Suchergebnisse

Abstract. Tectonomagnetic field observations from absolute magnetic field levels have been collected in Central Italy since 1989 by means of a network of four absolute magnetometer stations, including the geomagnetic observatory of L'Aquila (42°23 N, 13°19 E) used as reference for differentiation; also electromagnetic variations from VLF signals have been recorded in the last years by means of VLF search coil wide-band antennas. Many reports proved the occurrence of electromagnetic effects clearly related to tectonic events (seismic and volcanic activity) in active areas of our planet. In this paper we show the variation of some electromagnetic parameters which could be related to local and regional seismic activity for the most recent years 2002 and 2003. We also report the seismic activity recorded in this area by the Italian seismic national network. Some tentative analysis (in the wavelets and statistical approach) on the historical and recent dataset allow a better characterization of electromagnetic properties of the study area, at different temporal and spatial scales.

Indigenous Australians constitute approximately 2.4% of the Australian population and suffer from disadvantage across a range of social, economic, and health indicators compared to other Australians, including exposure to racism across all domains of contemporary Australian society. However, there has been relatively little research conducted on anti‐racism in relation to Indigenous Australians. This article begins with an overview of theoretical issues pertinent to the empirical study and public policy of anti‐racism. Empirical findings, from social psychology, on effective approaches to anti‐racism at the cognitive, individual, interpersonal, and societal level as well as for the targets of racism are detailed with a particular focus on Indigenous Australians. Recommendations for improving and expanding institutional and legal policies to implement these approaches in relation to education and child‐rearing, public service, law enforcement and media, as well as monitoring racism and promoting anti‐racism in civil society, are then presented. To conclude, strategies for engendering political will to combat racism in the current neoliberal capitalist climate are explored.

This article argues for a cultural perspective to be brought to bear on studies of climate change risk perception. Developing the "circuit of culture" model, the article maintains that the producers and consumers of media texts are jointly engaged in dynamic, meaning‐making activities that are context‐specific and that change over time. A critical discourse analysis of climate change based on a database of newspaper reports from three U.K. broadsheet papers over the period 1985–2003 is presented. This empirical study identifies three distinct circuits of climate change—1985–1990, 1991–1996, 1997–2003—which are characterized by different framings of risks associated with climate change. The article concludes that there is evidence of social learning as actors build on their experiences in relation to climate change science and policy making. Two important factors in shaping the U.K.'s broadsheet newspapers' discourse on "dangerous" climate change emerge as the agency of top political figures and the dominant ideological standpoints in different newspapers.

Abstract. Recent studies on the avalanche risk in alpine settlements suggested a strong dependency of the development of risk on variations in damage potential. Based on these findings, analyses on probable maximum losses in avalanche-prone areas of the municipality of Davos (CH) were used as an indicator for the long-term development of values at risk. Even if the results were subject to significant uncertainties, they underlined the dependency of today's risk on the historical development of land-use: Small changes in the lateral extent of endangered areas had a considerable impact on the exposure of values. In a second step, temporal variations in damage potential between 1950 and 2000 were compared in two different study areas representing typical alpine socio-economic development patterns: Davos (CH) and Galtür (A). The resulting trends were found to be similar; the damage potential increased significantly in number and value. Thus, the development of natural risk in settlements can for a major part be attributed to long-term shifts in damage potential.

Abstract. The accuracy of 4 Digital Elevation Models (SRTM30, GTOPO30, SRTM3 and local DEM produced from aerial photogrammetric images) for the volcanoes Merapi and Merbabu in Java, Indonesia is investigated by comparison with 443 GPS ground control points. The study confirms the high accuracy of SRTM3 and SRTM30, even if the a priori defined 90% confidence level of 16 m for the SRTM3 is not always achieved in this mountainous region. Accuracy of SRTM30, GTOPO30 and SRTM3 is mainly dependent on the altitude itself and the slopes' inclinations, whereas the photogrammetric DEM exhibits constant accuracy over a wide range of altitudes and slopes. For SRTM3 and SRTM30 a statistically significant correlation between heights and aspects of the slopes is also found. Accuracy of DEMs which are generated by interpolation on a finer grid does not change significantly. Smoothing of DEMs on a coarser grid, however, decreases accuracy. The decrease in accuracy is again dependent on altitude and slope inclination. The comparison of SRTM30 with GTOPO30 exhibits a significant improvement of SRTM30 data.

This article describes a diagnostic model for empowerment in team- based organizations that portrays four dimensions of the organization's control structure: the level of routine, the nature of expertise, the level of dependence and the line of command. The combined positions of the set of job regulation tasks distinguished for these dimensions express empowerment in terms of a functional balance and a balance of authority. The diagnostic model can be used to measure the control structure in practice and to provide input for a well-founded and managerial debate on empowerment and control. The model is illustrated with quantitative data from a pilot study of 16 semi-autonomous work teams within the manufacturing industry. Considerable differences in the local interpretation of the design of the control structure by team managers were observed. In general, the empowerment of teams is rather limited. The impression given is that there is a temporary 'double control structure', meaning simultaneous bottom-up and top-down control of the teams.

ABSTRACTA challenge of supply chain management is to align the objectives, and hence coordinate the activities, of independent supply chain members. In this study, we approach this problem in a simple way by extending traditional quantity discounts that are based solely on buyers' individual order size to discount policies that are based on both buyers' individual order size and their annual volume. We show that discount policies are able to achieve nearly optimal system profit and, hence, provide effective coordination, for a decentralized two‐echelon distribution system, whereby a supplier sells a product to a group of heterogeneous and independent retailers each facing a downward‐sloping demand curve of its retail price. When buyers are heterogeneous, a critical issue of coordination is to motivate different customers to increase their demand and lot size according to their potential so as to improve profits. We show that market heterogeneity presents an effective discriminating factor for the supplier to segment customers in the design of a coordination mechanism.

Objective: This study compares sex offender risk classification using two popular actuarial risk assessment instruments—the Static-99 and the Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R). Despite their extensive use, the two scales assess different types of risk factors and research has yet to compare them. Method: Static-99 and LSI-R risk assessments were compared for 30 adult male sex offenders attending a community-based treatment program. Results: A paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed a significant difference (Z = –3.962,p < .001) between the instruments, with 63.3% of the sample classified as higher risk for reoffending by the Static-99 than by the LSI-R. Conclusions: The Static-99 may be a more conservative risk assessment tool. Yet because the LSI-R provides useful information about an offender's current needs not included on the Static-99, treatment providers should use both instruments. This more comprehensive assessment of criminogenic risk and need will better inform supervision and intervention decisions.

English Around one in .ve US accredited schools of social work are currently placing students in international .eld placements. Providing adequate supervision strains these programs. This study proposes a triad model of videoconferencing supervision and reports the responses of students in international placements, their agencies and university supervisors. French Environ un cinquiè me des é coles de travail social accré dité es aux Etats-Unis offrent des stages internationaux à leurs é tudiants. Fournir la supervision approprié e met de la stresse sur ces programmes. Cet article propose un modè le de supervision par vidé oconfé rence (triad) et discute les opinions sur ce modè le des é tudiants en stages, de leurs agences, et des superviseurs des université s. Sapanish Aproximadamente una de cada cinco escuelas de trabajo social, acreditada en los Estados Unidos, ubican estudiantes en campos internacionales. Mediante una adecuada supervisión se pueden filtrar estos programas. Este estudio propone un modelo tríada de supervisión mediante videoconferencia y reportes de los estudiantes ubicados en campos internacionales, sus agencias y los supervisores universitarios.

The purpose of this study was to obtain Canadian data on the experiences and attitudes of social workers working with violent or potentially violent clients. The article explores social workers' personal experience of clients' violence and their assessment of clients' violence as a safety concern in their workplace. French Cette é tude vise à commencer à obtenir des donné es canadiennes sur les expé riences et les attitudes des travailleurs sociaux qui oeuvrent auprè s d'une clientè le violente ou potentiellement violente. L'article explore l'expé rience personnelle de travailleurs sociaux avec la violence de leurs clients ainsi que leur é valuation du potentiel de danger face à des clients violents dans leur lieu de travail. Spanish Este estudio inicia la obtención de datos acerca de las experiencias y actitudes de los trabajadores sociales que en Canadá trabajan con clientes real o potencialmente violentos. El artículo explora la experiencia personal del trabajador social y su valoración de en qué medida la violencia del cliente afecta su sentido de seguridad en el trabajo.

When applied to the study of changes in an individual's offending, general strain theory posits that individuals will be more likely to offend during periods of high strain. Using 36 months of retrospective data collected from female inmates, we explore the relationship between intra‐individual changes in strain and changes in offending and drug use. We also examine how different dimensions of strain‐recent composite strain, duration, clustering and accumulation, contribute to the explanation of offending. We find that changes in strain are associated with changes in violence, drug use, and property crime and that these relationships remain after the addition of control variables. Moreover, the strain‐crime relationship holds when the correct causal order is specified. When modeling offending, taking various dimensions of strain into account does increase the amount of variation explained for some outcomes, but other dimensions are highly correlated. We conclude that conceptualizing the interaction between strain and crime as a dynamic process is constructive and that general strain theory will be improved if criminologists move beyond static conceptions of strain.

This research examines the intergovernmental coordination to reduce vulnerability of local communities to disasters. Turkey's exposure to seismic risk is very high and achieving intergovernmental coordination in response operations is a challenge. The formal bureaucratic structure of the disaster management inhibits timely collective action in complex disaster environments. The paper examines one of the most destructive regional disasters of the last century, the 1999 Marmara earthquake. The research uses data from content analyses of news reports, interviews with public and nonprofit managers, and direct field observations. This analysis was carried out using UCINET 6.0 social network analysis software program. The results of the network analysis have shown that there is a problem of communication and coordination among public agencies in response to the disaster. Moreover, the integration of organizations from different jurisdictions and other sectors was problematic in the response operations. The results of the study reveal the leverage points for improving intergovernmental collective action from the perspective of complex adaptive systems theory.

Much recent research has found that states generally comply with the treaties they sign. The implications of this finding, however, are unclear: do states comply because the legal commitment compels them to do so, or because of the conditions that led them to sign? Drawing from previous research in thisReviewon Article VIII of the IMF Treaty (Simmons 2000a), I examine the problem of selection bias in the study of treaty compliance. To understand how and whether international legal commitments affect state behavior, one must control for all sources of selection into the treaty—including those that are not directly observable. I develop a statistical method that controls for such sources of selection and find considerable evidence that the unobservable conditions that lead states to make the legal commitment to Article VIII have a notable impact on their propensity to engage in compliant behavior. The results suggest that the international legal commitment has little constraining power independent of the factors that lead states to sign.

AbstractThe study investigates European American and Taiwanese grandmothers' folk theories of childrearing and self‐esteem, building on an earlier comparison of mothers from the same families. Adopting methods that privilege local meanings, we bring grandmothers' voices into the conversation about childrearing, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of intergenerational nuances in folk theories. In each cultural case, 16 grandmothers of 3‐year‐olds participated in in‐depth interviews that were customized according to local communicative norms. Although self‐esteem emerged as a central organizing concept in the folk theories of European American mothers, grandmothers spoke in two voices, either echoing their daughters or invoking a counter‐discourse of wariness towards self‐esteem. By contrast, Taiwanese mothers and grandmothers resembled one another—but differed from their American counterparts—in treating self‐esteem as peripheral in childrearing. Results contribute to the growing consensus that self‐esteem is a culture‐specific childrearing goal and suggest that the European American tendency to valorize self‐esteem varies by generation.

Abstract This is the first study to investigate experimentally how children come to learn mappings between novel phrasal forms and novel meanings: a central task in learning a language. Two experiments are reported. In both studies 5‐ to 7‐year‐old children watched a short set of video clips depicting objects appearing in various ways. Each scene was described using a novel verb embedded in a novel construction. Children who watched the videos and heard the accompanying description were able to match new descriptions that used the novel construction with new scenes of appearance. Moreover, our results suggest a facilitative effect for the disproportionately high frequency of occurrence of a single verb in a particular construction (such as has been found to exist in naturalistic input to children). While the fast mapping might be taken as an indication of innate knowledge that is specific to language, analogous effects in non‐linguistic categorization tasks suggest that children are acquiring the new phrasal form with general cognitive skills.