have after leaving the goods market. Using what is shown to be the more defensible assumption that such transactions are motivated by the money consumers have before entering the goods market, this paper demonstrates that targeting CPI helps to prevent self‐fulfilling expectations. This is because an improvement in the terms of trade now serves to exert downward pressure on CPI, irrespective of the response of producer prices. Consequently, the initial rise in CPI expectations is not self‐fulfilling under CPI targeting, whereas under producer price inflation (PPI) targeting, improvements in the terms of trade act as an undesirable negative cost shock. Central banks in open economies would therefore be ill‐advised to shift from CPI to PPI targeting, as the latter is more likely to result in welfare‐reducing, self‐fulfilling expectations.
Correlated Errors: Why a Monotone Relationship Between Forecast Precision and Trading Profitability May Not Hold
Authors: Lawrenz Jochen , Weissensteiner Alex
Published: October 2015

Abstract:  This paper argues that the relation between financial analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy and their recommendation profitability has to be augmented by the extent of commonality in their forecast errors. We show that while accuracy is positively related to expected performance, the correlation in forecasting errors has a negative impact. This implies that a monotonic relationship between ex ante identifiable forecast accuracy and ex post recommendation profitability does not need to hold. Thus, agents may be better off by making comparatively large but less correlated errors, than by making precise but highly correlated forecasts.
Options Trading and the Extent that Stock Prices Lead Future Earnings Information
Authors: Truong Cameron
Published: October 2015

Abstract:  We examine the relation between options trading and the extent that stock prices lead future earnings information in the period 1998–2009. In a firm specific approach, we find that stock prices reflect future earnings information to a greater extent in firms’ post‐options‐listing period than in their pre‐options‐listing period. In a cross‐sectional setting, we find that stock prices of firms with readily available options trading reflect future earnings information more and earlier than those of firms without available options. In a sub‐sample containing only firms with listed options, we find that stock prices of firms with a high level of options trading volume reflect future earnings information more and earlier than those of firms with a low level of options trading volume. Findings in this study support the proposition that options trading results in more current information that is relevant for predicting future earnings being impounded into stock prices. Consistent with this proposition, we also document an inverse relation between options trading and the amount of new information provided by earnings announcements.
Earnings Surprise Implicit in Stock Prices: Which Earnings Forecasting Models are Investors Using and What Determines Their Choice?
Authors: Zolotoy Leon
Published: October 2015

Abstract:  In this paper we address the issue of modeling the relationship between stock prices and accounting earnings in the presence of potential divergence of opinion regarding the expected company earnings. We introduce a new measure of the earnings surprise, the implied earnings surprise, which we define as the weighted average of the random walk, time series and the analysts’ earnings surprises, with the weights being estimated directly from stock prices. The link function which determines the relationship between the stock returns and the implied earnings surprise is estimated semi‐nonparametrically, allowing our framework to nest a variety of models used in previous studies. Our key findings are as follows. First, we find the weight of the random walk (analysts) forecast to be significantly larger (smaller) for the stocks with low share of institutional holdings and impoverished information environment. Second, we find the choice of a particular earnings forecasting model to be related to its forecast accuracy, an effect which is more pronounced for the institutional investors. Finally, we show how conditioning on the implied measure of the earnings surprise substantially improves the profitability of the post‐earnings announcement drift‐based investment strategies
Anti‐Smoking Policies and Smoker Well‐Being: Evidence from Britain
Authors: Leicester Andrew , Levell Peter
Published: October 2015

Anti‐smoking policies can in theory make smokers better off, by helping smokers with time‐inconsistent preferences commit to giving up or reducing the amount they smoke. We use almost 20 years of British individual‐level panel data to explore the impact on self‐reported psychological well‐being of two policy interventions: large increases in tobacco excise taxes and bans on smoking in public places. We use a difference‐in‐differences approach to compare the effects on well‐being for likely smokers and non‐smokers. We find robust evidence that increases in tobacco taxes raise the relative well‐being of likely smokers. Exploiting regional variation in the timing of the smoking ban across Britain, we find no evidence that it raised smoker well‐being. Our findings give some support to the view that tobacco taxes are at least partly justifiable because of the benefits they have for smokers themselves.
Russian comparative embryology takes form: a conceptual metamorphosis toward “evo‐devo”
Authors: Mikhailov Alexander T.
Published: October 2015

This essay recapitulates major paths followed by the Russian tradition of what we refer to today as evolutionary developmental biology (“evo‐devo”). The article addresses several questions regarding the conceptual history of evolutionary embryological thought in its particularly Russian perspective: (1) the assertion by the St. Petersburg academician Wolff regarding the possible connections between environmental modifications during morphogenesis and the “transformation” of species, (2) the discovery of shared “principles” underlying animal development by von Baer, (3) the experimental expression of Baer's principles by Kowalevsky and Mechnikoff, (4) Severtsov's theory of phylembryogenesis, (5) Filatov's approach to the study of evolution using comparative “developmental mechanics”, and (6) Shmalgausen's concept of “stabilizing” selection as an attempt to elucidate the evolution of developmental mechanisms. The focus on comparative evolutionary embryology, which was established by Kowalevsky and Mechnikoff, still continues to be popular in present‐day “evo‐devo” research in Russia.
Development of head and trunk mesoderm in the dogfish, Scyliorhinus torazame: I. Embryology and morphology of the head cavities and related structures
Authors: Adachi Noritaka , Kuratani Shigeru
Published: October 2015

Vertebrate head segmentation has attracted the attention of comparative and evolutionary morphologists for centuries, given its importance for understanding the developmental body plan of vertebrates and its evolutionary origin. In particular, the segmentation of the mesoderm is central to the problem. The shark embryo has provided a canonical morphological scheme of the head, with its epithelialized coelomic cavities (head cavities), which have often been regarded as head somites. To understand the evolutionary significance of the head cavities, the embryonic development of the mesoderm was investigated at the morphological and histological levels in the shark, Scyliorhinus torazame. Unlike somites and some enterocoelic mesodermal components in other vertebrates, the head cavities in S. torazame appeared as irregular cyst(s) in the originally unsegmented mesenchymal head mesoderm, and not via segmentation of an undivided coelom. The mandibular cavity appeared first in the paraxial part of the mandibular mesoderm, followed by the hyoid cavity, and the premandibular cavity was the last to form. The prechordal plate was recognized as a rhomboid roof of the preoral gut, continuous with the rostral notochord, and was divided anteroposteriorly into two parts by the growth of the hypothalamic primordium. Of those, the posterior part was likely to differentiate into the premandibular cavity, and the anterior part disappeared later. The head cavities and somites in the trunk exhibited significant differences, in terms of histological appearance and timing of differentiation. The mandibular cavity developed a rostral process secondarily; its homology to the anterior cavity reported in some elasmobranch embryos is discussed.
Vertical Disintegration: A Dynamic Markovian Approach
Authors: Laussel Didier , Van Long Ngo
Published: October 2015

In a model where a monopolistic downstream firm (assembler) negotiates simultaneously with each of its intermediate‐input suppliers the prices of the complementary components which enter its product, we analyze the process by which the assembler separates from its suppliers as a Markov Perfect equilibrium. Due to a negative strategic effect (the prices and profits of independent suppliers decrease when their number increases), the assembler’s marginal return from keeping an upstream subsidiary is lower than the market value of an independent supplier. Separation is immediate when the downstream firm’s initial number of upstream subsidiaries is below a critical level. It is progressive in the reverse case and eventually leads to a mixed strategy whereby the assembler keeps all the remaining subsidiaries with some probability, and sells all them off in one go with the complementary probability.
Broad Cross‐License Negotiations
Authors: Galasso Alberto
Published: October 2015

In many industries, broad cross‐license agreements are considered a useful method to obtain freedom to operate and to avoid patent litigation. In this paper, I study firm incentives to sign a broad cross‐license as well as the duration of broad cross‐license negotiations. I develop a model of bargaining with learning, which predicts that two firms will enter a broad cross‐license agreement only if their capital intensities are large enough. The model also predicts faster negotiations when firms have high capital intensities and when the frequency of future disputes is low. I confirm these predictions empirically using a novel data set on cross‐licensing and litigation in the US semiconductor industry.
Job Design in the Presence of Career Concerns
Authors: Casas‐Arce Pablo , Hejeebu Santhi
Published: October 2015

We reconsider the job design theory of Holmstrom and Milgrom to include career concerns. When agents are motivated by their reputation, the discretion to pursue outside activities plays an integral part in the incentive scheme. Discretion can be a useful instrument to enhance incentives and prevent the adverse selection of low‐ability agents. We argue that these synergies are useful in explaining, among other examples, the employment of US faculty members and of physicians in dual health care systems.
The Effect of Neuromuscular Blockade on Canine Laparoscopic Ovariectomy: A Double‐Blinded, Prospective Clinical Trial
Authors: Bart Van Goethem , Sebastiaan Alexander van Nimwegen , Ies Akkerdaas , Joanna Claire Murrell , Kirpensteijn Jolle
Published: October 2015

Objective

To evaluate the effect of neuromuscular blockade (NMB) on surgical time and various anesthetic variables during laparoscopic ovariectomy in dogs.

Study Design

Prospective, double‐blinded, randomized clinical trial.

Animals

Female dogs (n = 40).

Methods

Laparoscopic ovariectomy by bipolar electrocoagulation was performed by 1 surgeon using a standardized protocol, where 1 ovary was removed under NMB, and the other without NMB. Surgical and anesthetic (respiratory and circulatory) variables were recorded for predetermined procedural stages and were statistically evaluated.

Results

Mean total surgical time was 25.1 ± 6.3 minutes (range, 16–47 minutes). With NMB, mean duration of surgical excision of the ovary (5.7 ± 2.3 minutes) was not significantly changed compared to ovariectomy without NMB (5.9 ± 1.9 minutes). Arterial blood pressure was the only recorded anesthetic variable that significantly changed under NMB (5% decrease). Occurrence of intraoperative complications did not differ. In obese dogs, total surgical time was increased by 22%. Other variables, including occurrence of intraoperative mesovarial bleeding did not influence surgical duration.

Conclusions

NMB did not significantly improve laparoscopic ovariectomy times and except for a 5% decrease in arterial blood pressure did not change any of the evaluated anesthetic and surgical variables.
Local Government Capital Spending in Indonesia: Impact of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers
Authors: LEWIS BLANE
Published: October 2015

Indonesian policymakers intend to increase capital spending, especially on traditional infrastructure, at all levels of government in order to stimulate economic growth. Intergovernmental capital grants can have very significant impact on encouraging such spending at the subnational level. The main problems with capital transfers in the Indonesian context are that grant funding has stagnated at low levels and the proportion of funding allocated to infrastructure has declined considerably. Given current institutional constraints, the likelihood of increasing grant funding for subnational infrastructure is dubious, which suggests that economic growth in Indonesia may remain suboptimal for the near future.
Failure to Update: An Institutional Perspective on Noncompliance With the Family and Medical Leave Act
Authors: Kelly Erin L.
Published: October 2015

At least one-quarter of covered workplaces violated the parental leave requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) when surveyed in 1997. What explains this noncompliance? Using a survey of 389 U.S. workplaces and qualitative interviews with managers in 40 organizations, I demonstrate that noncompliance comes in distinct forms. Some forms of noncompliance result from a failure to update institutionalized—and gendered—policies, practices, and norms. This form of noncompliance (indicated by illegally short leaves) is better explained by the institutional perspective, while outright noncompliance (as evidenced by a lack of leaves) is best explained by rational choice and deviant culture theories.
Nominal rigidities and retail price dispersion in Canada over the twentieth century
Authors: Hickey Ross D. , Jacks David S.
Published: October 2015

Abstract We introduce a new data set on over 230,000 monthly prices for 10 goods in 50 Canadian cities over the 40‐year period from 1910 to 1950. This information, coupled with previously published price information from the late twentieth century, allows us to present one of the first comprehensive views of nominal rigidities and retail price dispersion over the past 100 years. We find that nominal rigidities have been conditioned upon prevailing rates of inflation with a greater frequency of price changes occurring in the 1920s and the 1970s. Additionally, the process of retail market integration has followed a U‐shaped trajectory with many domestic markets being better integrated – as measured by the average dispersion of retail prices – at mid‐century than in the 1990s. We also consider the linkages between nominal rigidities and price dispersion, finding results consistent with present‐day data.
Testing for poverty dominance: an application to Canada
Authors: Chen Wen‐Hao , Duclos Jean‐Yves
Published: October 2015

Abstract The paper proposes and applies statistical tests for poverty dominance that check for whether poverty comparisons can be made robustly over ranges of poverty lines and classes of poverty indices. This helps provide both normative and statistical confidence in establishing poverty rankings across distributions. The tests, which can take into account the complex sampling procedures that are typically used by statistical agencies to generate household‐level surveys, are implemented using the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for 1996, 1999, and 2002. Although the yearly cumulative distribution functions cross at the lower tails of the distributions, the more recent years tend to dominate earlier years for a relatively wide range of poverty lines. Failing to take into account SLID’s sampling variability (as is sometimes done) can inflate significantly one’s confidence in ranking poverty. Taking into account SLID’s complex sampling design (as has not been done before) can also decrease substantially the range of poverty lines over which a poverty ranking can be inferred.
Making African American Homeplaces in Rural Virginia
Authors: Goluboff Sascha L.
Published: October 2015

Abstract
In this article, I propose that anthropologists of Christianity broaden their understanding of emotion to include intense attachments to home and kin as central to cultivating faith. I use examples from my research with African Americans who continue to live on land purchased by their emancipated ancestors and attend a United Methodist church established by those same ancestors in rural Western Virginia. I suggest that theoretical attention to this worldly home, as well as to God, is key to understanding the process of belief. It opens up the possibility of seeing emotional connection as a catalyst for political awareness and change, and it also brings gender and generational relations into sharp focus. Ultimately, I argue that the maintenance of such African American religious and secular homeplaces works to challenge the legacies of racism in the rural South.
The Salience of Ideology: Fifteen Years of Presidential Elections in El Salvador
Authors: Azpuru Dinorah
Published: October 2015

The victory of the FMLN in El Salvador's presidential elections of March 2009 has been considered remarkable, given the dominance of ARENA in four consecutive presidential races from 1989 to 2004. Using individual-level data, this article examines the determinants of electoral support for both parties over the past 15 years. Several statistical models illuminate some of the factors that led to ARENA's dominance and ultimate defeat. A combination of variables associated with different theoretical models of voting helps explain the choices made by Salvadoran voters over the years. The most consistent predictors of vote have been voters' self-reported ideology and their evaluation of the incumbent government's performance. The 2009 turnaround relates to fundamental changes in the national and international context, and also to the selection of candidates.
Military Entrepreneurs: Patterns in Latin America
Authors: Mani Kristina
Published: October 2015

Despite the recent shift to democratic regimes and market-based economies, in many Latin American countries the military retains important economic roles as owner, manager, and stakeholder in economic enterprises. Such military entrepreneurship poses a challenge to the development of democratic civil-military relations and, by extension, to the development of liberal democracy in the region. While scholars have noted this situation with concern, they have given little attention to distinguishing the different types of military entrepreneurship, which reflect distinct historical patterns and implications. This article identifies two major types of military entrepreneurs in Latin America: industrializers, determined to build national defense capabilities and compete for international prestige; and nation builders, seeking to promote economic development that can foster social development and cohesion. Case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Ecuador demonstrate important differences between these two types in their origins, paths, and political consequences.
Unraveling the Paradox: Competence and the Failure of Subsidiarity in the European Union
Authors: Katcherian Jeff Edmund
Published: October 2015

The experimental means by which bureaucrats and members of civil society attempt to manage policy making within the European Union (EU) are often guided by the EU's cherished principle of subsidiarity, a principle demanding that EU policy decisions be made at the most appropriate geopolitical level possible to respect and preserve European cultural diversity. I examine subsidiarity within the EU, not as a mere principle but also as a practice, investigating bureaucratic conceptions and bureaucrats’ embodied experiences with subsidiarity as it influences perceptions of culture, policy, and integration. What is borne out of attempts to manage subsidiarity, often discussed by EU bureaucrats as well as members of civil society, are three discursive modes—the cultural, the moral, and the temporal—that both promote and confuse how “Europe” is conceptualized via policy production. These discursive modes shed light upon how subsidiarity, in fact, limits diversity via the notion of competence within the EU. I argue that subsidiarity, understood in terms of competence, has become a pragmatic endeavor employed more to organize, manage, and govern culture than to create cultural inclusion, further promoting a more exclusive conceptualization of community and diversity.
Women's part‐time jobs: “Flexirisky” employment in five European countries
Authors: BLÁZQUEZ CUESTA Maite , MORAL CARCEDO Julián
Published: October 2015

European countries currently have segmented labour markets with flexible but insecure –“flexirisky” – jobs, resulting in significant inequality between different categories of workers. Part‐time jobs are one example: their flexibility may help workers reconcile work and family life, and increase women's labour force participation, but part‐time employment can also result in new forms of inequality, thereby undermining EU equal opportunity policies. Empirically analysing labour market transitions in Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, this article shows part‐timers – who are mostly women – to be at higher risk of unemployment. It calls for strengthening equality between part‐time and full‐time workers in terms of employment stability.
Children and family: A barrier or an incentive to female self‐employment in Norway?
Authors: RØNSEN Marit
Published: October 2015

The under‐representation of women in entrepreneurship and self‐employment is common across cultures and countries, but the reasons for this pattern are still not well understood. This case study of Norway examines the influence of women's family and household situation in this respect, including the presence of children and their ages, the role of the partner and the household's financial resources. The results indicate that while children do not hinder female self‐employment, its propensity is negatively related to the partner's working hours and positively related to him being self‐employed himself. The causal direction of these relationships is difficult to establish, however.
Local variation in the thistle species Cirsium grayanum affects its utilization by the herbivorous ladybird beetle Henosepilachna niponica
Authors: Kikuta Shogo , Fujiyama Naoyuki , Katakura Haruo
Published: October 2015

Host plants are the most critical environmental factor for phytophagous arthropods. Adaptation to a novel host will alter the distributional range of an herbivore to include the area the novel host covers, and might promote divergence between populations utilizing the old and new hosts. On the Oshima Peninsula, Hokkaido Island, northern Japan, the ladybird beetle Henosepilachna niponica (Lewis) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) usually occurs exclusively on the thistle Cirsium alpicola Nakai (Asteraceae), which is distributed in the southernmost part of the island, although some other Cirsium species often grow in sympatry. At least at one site (Assabu), however, H. niponica depends on another thistle, Cirsium grayanum (Maxim.) Nakai, the most abundant and widely distributed thistle species on the Oshima Peninsula. We examined adult feeding acceptance and preference, and larval performance, in two populations of H. niponica that utilize different species of thistles (the Assabu population occurs on C. grayanum; the Shiriuchi population, on C. alpicola) by testing three kinds of thistles (C. grayanum from Assabu, C. grayanum from Shiriuchi, and C. alpicola from Shiriuchi). Results strongly suggested that among the three plants tested, C. grayanum from Assabu was the most suitable host for H. niponica. We concluded that local differences in C. grayanum mainly explain why it is not used at Shiriuchi, but that there are also local differences in host use among the beetle populations, suggesting some degree of local adaptation. This suggests that different selective regimes associated with different host plants might promote divergence among beetle populations. We conclude that H. niponica is at present unlikely to expand its range to the whole range of C. grayanum.
Mating frequency and reproductive success in an income breeding moth, Mnesampela privata
Authors: Walker Paul W. , Allen Geoff R.
Published: October 2015

The frequency of mating in insects is often an important determinant of female reproductive output and male sperm competition. In Lepidoptera that provide male nutrients to the female when mating, it is hypothesized that polyandry may be more prevalent. This is thought to be especially so among species described as income breeders; that is, in species who do not derive all their nutrients for reproductive output entirely from the resources obtained during the larval stage. We selected the geometrid moth, Mnesampela privata (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), to examine this hypothesis further. We found this species was best characterized as an income breeder with female weight on emergence positively correlated with total egg load but not with the number of eggs laid. Further, in accord with income breeders, females emerged with a partially developed egg load and lifetime fecundity was positively correlated with the number of oviposition days. However, in the laboratory we found that incidence of repeated matings or polyandry was rare. When moths were paired singly over their lifetime, only 4% of mated females multiple mated. When females were paired with three males concurrently, female mating success increased from 60 to 81% with multiple mating among mated females increasing to just 15%. Dissection of wild caught M. privata found that polyandry levels were also low with a maximum of 16.4% of females collected at any one time being multiple mated. In accord with theory, mating significantly increased the longevity of females, but not of males, suggesting that females acquire essential resources from male ejaculates. Despite this, multiple mated females showed a trend toward decreasing rather than increasing female reproductive output. Spermatophore size, measured on death of the female, was not correlated with male or female forewing length but was negatively correlated with the number of fertile eggs laid and female longevity. Smaller spermatophore width may be related to uptake of more nutrients by the female from a spermatophore. We discuss our findings in relation to income breeding and its relationship to polyandry in Lepidoptera.