Resistance to reform: Reconsidering the role of individual-specific uncertainty

Individual-specific uncertainty may increase the chances of reform beingenacted and sustained. Reform may be more likely to be enacted because amajority of agents might end up losing little from reform and a minoritygaining a lot. Under certainty, reform would therefore be rejected, butit may be enacted with uncertainty because those who end up losing believethat they might be among the winners. Reform may be more likely to besustained because, in a realistic setting, reform will increase theincentives of agents to move into those economic activities that benefit.Agents who respond to these incentives will vote to sustain reform infuture elections, even if they would have rejected reform under certainty.These points are made using the trade-model of Fernandez and Rodrik (AER,1991).

Intra-individual stability of neuromotor tasks from 6 to 18 years: a longitudinal study.

This study investigates the intra-individual stability of the speed of several motor tasks and the intensity of associated movements in 256 children (131 girls, 125 boys) from the Zurich generational study using the Zurich neuromotor assessment battery (ZNA) over a 12-year period from the age of 6 to 18 years. The stability was assessed by correlograms of standard deviation scores calculated from age- and gender-adjusted normative values and compared with standing height and full scale intelligence quotient (IQ). While motor tasks of hand, finger and foot (HFT) and contralateral associated movements (CAM) exhibited a moderate stability (summary measure as correlation coefficients between two measurements made 4 years apart: .61 and .60), other tasks (dynamic balance, static balance and pegboard) were only weakly stable (.46, .47 and .49). IQ and height were more stable than neuromotor components (.72 and .86). We conclude that the moderately stable HFT and CAM may reflect "motor traits", while the stability of the pegboard and balance tasks is weaker because these skills are more experience related and state-dependent.

Inter- and intra-individual variation of oxytocin secretion in oestrous mares exposed to stallions

The neuro-peptide hormone oxytocin regulates several reproductive mechanisms in mammals, such as uterine contractions during parturition and milk ejection in the lactating mammary gland. Oxytocin may also influence behavior and behavioral strategies, e.g. pair bonding, social recognition, maternal behavior, trust building, or anxiety. Teasing oestrous mares by a stallion provokes the release of oxytocin. We therefore tested whether such elevated oxytocin levels reveal possible mate preferences as determined in typical preference tests.

Influencia del fenómeno el Niño 1982-83 en peso total individual de los peces pelágicos: Sardina, jurel y Caballa

Analiza los efectos de El Niño sobre el peso total individual de la sardina y la caballa para lo cual se comparan los datos de una año normal con los obtenidos abordo del BIC

A zero-delay sequential scheme for lossy coding of individual sequences

We consider adaptive sequential lossy coding of bounded individual sequences when the performance is measured by the sequentially accumulated mean squared distortion. Theencoder and the decoder are connected via a noiseless channel of capacity $R$ and both are assumed to have zero delay. No probabilistic assumptions are made on how the sequence to be encoded is generated. For any bounded sequence of length $n$, the distortion redundancy is defined as the normalized cumulative distortion of the sequential scheme minus the normalized cumulative distortion of the best scalarquantizer of rate $R$ which is matched to this particular sequence. We demonstrate the existence of a zero-delay sequential scheme which uses common randomization in the encoder and the decoder such that the normalized maximum distortion redundancy converges to zero at a rate $n^{-1/5}\log n$ as the length of the encoded sequence $n$ increases without bound.

Individual and dyadic coping strategies in the aftermath of a traumatic experience

This study was designed to explore individual and dyadic coping strategies in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Eighteen persons having experienced a physical assault or a road accident within six to twelve months before the study, and eighteen matched control persons were recruited together with their partners. Each participant and his/her partner filled in several questionnaires on individual and dyadic coping strategies, level of stress and PTSD-symptomatology. Results indicate that participants having experienced a trauma, compared to controls, report a general lack of dyadic coping and, when facing daily hassles, specific decreases in individual coping strategies. These differences are discussed in the context of marital coping processes.

A indisciplina na Escola Secundária Pedro Gomes Um estudo exploratório dos casos apresentados ao conselho de disciplina no ano lectivo 2005-2006

O presente trabalho de investigação intitulado A indisciplina na Escola Secundária Pedro Gomes – um estudo exploratório dos casos apresentados ao conselho de disciplina no ano lectivo 2005-2006, tem como objectivo geral estudar os factores (internos e externos) propícios ao desenvolvimento de casos de indisciplina na referida escola. A obtenção dos dados para a análise processou-se mediante a aplicação de um questionário semiaberto elaborado em coerência com os objectivos que este estudo propende atingir. Os resultados deste estudo indicam, entre outros aspectos, que a briga entre pares no pátio e na sala de aula são os tipos de casos de indisciplina mais registados na Escola Secundária Pedro Gomes. De igual modo, certificamos que há um número não menos importante de casos de indisciplina relativos à aquisição de armas brancas e cortantes. No que se refere à situação socioeconómica dos pais/encarregados de educação dos alunos que foram apresentados ao Conselho de Disciplina, concluímos que esses são oriundos de famílias carenciadas onde a principal actividade económica é a pesca. No tocante ás medidas adoptadas pelo Conselho de Disciplina, certificamos que a suspensão dos alunos às aulas tem sido a medida mais acatada pelo CD como solução dos casos de indisciplina. Por outro lado, os resultados da nossa pesquisa evidenciam que o elevado número de alunos por turmas constitui num dos principais factores que influenciam a indisciplina na referida escola, onde existe um rácio de 42 alunos por turma, o que certamente dificulta a actividade do professor. Ainda, concluímos que o elevado número de alunos oriundos de contextos desfavorecidos são considerados potenciais factores da indisciplina na Escola Secundária Pedro Gomes.

Disciplina de Informática no Ensino Secundário

A educação desde de muito cedo vem socializar o indivíduo. Hoje vivemos numa sociedade onde a informação e as novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação predominam. Por isso, a escola tem de preparar o indivíduo para acompanhar a esta sociedade, tem de fornecer aos alunos os meios adequados para que possam ter acesso à informação e, simultaneamente, familiarizar-se com eles, possibilitando-lhes também oportunidades de interacção social. A disciplina de informática fornece aos alunos conjunto de conhecimentos e competências em novas tecnologias de informação e conhecimento. Os alunos do ensino técnico da Escola Técnica Polivalente Cesaltina Ramos, e outras escolas técnicas do país, têm a disciplina de informática nos seus currículos. Na via técnica, no 3º ciclo via técnica, todos os alunos têm a disciplina informática como disciplina obrigatória. Cada um dos cursos têm as suas necessidades, para cobrir essas necessidades existe três programas distintos de informática. Existe uma variedade dos níveis dos alunos que frequentam essas disciplinas, existem alunos que nunca utilizar computador, outros que têm computador em casa e o uso de computador é uma das suas actividades diárias, etc. Nesses programas são traçados os objectivos a atingir, as competências dos alunos após concluir os estudos, isto é, são traçados de antemão os perfis de saída dos alunos. Com o estudo realizado podemos concluir que os objectivos traçados no programa foram alcançados parcialmente. Nem todos os alunos atingiram os objectivos traçados, muitos não aproveitam as potencialidades da informática.

The importance of individual heterogeneity in the decomposition of measures of socioeconomic inequality in health: An approach based on quantile regression

This paper shows how recently developed regression-based methods for thedecomposition of health inequality can be extended to incorporateindividual heterogeneity in the responses of health to the explanatoryvariables. We illustrate our method with an application to the CanadianNPHS of 1994. Our strategy for the estimation of heterogeneous responsesis based on the quantile regression model. The results suggest that thereis an important degree of heterogeneity in the association of health toexplanatory variables which, in turn, accounts for a substantial percentageof inequality in observed health. A particularly interesting finding isthat the marginal response of health to income is zero for healthyindividuals but positive and significant for unhealthy individuals. Theheterogeneity in the income response reduces both overall health inequalityand income related health inequality.

Leadership and individual differences: at the cusp of a renaissance

In this introductory editorial, we provide a brief overview of the history of individual difference research in leadership. We explain the major challenges that trait research faced, and why it was revived primarily because of methodological advancements. Next, we argue that leadership individual difference research is at a cusp of a renaissance. We explain why we are at this cusp and what researchers should do reify the renaissance in terms of theoretical extensions of trait models, the application of robust methodological advancements, and the development of process models linking distal (i.e., traits) predictors to proximal predictors (e.g., behaviors, skills, attitudes), and the latter to leader outcomes. We then summarize the papers we accepted for the special issue, and conclude with an optimistic note for leadership individual difference research.

RELATÓRIO ELABORADO NO ÂMBITO DA DISCIPLINA PROJECTO SIMULAÇÃO APLICADO À GESTÃOSIMULADORMARKETPLACE6–2º LUGARDOMERCADO2- ALFACOMPUTER

Resumo da Empresa De acordo com a análise do Balanced Scorecard da empresa neste último ano de funcionamento podemos constatar que a Alfa tem como forças a efetividade de mercado, produtividade de fabricação e exposição ao risco financeiro. É ainda de ter em atenção que um dos principais pontos fracos destacados é o fraco investimento no futuro por parte da empresa.

RELATÓRIO ELABORADO NO ÂMBITO DA DISCIPLINA PROJECTO SIMULAÇÃO APLICADO À GESTÃO PLATAFORMA MARKETPLACE6–VENCEDORDOMERCADO-PLUSCOMPUTERS

Missão Produzir microcomputadores com qualidade diferenciada, considerando as expectativas dos consumidores e as necessidades do mercado, primando sempre pela inovação tecnológica. Visão Ser a empresa de referência no sector informático, reconhecida mundialmente por clientes, fornecedores e comunidade como a melhor opção pela qualidade dos nossos produtos.

New perspective on the study of the authority relationship: Integrating individual and societal level research.

The concept of authority crosses many social sciences, but there is a lack of common taxonomy and definitions on this topic. The aims of this review are: (1) to define the basic characteristics of the authority relationship, reaching a definition suitable for the different domains of social psychology and social sciences; (2) to bridge the gap between individual and societal levels of explanation concerning the authority relationship, by proposing an interpretation within the framework of social representations. The authority relationship can be conceived as a negotiation of meanings and it is closely linked to shared value orientation and the attribution of meanings negotiated within a society. We assume that the authority relationship is socially constructed and represents both a shared representation of society and a normative principle of social life. A multidisciplinary approach is adopted, crossing definitions and studies provided in sociology, political science, law and social psychology.

Individual Strategies for Different Learners

Aquest treball fa un repàs a les diferents teories relacionades amb el camp d’estudi de les estratègies d’aprenentatge de segones llengües i respon a preguntes de recerca relacionades amb la freqüència d’ús de les estratègies i la relació amb les diferències individuals. La primera part és una introducció on s’hi plantegen les preguntes de recerca en les quals es basa el treball. La segona part, consisteix en un resum de les teories relacionades amb el tema de les estratègies d’estudi de segones llengües, i una posada en comú d’aquestes per mostrar les dificultats que hi ha per trobar consens en quant a la identificació i classificació de les estratègies. La tercera part, presenta la metodologia utilitzada per a la recollida de dades per tal de contestar les preguntes de recerca. En la quarta part es desenvolupa la recerca duta a terme; i finalment es presenten les conclusions extretes de cada pregunta de recerca plantejada.

Iowa Individual Income Tax Statistical Report, July 2007

Iowa Individual Income Tax Statistical Report 2007