Welfare state and representation: do women make the welfare state or does the welfare state make women representatives?

The relationship between welfare states and women’s representation in parliaments has been of great interest to scholars. However, different strands of the literature on gender and political representation suggest opposing directions of causality. On the one hand it is argued that a rise in welfare spending increases women’s representation in parliaments, but on the other hand, more women in parliaments is said to expand welfare spending. This paper analyses the problem empirically and finds that the lagged values of women’s parliamentary representation are better predictors of welfare spending than the lagged values of spending are of women’s percent in parliaments. In other words, women make the welfare state and welfare spending does not make female representatives

Factors predicting the scientific wealth of nations

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that economic affluence is one of the main predictors of the scientific wealth of nations. Yet, the link is not as straightforward as is often presented. First, only a limited set of relatively affluent countries is usually studied. Second, there are differences between equally rich countries in their scientific success. The main aim of the present study is to find out which factors can enhance or suppress the effect of the economic wealth of countries on their scientific success, as measured by the High Quality Science Index (HQSI). The HQSI is a composite indicator of scientific wealth, which in equal parts considers the mean citation rate per paper and the percentage of papers that have reached the top 1% of citations in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI; Clarivate Analytics) database during the 11-year period from 2008 to 2018. Our results show that a high position in the ranking of countries on the HQSI can be achieved not only by increasing the number of high-quality papers but also by reducing the number of papers that are able to pass ESI thresholds but are of lower quality. The HQSI was positively and significantly correlated with the countries’ economic indicators (as measured by gross national income and Research and Development expenditure as a percentage from GDP), but these correlations became insignificant when other societal factors were controlled for. Overall, our findings indicate that it is small and well-governed countries with a long-standing democratic past that seem to be more efficient in translating economic wealth into high-quality science

Signaali tugevusel põhinev esemete otsimise süsteem

In this thesis, work regarding to development a system that would help finding lost objects based on RSSI is presented. The thesis gives a basic overview of the theory behind RF modulation, antennas and PCB design. Based on the presented theory, the technology and system parameters are chosen to design and ultimately complete the system. To improve the performace of the system the RF parts of the circuits are optimized using a vector network analyzer. As a result of this thesis a periodically transmitting battery-powered beacon that works at 433.92MHz is designed and completed. To read the transmitted data and the signal strength a receiver is also designed and completed to receive the data transmitted by the beacon and display the RSSI on a smart-phone screen using the micro-USB port

Tarkvara arendamine Tartu Observatooriumi põrutuskindluse katsesüsteemile

Components used in space are subject to high frequency and high amplitude mechanical shocks that occur during the launch and separation phases of the space vehicles. Shock testing is done to ensure that components can withstand the shock events. A shock can be described by an acceleration and time history, but in shock testing it is difficult to manage and quantify shocks by only looking at the acceleration and time history of a shock. Instead, a shock response spectrum is used, which plots the peak accelerations of multiple single degree of freedom systems with their own unique frequencies over a range of frequencies, usually from 100 Hz to 10 000 Hz. The shocks that occur in space can reach up to acceleration levels of 10 000 g’s. The main objective of this work was to develop a software application for the mechanical shock testing system at Tartu Observatory. The shock testing system at Tartu Observatory consists of a resonant plate, pendulum hammer, guiding rod, weights and a data acquisition module with acceleration sensors. The software was developed in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 using the C++ programming language and external libraries. The software is required to acquire the data from the sensors connected to the data acquisition module and process and plot it. The shock response spectrum and acceleration-time histories can be plotted. An important aspect of shock testing is to be able to recreate shocks of various levels. If the shock testing system manages to do this, the system is considered reliable. To test the reliability of the system, the developed software was tested by performing shock testing on test objects and plotting the results

Computational composition strategies in audiovisual laptop performance

We live in a cultural environment in which computer based musical performances have become ubiquitous. Particularly the use of laptops as instruments is a thriving practice in many genres and subcultures. The opportunity to command the most intricate level of control on the smallest of time scales in music composition and computer graphics introduces a number of complexities and dilemmas for the performer working with algorithms. Writing computer code to create audiovisuals offers abundant opportunities for discovering new ways of expression in live performance while simultaneously introducing challenges and presenting the user with difficult choices. There are a host of computational strategies that can be employed in live situations to assist the performer, including artificially intelligent performance agents who operate according to predefined algorithmic rules. This thesis describes four software systems for real time multimodal improvisation and composition in which a number of computational strategies for audiovisual laptop performances is explored and which were used in creation of a portfolio of accompanying audiovisual compositions

Carstairs Scores for Scottish Postcode Sectors, Datazones and Output Areas from the 2011 Census

Carstairs deprivation scores, originally created in 1981, provide a measure of material deprivation. Four census variables (male unemployment, no car ownership, overcrowding and low social class) were used in the creation of the score. As near as possible the same four variables have been used to update Carstairs scores decennially, despite changes to the definition of some of the variables over time. Researchers at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow have now updated Carstairs scores for 2011 for Scottish postcode sectors and for the first time datazones and output areas

EESTI KEELEKOGUKONNA SÄILIMISEST TAANIS

Käesolev artikkel keskendub Taanis elavatele, põhiliselt Teise maailmasõja ajal ja järel sinna ümber asunud eestlaste ning nende järeltulijate eesti keele kasutuse vaatlemisele. Taani eestlaste kogukond on suhteliselt väike ning on jäänud teiste, suuremate väliseesti kogukondade varju. Taani eestlaste esimeseks põlvkonnaks nimetatakse artiklis neid eestlasi, kes tulid Taani Teise maailmasõja ajal. Teise põlvkonna moodustavad nende lapsed, kes on sündinud juba väljaspool Eestit. Esimene Taani eestlaste põlvkond, kes lahkus Eestist kodumaal omandatud eesti keelega ja on seda keelt läbi pagulasaastate alal hoidnud, on hääbumas, paljud neist on viimastel aastatel elust lahkunud. Pärast Teist maailmasõda või selle ajal sündinud teise põlvkonna taanieestlasi, kes räägivad eesti keelt, on vähem kui elusolevaid esimese põlvkonna taanieestlasi. Carol-Myers Scotton on välja toonud rea faktoreid, mis mõjutavad keele säilimist ja/või vahetust, jagades need kolme rühma: ühiskondlikud, grupisisesed ning individuaalsed (2006). Artiklis analüüsitakse Taani eestlaste eesti keele säilimist ja/või vahetust mõjutavaid tegureid, lähtudes Myers-Scottoni välja toodud faktoritest, tegemaks kindlaks, kas ülekaalus on keele säilitamist või vahetust soosivad tegurid

“There goes the fear”: Feelings of safety at home and in the neighbourhood: the role of personal, social and service factors

Safety has been shown to be an important contributor to mental wellbeing and is often identified as a key element of sustainable communities. Drawing on the fear of crime literature this paper investigates the determinants of feelings of indoor and outdoor safety for people living in deprived areas, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal samples from household surveys in 15 communities in Glasgow. Across the different models social cohesion, satisfaction with services and perceived empowerment emerge as the most robust predictors of feeling very safe indoors and outside. Our findings suggest useful extensions to several theoretical models of the fear of crime: the vulnerability hypothesis should include social vulnerability more generally; environmental models should focus on local amenities and services as well as on disorder; and social-psychological models should consider not only informal social control but resident empowerment in relation to housing and neighbourhood issues