Extending Learning Opportunities through a virtual faculty

This paper presents the notion of a virtual faculty as a viable alternative to extending and maintaining learner opportunities for students in regional universities or at universities where specialisations in which they are interested may not be offered. Staff from a number of Australian Universities participated in a CUTSD project to explore the viability of establishing a virtual faculty using videoconferencing as the medium of delivery. The success of this project was the result of close collaboration at a number of levels within the participating institutions and a willingness to explore effective approaches to teaching and learning for a videoconference environment.

Preparing students for the virtual organisation: an evaluation of learning with virtual learning technologies

The paper explores the development of learning behaviours in a virtual management course and the factors that impacted on this development. Data suggest that most teams experienced three kinds of learning behaviours ��� social, operational and content learning. We propose that the need for technical expertise and team participation will vary during these different stages of learning. Addressing the characteristics of these stages, we comment on the development of a ���completion phase��� of team development. We argue that the extent to which teams demonstrate different learning stages has a significant impact on the development of on-line learning behaviours. Discussing these results, we suggest why different teams develop distinct learning behaviours, with accordant emphasis on teaching as a moderating and co ordinating role, despite current virtual team pedagogical expectations.

Produtividade de feijoeiro de inverno submetido �� desseca����o com paraquat na pr��-colheita

O conhecimento da ��poca e da dose de aplica����o de dessecante, em pr��-colheita do feijoeiro, �� de extrema import��ncia para se evitarem perdas na produtividade da cultura. Diante disso, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de feijoeiro de inverno, ap��s aplica����o do dessecante paraquat em diferentes ��pocas (30; 35; 40 e 45 dias ap��s o in��cio do florescimento - DAF) e das doses (0; 200; 400 e 600 g ha-1), em pr��-colheita. O experimento foi conduzido no per��odo de outono/inverno de 2010, em Selv��ria, Mato Grosso do Sul. Os tratamentos foram dispostos em delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 4 x 4 (��pocas de aplica����o x doses do herbicida), com quatro repeti����es. O aumento das doses de paraquat, at�� os 35 DAF, aumentou de forma linear o percentual de sementes defeituosas, enquanto as sementes tiveram sua massa reduzida linearmente, at�� os 40 DAF. A produtividade do feijoeiro n��o foi afetada pela aplica����o de paraquat a partir dos 35 DAF, ao contr��rio do incremento da dose, que provocou redu����o linear desse par��metro.

Circunfer��ncias m��gicas

(...) A ideia original das circunfer��ncias m��gicas remonta pelo menos �� segunda edi����o do livro ���Magic Squares and Cubes���, de W. S. Andrews. A publica����o data de 1917, h�� quase um s��culo, e conta com contributos de diferentes autores. A sec����o dedicada ��s circunfer��ncias m��gicas �� da autoria de Harry A. Sayles. (...) O leitor provavelmente j�� encontrou um padr��o: quando usamos n��meros de 1 a n, a soma dos n��meros dos pontos de intersec����o de duas quaisquer circunfer��ncias deve ser n+1. No desafio apresentado na Fig. A usamos os n��meros de 1 a 40, logo a soma dos n��meros dos pontos de intersec����o de duas quaisquer circunfer��ncias deve ser igual a 41! Al��m disso, 205=5x41 (cada circunfer��ncia tem dez n��meros e 5 �� metade de 10). A descoberta da solu����o do desafio da Fig. A ��, agora, imediata. Esta �� a grande vantagem da Matem��tica. Depois de descoberto um padr��o, tudo se torna mais claro. O sentimento �� o mesmo de um m��ope quando coloca os ��culos na cara: passa a ver a realidade com outra nitidez. (...)

O Treinamento f��sico por nata����o atenua o remodelamento mioc��rdico e congest��o pulmonar em ratas wistar com insufici��ncia card��aca secund��ria a infarto do mioc��rdio

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os efeitos da nata����o sobre teor de ��gua pulmonar de ratas com insufici��ncia card��aca (IC) ap��s infarto do mioc��rdio (IM). M��TODOS: Ap��s oclus��o coron��ria, animais com 20%<IM<40% do ventr��culo esquerdo (VE) foram considerados IM moderados e os > 40% do VE grandes. Os animais treinados (TR) nadaram durante 60 min/dia, 5 dias/semana, durante 8 semanas. Foram determinados os pesos ��midos do pulm��o direito, lobo direito do f��gado, ��trios, VE e ventr��culo direito (VD) e os pesos secos do f��gado e pulm��o. Utilizou-se ANOVA e teste de Tukey para as an��lises estat��sticas. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se aumento da rela����o massa dos ��trios/peso corp��reo nos animais sedent��rios com IM moderados (IMmod-SED: n=8) e grandes (IMgr-SED: n=10) em rela����o ��s ratas controles sedent��rias (C-SED: n=14) e treinadas (C-TR: n=16). Aumento da rela����o VD/peso corp��reo e VE/peso corp��reo nos animais IMgr-SED em rela����o aos controles. A rela����o cora����o/peso corp��reo foi maior nos IMgr-SED do que nos demais. Os animais infartados treinados exibiram atenua����o da hipertrofia. O teor de ��gua pulmonar maior (p<0,05) nas ratas IMgr-SED (x��epm: 81��0,4%) do que nas C-SED (79��0,4%) indicou congest��o pulmonar n��o verificada nas infartadas treinadas (IMmod-TR: 80��0,6%; IMgr-TR: 79��0,7%). CONCLUS��O: Os aumentos da massa card��aca e teor de ��gua pulmonar em animais IMgr-SED foram atenuados em animais submetidos a treinamento f��sico por nata����o, sugerindo que a realiza����o de exerc��cio f��sico pode atenuar os indicadores de IC e contribuir para remodelamento card��aco favor��vel.

Repercuss��es card��acas ap��s infarto do mioc��rdio em ratas submetidas previamente a exerc��cio f��sico

FUNDAMENTO: Poucos estudos analisaram os efeitos card��acos do exerc��cio f��sico pr��vio �� oclus��o coronariana. OBJETIVO: Avaliar, em ratas submetidas a exerc��cio f��sico, as repercuss��es do infarto do mioc��rdio. M��TODOS: Ratas foram submetidas �� nata����o ou permaneceram sedent��rias por oito semanas e foram randomizadas para oclus��o coronariana ou cirurgia simulada, compondo quatro grupos: Sedent��rio (S), Exerc��cio (E), Sedent��rio infarto (SIM) e Exerc��cio infarto (EIM). Ap��s seis semanas, foram analisados biometria, ecodopplercardiograma, hemodin��mica e mec��nica mioc��rdica. RESULTADOS: N��o foram observados cardioprote����o nos animais EIM e diferen��a no tamanho do infarto (%VE) entre EIM (38,50 �� 4,60%) e SIM (36,58 �� 4,11%). Os teores de ��gua pulmonar (%) de SIM (80 �� 0,59) e EIM (80 �� 0,57) foram maiores do que em S (78 �� 0,15) e E (78 �� 0,57). A press��o sist��lica (mmHg) do ventr��culo esquerdo (S: 130 �� 5; E: 118 �� 8; SIM: 91 �� 3; EIM: 98 �� 3) e a primeira derivada temporal (mmHg/s) positiva da press��o (S: 8.216 �� 385; E: 8.437 �� 572; SIM: 4.674 �� 455; EIM: 5.080 �� 412) de S e E foram maiores do que em SIM e EIM. As fra����es de encurtamento da ��rea transversa (%) de SIM (27 �� 2) e EIM (25 �� 2) foram similares e menores do que E (65 �� 2) e S (69 �� 2). A rela����o E/A foi maior em SIM (5,14 �� 0,61) e EIM (4,73 �� 0,57) em rela����o a S (2,96 �� 0,24) e E (2,83 �� 0,21). Em estudos de m��sculos papilares isolados foi verificada depress��o da capacidade contr��til semelhante em SIM e EIM, e n��o houve altera����o da rigidez mioc��rdica. CONCLUS��O: O treinamento pr��vio por nata����o n��o atenuou as repercuss��es card��acas em virtude do infarto do mioc��rdio.

Expectations, Learning and Monetary Policy: An Overview of Recent Research

Expectations about the future are central for determination of current macroeconomic outcomes and the formulation of monetary policy. Recent literature has explored ways for supplementing the benchmark of rational expectations with explicit models of expectations formation that rely on econometric learning. Some apparently natural policy rules turn out to imply expectational instability of private agents��� learning. We use the standard New Keynesian model to illustrate this problem and survey the key results about interest-rate rules that deliver both uniqueness and stability of equilibrium under econometric learning. We then consider some practical concerns such as measurement errors in private expectations, observability of variables and learning of structural parameters required for policy. We also discuss some recent applications including policy design under perpetual learning, estimated models with learning, recurrent hyperinflations, and macroeconomic policy to combat liquidity traps and deflation.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in a Model of Fertility Choice

This paper provides a simple theoretical framework to discuss the relationship between assisted reproductive technologies and the microeconomics of fertility choice. Individuals make choices of education and work along with decisions about whether and when to have children. Decisions regarding fertility are influenced by policy and labor market factors that affect the earnings opportunities of mothers and the costs of raising children. We show how observed differences in these economic factors across countries explain observed different fertility and childbearing age patterns. We then use the model to predict behavioral responses to biomedical improvements in assisted reproductive technologies, and hence the impact of these technologies on fertility.

Why is it so Hard to Value Intangibles? Evidence from Investments in High-Technology Start-Ups

The paper uses a range of primary-source empirical evidence to address the question: ���why is it to hard to value intangible assets?��� The setting is venture capital investment in high technology companies. While the investors are risk specialists and financial experts, the entrepreneurs are more knowledgeable about product innovation. Thus the context lends itself to analysis within a principal-agent framework, in which information asymmetry may give rise to adverse selection, pre-contract, and moral hazard, post-contract. We examine how the investor might attenuate such problems and attach a value to such high-tech investments in what are often merely intangible assets, through expert due diligence, monitoring and control. Qualitative evidence is used to qualify the more clear cut picture provided by a principal-agent approach to a more mixed picture in which the ���art and science��� of investment appraisal are utilised by both parties alike

Seigniorage-maximizing inflation

What is the seigniorage-maximizing level of inflation? Four models formulae for the seigniorage maximizing inflation rate (SMIR) are compared. Two sticky-price models arrive at very different quantitative recommendations although both predict somewhat lower SMIRs than Cagan���s formula and a variant of a .ex-price model due to Kimbrough (2006). The models differ markedly in how inflation distorts the labour market: The Calvo model implies that inflation and output are negatively related and that output is falling in price stickiness whilst the Rotemberg cost-of-price-adjustment model implies exactly the opposite. Interestingly, if our version of the Calvo model is to be believed, the level of inflation experienced recently in advanced economies such as the USA and the UK may be quite close to the SMIR.

Firms in Scottish High Technology Clusters: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics and digital media ��� preliminary evidence and analysis on firm size, growth and optimality

This paper reports on: (a) new primary source evidence on; and (b) statistical and econometric analysis of high technology clusters in Scotland. It focuses on the following sectors: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics, and digital media. Evidence on a postal and e-mailed questionnaire is presented and discussed under the headings of: performance, resources, collaboration & cooperation, embeddedness, and innovation. The sampled firms are characterised as being small (viz. micro-firms and SMEs), knowledge intensive (largely graduate staff), research intensive (mean spend on R&D GBP 842k), and internationalised (mainly selling to markets beyond Europe). Preliminary statistical evidence is presented on Gibrat���s Law (independence of growth and size) and the Schumpeterian Hypothesis (scale economies in R&D). Estimates suggest a short-run equilibrium size of just 100 employees, but a long-run equilibrium size of 1000 employees. Further, to achieve the Schumpeterian effect (of marked scale economies in R&D), estimates suggest that firms have to grow to very much larger sizes of beyond 3,000 employees. We argue that the principal way of achieving the latter scale may need to be by takeovers and mergers, rather than by internally driven growth.

Productivity, Preferences and UIP deviations in an Open Economy Business Cycle Model

We show that a flex-price two-sector open economy DSGE model can explain the poor degree of international risk sharing and exchange rate disconnect. We use a suite of model evaluation measures and examine the role of (i) traded and non-traded sectors; (ii) financial market incompleteness; (iii) preference shocks; (iv) deviations from UIP condition for the exchange rates; and (v) creditor status in net foreign assets. We find that there is a good case for both traded and non-traded productivity shocks as well as UIP deviations in explaining the puzzles.

Financial shocks and the US business cycle

Employing the financial accelerator (FA) model of Bernanke, Gertler and Gilchrist (1999) enhanced to include a shock to the FA mechanism, we construct and study shocks to the efficiency of the financial sector in post-war US business cycles. We find that financial shocks are very tightly linked with the onset of recessions, more so than TFP or monetary shocks. The financial shock invariably remains contractionary for sometime after recessions have ended. The shock accounts for a large part of the variance of GDP and is strongly negatively correlated with the external finance premium. Second-moments comparisons across variants of the model with and without a (stochastic) FA mechanism suggests the stochastic FA model helps us understand the data.