Cosmopolitan Capital and the Internationalization of the Field of Business Elites: Evidence from the Swiss Case

The aim of this contribution is to explore how the recent internationalization and the increasing importance of 'cosmopolitan capital' has impacted on the structure and character of the field of the Swiss business elite. For this purpose we will develop the notion of cosmopolitan capital and comparatively investigate the field of the Swiss business elite in 1980, 2000 and 2010 with multiple correspondence analysis. We can show that in this period international managers with transnational careers and networks not only grow in number, but come to conquer the apex of the biggest and highest capitalized Swiss firms. At the same time, national forms of capital decline in importance and Swiss managers themselves are differentiated increasingly into national and international fractions.

Iowa Secretary of State 2008 Report, 2008

This report highlights the landmark election legislation adopted in the past two years and statistical information on absentee ballots, provisional ballots, and Election Day Registration. In addition, the report outlines the responsibilities of our Business Services Division which handles hundreds of thousands of corporate filings annually. The Secretary of State’s proposals to the 83rd General Assembly for 2009 legislation are mostly technical in nature and are also set forth in this report. The presidential election on November 4, 2008, brought more voters to the polls in Iowa than ever before. Despite fears of election day problems due to new voting equipment, Election Day Registration, and challenged voter procedures, the election went very smoothly in Iowa. The Elections and Voter Registration Division of my office worked diligently to provide training materials for election administrators and fielded thousands of calls and emails from voters. The result was an efficiently-run election statewide. Though the Secretary of State’s Office, like all other state agencies, is operating under strict budgetary constraints, I assure you that my staff and I will continue to provide excellent service and develop innovative solutions to get through these rough economic times.

Election Day Registration Guide, 2008

As of January 1, 2008, Iowa law allows you to register to vote on Election Day at the polling place for the precinct you currently live in. After showing proper identification you may register and vote at the precinct the same day. Please open file for more information.

How to Vote in Iowa, 2008

Take advantage of one of the following methods to cast your vote! Please open file for more information.

Politics in Iowa: How to Get Involved, 2008

Take advantage of one of the following information on how to be involved in politics in Iowa. Please open file for more information.

MIAR: hacia un entorno colaborativo de editores, autores y evaluadores de revistas

Se describe la evolución del proyecto MIAR (Matriu d'Informació per l'Avaluació de Revistes), un sistema originalmente diseñado para cuantificar la indización en bases de datos de revistas de humanidades y ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, a la vista del panorama de recursos de evaluación actualmente disponibles en España, los autores plantean la transformación de MIAR hacia un portal colaborativo en el que todos los interesados puedan difundir las principales características de las revistas en las que participan directa o indirectamente. Se estudia una transformación del proyecto contemplando el uso de redes sociales, sistemas de votación y de sugerencia, y la aplicación de tecnologías como open linked data que permiten una mayor difusión y socialización de los datos recogidos para cada publicación. De esta manera los datos podrían ser mejor aprovechados por los tres colectivos más directamente interesados: evaluadores, editores y autores/lectores.

Yhteistyö, integraatio ja alueellistuminen Pohjoiskalotilla

Artikkeli perustuu johtopäätöskappaleeseen teoksessa "Kansainvälinen yhteistyö Pohjoiskalotilla", toim. Timo Kivimäki ja Paavo Väyrynen. - Rovaniemi: Lapin yliopisto, 1997

The (partisan) role of the press in direct democratic campaigns : Evidence from a Swiss vote on European integration

This article analyzes the role of the press in direct democratic campaigns. The paper argues the press has a dual role: On news pages, newspapers ought to inform citizens about the issue positions and frames of the pro and con camps in a balanced way. In editorials, newspapers act as political advocates that promote their own issue frames and try to shape public opinion through voting recommendations. Comparing the issue positions and frames in editorials and news reports in the run-up to the vote on the popular initiative "Yes to Europe" in Switzerland, this article shows that newspapers give similar visibility to the pro and con camps regardless of the papers' own editorial position. However, some newspapers favor issue frames that are in line with their editorial perspectives. In conclusion, newspapers are more similar in news report content than in editorial views.

Does partisan alignment affect the electoral reward of intergovernmental transfers?

[spa] En este trabajo analizamos la hipótesis que las transferencias asignadas a los municipios políticamente alineados generan un mayor apoyo político que las transferencias asignada a los municipios gobernados por la oposición. Para contrastar esta hipótesis utilizamos datos de las transferencias recibidas por 617 municipios españoles procedentes de dos niveles de gobierno superiores (Regional o Autonómico y Supra-Local o Diputaciones) durante el período 1993-2003, así como datos de los votos obtenidos en las tres elecciones celebradas en los diferentes niveles de gobierno durante este período.

Does partisan alignment affect the electoral reward of intergovernmental transfers?

[spa] En este trabajo analizamos la hipótesis que las transferencias asignadas a los municipios políticamente alineados generan un mayor apoyo político que las transferencias asignada a los municipios gobernados por la oposición. Para contrastar esta hipótesis utilizamos datos de las transferencias recibidas por 617 municipios españoles procedentes de dos niveles de gobierno superiores (Regional o Autonómico y Supra-Local o Diputaciones) durante el período 1993-2003, así como datos de los votos obtenidos en las tres elecciones celebradas en los diferentes niveles de gobierno durante este período.

Invasive candidiasis: comparison of management choices by infectious disease and critical care specialists.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the management of invasive candidiasis between infectious disease and critical care specialists. DESIGN AND SETTING: Clinical case scenarios of invasive candidiasis were presented during interactive sessions at national specialty meetings. Participants responded to questions using an anonymous electronic voting system. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-five infectious disease and 51 critical care physicians in Switzerland. RESULTS: Critical care specialists were more likely to ask advice from a colleague with expertise in the field of fungal infections to treat Candida glabrata (19.5% vs. 3.5%) and C. krusei (36.4% vs. 3.3%) candidemia. Most participants reported that they would change or remove a central venous catheter in the presence of candidemia, but 77.1% of critical care specialists would start concomitant antifungal treatment, compared to only 50% of infectious disease specialists. Similarly, more critical care specialists would start antifungal prophylaxis when Candida spp. are isolated from the peritoneal fluid at time of surgery for peritonitis resulting from bowel perforation (22.2% vs. 7.2%). The two groups equally considered Candida spp. as pathogens in tertiary peritonitis, but critical care specialists would more frequently use amphotericin B than fluconazole, caspofungin, or voriconazole. In mechanically ventilated patients the isolation of 10(4) Candida spp. from a bronchoalveolar lavage was considered a colonizing organism by 94.9% of infectious disease, compared to 46.8% of critical care specialists, with a marked difference in the use of antifungal agents (5.1% vs. 51%). CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight differences between management approaches for candidiasis in two groups of specialists, particularly in the reported use of antifungals.

Multi-Atlas based Segmentation of Head and Neck CT Images using Active Contour

This paper presents the segmentation of bilateral parotid glands in the Head and Neck (H&N) CT images using an active contour based atlas registration. We compare segmentation results from three atlas selection strategies: (i) selection of "single-most-similar" atlas for each image to be segmented, (ii) fusion of segmentation results from multiple atlases using STAPLE, and (iii) fusion of segmentation results using majority voting. Among these three approaches, fusion using majority voting provided the best results. Finally, we present a detailed evaluation on a dataset of eight images (provided as a part of H&N auto segmentation challenge conducted in conjunction with MICCAI-2010 conference) using majority voting strategy.

Wählen per Internet verändert die Schweiz

Der Autor befasst sich mit dem Thema e-Voting am Beispiel der Schweiz. Umwählen zu gehen, begibt sich der Bürger auf Wählerseiten im Internet. Dort beantwortet er zuerst 10 Fragen zu bedeutsamen politischen Themen. Je nach seinen Antworten werden die dafür politisch eintretenden Kandidaten vorgestellt. Der Wähler kann sich nun detailliert über sie und ihre politischen Positionen informieren und dann entscheiden, welchem Politiker er seine Stimme gibt. Voraussetzung hierfür ist, dass die Kandidaten präzise Angaben über ihre Person und die von ihnen vertretene Politik im Internet zugänglich machen, da sie ansonsten auf den Wahlseiten nicht zugelassen würden und somit ihre Chancen, gewählt zu werden, minimieren würden. Hat der Bürger sich festgelegt, schickt er das Dokument zur Auswertung an einen Server des Staates, der dann innerhalb von Stunden das neue Wahlergebnis präsentieren könnte. Die Wahlseiten selbst werden wahrscheinlich nicht vom Staat kontrolliert, da die Regierung diese manipulieren könnte. Wenn aber die Gestaltung der Seiten in private Hand gelegt wird, besteht die Gefahr, dass die Listen nicht als offizielle Wahllisten anerkannt werden. Hier besteht also noch Klärungsbedarf. Ein klarer Vorteil solcher Wahlseiten ist, dass die Ziele und Interessen der Politiker noch transparenter werden. Das Internet bietet dem Bürger die Möglichkeit, seine persönlichen Interessen mit denen der Politiker zu vergleichen und sich dann nach einem Abwägunsprozess zu entscheiden. ,,In einigen Jahren werden hier zu Lande Wahlurnen ganz verschwinden", prophezeit der Autor und verweist auf die Arbeit einer Projektgruppe, die die noch offenen Fragen des E-Votings klären will.

Iowa Voters Judicial Directory, August 2012

Voter Information: • Answers to Questions about Judicial Retention Elections • Biographies of Judges on the 2012 Iowa Ballot