The evaluative nature of the folk concepts of weakness and strength of will

This article examines the evaluative nature of the folk concepts of weakness and strength of will and hypothesizes that their evaluative nature is strongly connected to the folk concepts of blame and credit. We probed how people apply the concepts of weakness and strength of will to prototypical and non-prototypical scenarios. While regarding prototypical scenarios the great majority applied these concepts according to the predictions following from traditional philosophical analyses, when presented with non-prototypical scenarios, people were divided. Some, against traditional analyses, did not apply these concepts, which we explain in terms of a clash of evaluations involving different sorts of blame and credit. Others applied them according to traditional analyses, which we explain in terms of a disposition to be reflective and clearly set apart the different sorts of blame and credit involved. Still others applied them in an inverse way, seemingly bypassing the traditional components resolution and best judgment, which we explain in terms of a reinterpretation of the scenarios driven by an assumption that everyone knows deep inside that the best thing to do is to act morally. This division notwithstanding, we claim that our results are largely supportive of traditional analyses (qua analyses of folk concepts).

The strength of the Christian Democrats, the weakness of the opposition. Germany before the parliamentary elections. OSW Commentary No. 114, 12.09.2013

The political campaign before Germany’s parliamentary elections to be held on 22 September has in all its glory reflected the trends visible during the last four years of the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel – the strength of the Christian Democrats, the weakness of the opposition and the increasing marginalisation of the coalition partner, the FDP. The CDU/CSU remains the most popular political choice in Germany, largely because Angela Merkel has consistently remained the most popular German politician. Everything indicates that the CDU/CSU will win the election, even though it has been running a passive campaign and the Chancellor herself has been avoiding confrontation, presenting herself as a kind of cross-party representative of the interests of all social groups. The Christian Democrats’ main competitors, the Social Democrats, have been unable to play to their strengths and present themselves as a serious alternative to the CDU/CSU. The Christian Democrats, despite their difficult cooperation with the liberal FDP, have declared their willingness to continue doing so during the next parliamentary term. If the numbers make that impossible, and the Social Democrats and the Greens have too few votes to be able to form a government, a grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and the SPD will be formed in Germany.

Current Status of Collectibility of Gaming-Related Credit Dollars

In her piece entitled - Current Status Of Collectability Of Gaming-Related Credit Dollars - Ruth Lisa Wenof, Graduate Student at Florida International University initially states: “Credit is an important part of incentives used to lure gamblers to gaming establishments. However, a collection problem exists in casinos retrieving gaming-related credit losses of individuals living in states where gambling is illegal. The author discusses the history of this question, citing recent cases related to Atlantic City.” This author’s article is substantially laden with legal cases associated with casinos in New Jersey; Atlantic City to be exact. The piece is specific to the segment of the gaming industry that the title suggests, and as such is written in a decidedly technical style. “Legalized casino gaming, which was approved by the citizens of New Jersey on November 8, 1976, has been used as a unique tool of urban redevelopment for Atlantic City,” Wenof says in providing some background on this ‘Jersey shore municipality. “Since Resorts International opened its casino…revenues from gambling have increased rapidly. Resorts' gross win in 1978 was $134 million,” Wenof says. “Since then, the combined gross win of the city's 11 casinos has been just shy of $7.5 billion.” The author points out that the competition for casino business is fierce and that credit dollars play an integral role in soliciting such business. “Credit plays a most important part in every casino hotel. This type of gambler is given every incentive to come to a particular hotel,” says the author. “Airplanes, limousines, suites, free meals, and beverages all become a package for the person who can sign a marker. The credit department of a casino is similar to that of a bank. A banker who loans money knows that it must be paid back or his bank will fail. This is indeed true of a casino,” Wenof warns in outlining the potential problem that this article is fundamentally designed around. In providing further background on credit essentials and possible pitfalls, Wenof affords: “…on the Casino Control Act the State Commission of Investigation recommended to the legislature that casinos should not be allowed to extend credit at all, by reason of a concern for illicit diversion of revenues, which is popularly called skimming within the industry…” Although skimming is an after-the-fact problem, and is parenthetic to loan returns, it is an important element of the collective [sic] credit scheme. “A collection problem of prime importance is if a casino can get back gaming-related credit dollars advanced by the casino to a gambler who lives in a state where gambling is illegal,” is a central factor to consider, Wenof reveals. This is a primary focus of this article. Wenof touches on the social/societal implications of gambling, and then continues the discussion by citing a host of legal cases pertaining to debt collection.

Weakness of expiratory muscles and pulmonary complications in malnourished patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery

Background and objective: Malnutrition is prevalent in hospitalized patients and causes systemic damage including effects on the respiratory and immune systems, as well as predisposing to infection and increasing postoperative complications and mortality. This study aimed to assess the impact of malnutrition on the rate of postoperative pulmonary complications, respiratory muscle strength and chest wall expansion in patients undergoing elective upper abdominal surgery. Methods: Seventy-five consecutive candidates for upper abdominal surgery (39 in the malnourished group (MNG) and 36 in the control group (CG)) were enrolled in this prospective controlled cohort study. All patients were evaluated for nutritional status, respiratory muscle strength, chest wall expansion and lung function before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, tracheobronchitis, atelectasis and acute respiratory failure) before discharge from hospital were also evaluated. Results: The MNG showed expiratory muscle weakness (MNG 65 +/- 24 vs CG 82 +/- 22 cm H2O; P < 0.001) and decreased chest wall expansion (P < 0.001), whereas inspiratory muscle strength and lung function were preserved (P > 0.05). The MNG also had a higher incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications compared with the CG (31% and 11%, respectively; P = 0.05). In addition, expiratory muscle weakness was correlated with BMI in the MNG (r = 0.43; P < 0.01). The association between malnutrition and expiratory muscle weakness increased the likelihood of postoperative pulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery (P = 0.02). Conclusions: These results show that malnutrition is associated with weakness of the expiratory muscles, decreased chest wall expansion and increased incidence of pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective upper abdominal surgery.

Phase two of the National Credit Reforms : examining the regulation of payday lenders

This study seeks to analyse the adequacy of the current regulation of the payday lending industry in Australia, and consider whether there is a need for additional regulation to protect consumers of these services. The report examines the different regulatory approaches adopted in comparable OECD countries, and reviews alternative models for payday regulation, in particular, the role played by responsible lending. The study also examines the consumer protection mechanisms now in existence in Australia in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (NCCP) and the National Credit Code (NCC) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act and in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth).

Attributions of responsibility, blame and justifiability to a perpetrator and victim in an acquaintance rape scenario: The influence of Marijuana intoxication

Marijuana is a commonly used illicit drug by young adults and has been implicated in about one third of sexual assaults. However, the influence of Marijuana intoxication on rape attributions has not been previously investigated. This study examined the effects of perpetrator and victim Marijuana intoxication and participant sex on rape attributions. Young adults (N = 285) read an acquaintance rape scenario where Marijuana intoxication was manipulated and completed measures of perpetrator (responsibility, blame and justifiability) and victim attributions (responsibility and blame). The results revealed that an intoxicated, compared to sober, perpetrator was attributed less responsibility for his sexual aggression. When the victim was intoxicated, compared to sober, the perpetrator and victim were attributed less and more blame for the assault, respectively. These findings demonstrate that, irrespective of perceiver sex, Marijuana intoxication, like alcohol intoxication, results in an attributional double standard in favour of the perpetrator.

The impact of saving and credit cooperatives on food security in the West Amhara Region of Ethiopia

In rural Ethiopia, among other things, lack of adequate financial service is considered as the basic problem to alleviate rural poverty and to solve the problem of food insecurity. Commercial banks are restricted to urban centres. Providing rural financial service through RUSACCO to the poor has been proposed as a tool for economic development and for achieving food security. Evidence from research in this regard has been so far scanty, especially in rural Ethiopia. The aims of this study are to analyze the determinants of membership, to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors that influence members’ participation in RUSACCOs and to quantify the impact of RUSACCOs on member households’ food security. The study was conducted in two purposely selected woredas in the Amhara region one from food insecure (Lay Gayint woreda) and the other from food secure (Dejen woreda). Six RUSACCOs were selected randomly from these two woredas. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions and survey techniques were used to collect primary data. Collected data was then analyzed using mixed methods depending on the nature of data. For quantitative data analysis appropriate statistical models were used. The study result reveals that the number of members in each RUSACCO is very small. However, the majority of non-member respondents are willing to join RUSACCO. Lack of information about the benefits of RUSACCO membership is the main problem why many rural poor do not join RUSACCOs. Members participate in different aspects of the cooperatives, starting from attending general assembly up to board membership. They also participate actively in saving and borrowing activities of RUSACCO. The majority of the respondents believe the RUSACCO is a vital instrument in combating food insecurity. The empirical findings indicate that gender, marital status, occupation, educational level, participation in local leadership and participation in other income generation means determine the decision of rural poor to join a RUSACCO or not. The amount of saving is determined by household head occupation, farming experience and income level. While age of household head, primary occupation, farming experience, date of membership, annual total consumption expenditure, amount of saving and participation in other income generation activities influence members’ amount of borrowing by RUSACCO members. Finally, the study confirms that RUSACCO participation improves household food security. RUSACCO membership has made positive impact on household total consumption expenditure and food expenditure.

Implementation of a novel credit based SCFQ scheduler for Broadband Wireless Access

A novel tag computation circuit for a credit based Self-Clocked Fair Queuing (SCFQ) Scheduler is presented. The scheduler combines Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) with a credit based bandwidth reallocation scheme. The proposed architecture is able to reallocate bandwidth on the fly if particular links suffer from channel quality degradation .The hardware architecture is parallel and pipelined enabling an aggregated throughput rate of 180 million tag computations per second. The throughput performance is ideal for Broadband Wireless Access applications, allowing room for relatively complex computations in QoS aware adaptive scheduling. The high-level system break-down is described and synthesis results for Altera Stratix II FPGA technology are presented.

Perceived modifiability of self-blame attributions for negative life events : implications for well-being /

Research suggests that self-blame attributions are important in the process of adjustment to negative life events. Much of the research originates from JanofTBulman's (1979) theory regarding behavioural and characterological self-blame. She argued that attributing negative events to one's behaviour is adaptive because behavioural self-blame involves attributions to a modifiable source, which implies that a similar event can be avoided in the future. In contrast, attributing negative events to one's character is believed to be maladaptive because character is seen as relatively stable and unmodifiable. Unfortunately, the empirical literature does not show consistent relations between these two types of self-blame attributions and well-being as predicted by Janoff-Bulman. For this thesis, I proposed that one reason for this inconsistency is that Janoff-Bulman's assumption about the perceived modifiability of behavioural versus characterological causes is incorrect — people often dlo perceive character (as well as behaviour) to be modifiable. Sixty-two participants completed a questionnaire regarding a recent negative life event and its impact on their well-being. Consistent with my argument, I found that both behavioural and characterological self-blame attributions following a negative life event were seen as modifiable. As hypothesized, perceived modifiability of causes v^as related to well-being. For example, overall modifiability was related to greater coping efficacy, less social dysfunction, less severe depression, and greater positive affect; however. contrary to predictions, the relation between perceived modifiability of causes and wellbeing was not mediated by the perception that similar events could be avoided in the future. Individual differences in attributional style were also assessed in this study. An attributional style that tended to be more internal, stable, and specific was related to wellbeing as expected; however, neither the perceived modifiability of blame attributions nor the perceived avoidability of similar future events mediated this relation. Implications for professionals dealing with trauma victims and potential directions for future research are discussed.