Negotiating access into firms: obstacles and strategies

Researchers often experience difficulties with the negotiation of access into firms for the purpose of data collection. The question we explore is: What are the main obstacles associated with access negotiation into firms; and what strategies do researchers employ to increase their chances of success? Our research work on the tendering process of contractors took place between 2006 and 2008. We successfully negotiated access into four firms (two each in Ghana and the UK) to observe live examples of tender preparation The techniques we employed in negotiating access were personal contacts, contacting firms through online details and professional institutions, etc. With all of this effort, our average success rate was less than 5 per cent. The main obstacles encountered were firms’ reluctance because of commercial sensitiveness and fear that the data could eventually be divulged to their competitors or end up in the public domain. However, some firms agreed mainly because of the written assurances of confidentiality and anonymity in reporting the study; reputation of the researchers’ academic institution; gatekeepers who spoke to their colleagues on our behalf; academic purpose of the study; and a feedback report which was promised in return for access to the case studies. Although the access through personal contacts is by far the easiest, it is not always possible. Researchers can approach firms as complete strangers, especially in a foreign country, and that could make the firms more likely to assist the research.

Lorrie Moore collection, 'A Little Ethnic Kink Is Always Good to See”: Jewish performance anxiety and anti-passing in the fiction of Lorrie Moore

This essay explores the ways in which the performance of Jewish identity (in the sense both of representing Jewish characters and of writing about those characters’ conscious and unconscious renditions of their Jewishness) is a particular concern (in both senses of the word) for Lorrie Moore. Tracing Moore's representations of Jewishness over the course of her career, from the early story “The Jewish Hunter” through to her most recent novel, A Gate at the Stairs, I argue that it is characterized by (borrowing a phrase from Moore herself) “performance anxiety,” an anxiety that manifests itself in awkward comedy and that can be read both in biographical terms and as an oblique commentary on, or reworking of, the passing narrative, which I call “anti-passing.” Just as passing narratives complicate conventional ethno-racial definitions so Moore's anti-passing narratives, by representing Jews who represent themselves as other to themselves, as well as to WASP America, destabilize the category of Jewishness and, by implication, deconstruct the very notion of ethnic categorization.

Proanthocyanidin diversity in the EU 'HealthyHay' sainfoin (onobrychis viciifolia) germplasm collection

This study investigated 37 diverse sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) accessions from the EU ‘HealthyHay’ germplasm collection for proanthocyanidin (PA) content and composition. Accessions displayed a wide range of differences: PA contents varied from 0.57 to 2.80 g/100 g sainfoin; the mean degree of polymerisation from 12 to 84; the proportion of prodelphinidin tannins from 53% to 95%, and the proportion of trans-flavanol units from 12% to 34%. A positive correlation was found between PA contents (thiolytic versus acid–butanol degradation; P < 0.001; R2 = 0.49). A negative correlation existed between PA content (thiolysis) and mDP (P < 0.05; R2 = −0.30), which suggested that accessions with high PA contents had smaller PA polymers. Cluster analysis revealed that European accessions clustered into two main groups: Western Europe and Eastern Europe/Asia. In addition, accessions from USA, Canada and Armenia tended to cluster together. Overall, there was broad agreement between tannin clusters and clusters that were based on morphological and agronomic characteristics.

An assessment of the MODIS collection 5 leaf area index product for a region of mixed coniferous forest

Canopy leaf area index (LAI), defined as the single-sided leaf area per unit ground area, is a quantitative measure of canopy foliar area. LAI is a controlling biophysical property of vegetation function, and quantifying LAI is thus vital for understanding energy, carbon and water fluxes between the land surface and the atmosphere. LAI is routinely available from Earth Observation (EO) instruments such as MODIS. However EO-derived estimates of LAI require validation before they are utilised by the ecosystem modelling community. Previous validation work on the MODIS collection 4 (c4) product suggested considerable error especially in forested biomes, and as a result significant modification of the MODIS LAI algorithm has been made for the most recent collection 5 (c5). As a result of these changes the current MODIS LAI product has not been widely validated. We present a validation of the MODIS c5 LAI product over a 121 km2 area of mixed coniferous forest in Oregon, USA, based on detailed ground measurements which we have upscaled using high resolution EO data. Our analysis suggests that c5 shows a much more realistic temporal LAI dynamic over c4 values for the site we examined. We find improved spatial consistency between the MODIS c5 LAI product and upscaled in situ measurements. However results also suggest that the c5 LAI product underestimates the upper range of upscaled in situ LAI measurements.

Efficiency, enforcement and revenue tradeoffs in participatory forest management: an example from Tanzania

Where joint forest management has been introduced into Tanzania, ‘volunteer’ patrollers take responsibility for enforcing restrictions over the harvesting of forest resources, often receiving as an incentive a share of the collected fine revenue. Using an optimal enforcement model, we explore how that share, and whether villagers have alternative sources of forest products, determines the effort patrollers put into enforcement and whether they choose to take a bribe rather than honestly reporting the illegal collection of forest resources. Without funds for paying and monitoring patrollers, policy makers face tradeoffs over illegal extraction, forest protection and revenue generation through fine collection.

IMILAST: a community effort to intercompare extratropical cyclone detection and tracking algorithms

The variability of results from different automated methods of detection and tracking of extratropical cyclones is assessed in order to identify uncertainties related to the choice of method. Fifteen international teams applied their own algorithms to the same dataset—the period 1989–2009 of interim European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERAInterim) data. This experiment is part of the community project Intercomparison of Mid Latitude Storm Diagnostics (IMILAST; see www.proclim.ch/imilast/index.html). The spread of results for cyclone frequency, intensity, life cycle, and track location is presented to illustrate the impact of using different methods. Globally, methods agree well for geographical distribution in large oceanic regions, interannual variability of cyclone numbers, geographical patterns of strong trends, and distribution shape for many life cycle characteristics. In contrast, the largest disparities exist for the total numbers of cyclones, the detection of weak cyclones, and distribution in some densely populated regions. Consistency between methods is better for strong cyclones than for shallow ones. Two case studies of relatively large, intense cyclones reveal that the identification of the most intense part of the life cycle of these events is robust between methods, but considerable differences exist during the development and the dissolution phases.

Ultimatum salary bargaining with real effort

We report experimental results on ultimatum salary bargaining with a real task performed by employee subjects. Compared to the baseline treatment with a hypothetical task, the introduction of a real task raises offers, accepted wages and rejection rates.

Modelling the rheology of sea ice as a collection of diamond-shaped floes

In polar oceans, seawater freezes to form a layer of sea ice of several metres thickness that can cover up to 8% of the Earth’s surface. The modelled sea ice cover state is described by thickness and orientational distribution of interlocking, anisotropic diamond-shaped ice floes delineated by slip lines, as supported by observation. The purpose of this study is to develop a set of equations describing the mean-field sea ice stresses that result from interactions between the ice floes and the evolution of the ice floe orientation, which are simple enough to be incorporated into a climate model. The sea ice stress caused by a deformation of the ice cover is determined by employing an existing kinematic model of ice floe motion, which enables us to calculate the forces acting on the ice floes due to crushing into and sliding past each other, and then by averaging over all possible floe orientations. We describe the orientational floe distribution with a structure tensor and propose an evolution equation for this tensor that accounts for rigid body rotation of the floes, their apparent re-orientation due to new slip line formation, and change of shape of the floes due to freezing and melting. The form of the evolution equation proposed is motivated by laboratory observations of sea ice failure under controlled conditions. Finally, we present simulations of the evolution of sea ice stress and floe orientation for several imposed flow types. Although evidence to test the simulations against is lacking, the simulations seem physically reasonable.

Making an effort to feel positive: insecure attachment in infancy predicts the neural underpinnings of emotion regulation in adulthood

Background: Animal research indicates that the neural substrates of emotion regulation may be persistently altered by early environmental exposures. If similar processes operate in human development then this is significant, as the capacity to regulate emotional states is fundamental to human adaptation. Methods: We utilised a 22-year longitudinal study to examine the influence of early infant attachment to the mother, a key marker of early experience, on neural regulation of emotional states in young adults. Infant attachment status was measured via objective assessment at 18-months, and the neural underpinnings of the active regulation of affect were studied using fMRI at age 22 years. Results: Infant attachment status at 18-months predicted neural responding during the regulation of positive affect 20-years later. Specifically, while attempting to up-regulate positive emotions, adults who had been insecurely versus securely attached as infants showed greater activation in prefrontal regions involved in cognitive control and reduced co-activation of prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, consistent with relative inefficiency in the neural regulation of positive affect. Conclusions: Disturbances in the mother-infant relationship may persistently alter the neural circuitry of emotion regulation, with potential implications for adjustment in adulthood.