CONVERGENCE OF THE G-7: A COINTEGRATION APPROACH

Income convergence among the G-7 countries was demonstrated using Theil's inequality (entropy) index. G-7 convergence was also found for three potential factors of influence on economic growth: government expenditure, investment expenditure, and industrial employment. Pairwise cointegration tests indicated that income inequality was cointegrated with the other three inequality measures for the time period of 1950-88. Finally, Johansen's I(2) multi-cointegration tests indicated that three of the four inequality measures (i.e. income, investment expenditure, and industrial employment) were cointegrated suggesting that there exists a long-run equilibrium between the inequality in income, investment expenditure, and industrial employment.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Dust composition and mass-loss return from the luminous blue variable R71 in the LMC

We present an analysis of mid-and far-infrared (IR) spectrum and spectral energy distribution (SED) of the LBV R71 in the LMC.This work aims to understand the overall contribution of high-mass LBVs to the total dust-mass budget of the interstellar medium (ISM) of the LMC and compare this with the contribution from low-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. As a case study, we analyze the SED of R71. We compiled all the available photometric and spectroscopic observational fluxes from various telescopes for a wide wavelength range (0.36 -- 250\,$\mu$m). We determined the dust composition from the spectroscopic data, and derived the ejected dust mass, dust mass-loss rate, and other dust shell properties by modeling the SED of R71. We noted nine spectral features in the dust shell of R71 by analyzing Spitzer spectroscopic data. Among these, we identified three new crystalline silicate features. We computed our model spectrum by using 3D radiative transfer code MCMax. Our model calculation shows that dust is dominated by amorphous silicates, with some crystalline silicates, metallic iron, and a very tiny amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. The presence of both silicates and PAHs indicates that the dust has a mixed chemistry. We derived a dust mass of 0.01 M$_\odot$, from which we arrive at a total ejected mass of $\approx$ 5 M$_\odot$. This implies a time-averaged dust mass-loss rate of 2.5$\times$10$^{-6}$ M$_\odot$\,yr$^{-1}$ with an explosion about 4000 years ago. We assume that the other five confirmed dusty LBVs in the LMC loose mass at a similar rate, and estimate the total contribution to the mass budget of the LMC to be $\approx$ 10$^{-5}$ M$_\odot$\,yr$^{-1}$, which is comparable to the contribution by all the AGB stars in the LMC. Based on our analysis on R71, we speculate that LBVs as a class may be an important dust source in the ISM of the LMC.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Derived Demand for Food Nutrients as Welfare Indicator of Biofortified Crops: High-Iron Rice in the Philippines

The study estimates potential consumer gains from the introduction of High-Iron Rice in the Philippines. By deriving the demand for dietary iron from a national survey on household food consumption and expenditure, we project consumer welfare implications under both non-market and market analytical frameworks.Crop Production/Industries,

The interaction of class and gender in illness narratives

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2008 BSA Publications Ltd.Perspectives on gender and identity that emphasize variability of performance, local context and individual agency have displaced earlier paradigms.These are now perceived to have supported gender stereotypes and language ideologies by emphasizing gender difference and homogeneity within genders. In a secondary analysis of health and illness narratives we explore the interaction of class and gender in individuals' constructions of gendered identity. High social class men perform gender in particularly varied ways and we speculate that this variable repertoire, including the use of what was once termed `women's language', is linked to a capacity to maintain social distinction and authority. Men's performance of conventional masculinity is often threatened by both the experience of illness and being interviewed about personal experience. Lower social class women in particular demonstrate an intensification of a pre-existing informal family and support group culture, marking successful members by awarding them the accolade of being `lovely'.ESR

Accessibility 2.0: people, policies and processes

The work of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is described in a set of technical guidelines designed to maximise accessibility to digital resources. Further activities continue to focus on technical developments, with current discussions exploring the potential merits of use of Semantic Web and Web 2.0 approaches.In this paper we argue that the focus on technologies can be counter-productive. Rather than seeking to enhance accessibility through technical innovations, the authors argue that the priority should be for a user-focussed approach, which embeds best practices through the development of achievable policies and processes and which includes all stakeholders in the process of maximising accessibility.The paper reviews previous work in this area and summarises criticisms of WAI’s approach. The paper further develops a tangram model which describes a pluralistic, as opposed to a universal, approach to Web accessibility, which encourages creativity and diversity in developing accessible services. Such diversity will need to reflect the context of usage, including the aims of a service (informational, educational, cultural, etc.), the users’ and the services providers’ environment.The paper describes a stakeholder approach to embedding best practices, which recognises that organisations will encounter difficulties in developing sustainable approaches by addressing only the needs of the end user and the Web developer. The paper describes work which has informed the ideas in this paper and plans for further work, including an approach to advocacy and education which coins the “Accessibility 2.0” term to describe a renewed approach to accessibility, which builds on previous work but prioritises the importance of the user. The paper concludes by describing the implications of the ideas described in this paper for WAI and for accessibility practitioner stakeholders

Foundations of character: methodological aspects of a study of character development in three- to six-year-old children with a focus on sharing behaviours

This article focuses on methodological issues arising in a study of character development, using illustrations of ‘sharing behaviours.’ Based primarily in six early years settings in southeast England the research records naturalistic observations of peer interactions for 55 children aged three to six years. Applying grounded theory to the processes of observing, analysing and interpreting evidence required a cautious and collectively reflective approach. The methodology sought to moderate the influence of the researchers' prior knowledge of ‘grand theories’ of moral development and assumptions about relevance to the observation records. The study's originality lay in the exploration of moral development without reference to any particular grand theory as an explanatory framework; and in the reluctance to be drawn to potentially simplistic rationalisations of the children's intentions on the basis of their observed behaviours. Exploring young children's subjective experiences, this research provides insights into the intricacy of this process, steering away from ‘neat’ findings and attempting to reflect the sophistication of the children's skilful and sometimes surprising negotiations of moral dilemmas. Implications for practice relate to the complexities involved in attempts to unravel the developing moral characters of young children and the practice through which this may be nurtured

International education: a force for peace and cross-cultural understanding?

This paper discusses the notion that the international sojourn has the potential to transform sojourners into cultural mediators who carry the power to improve global relations. A year-long ethnographic study of the adjustment experiences of international postgraduate students in England revealed a universal early enthusiasm for cross-cultural contact that was matched by a widespread adoption of segregated patterns of interacting. The most common friendship networks were described by bonds with conationals, and yet all students attested to an increase in their cultural learning and mindfulness by the end of the sojourn. Nevertheless, intercultural competence was maximised only in those few students who pursued a multicultural strategy of interaction, leading the researcher to call on Higher Education Institutions to instigate policies to encourage lasting cross-cultural contact

Newsprint coverage of smoking in cars carrying children : a case study of public and scientific opinion driving the policy debate

Acknowledgements Date of Acceptance:17/10/2014 Acknowledgements: This project was funded by Cancer Research UK (MC_U130085862) and the Scottish School of Public Health Research. Cancer Research UK and the Scottish School of Public Health Research was not involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Shona Hilton, Karen Wood, Josh Bain and Chris Patterson are funded by the UK Medical Research Council as part of the Understandings and Uses of Public Health Research programme (MC_UU_12017/6) at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. We thank Alan Pollock who provided assistance with coding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Herschel Observations of a Newly Discovered UX Ori Star in the Large Magellanic Cloud

The LMC star, SSTISAGE1C J050756.44-703453.9, was first noticed during a survey of EROS-2 lightcurves for stars with large irregular brightness variations typical of the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) class. However, the visible spectrum showing emission lines including the Balmer and Paschen series as well as many Fe II lines is emphatically not that of an RCB star. This star has all of the characteristics of a typical UX Ori star. It has a spectral type of approximately A2 and has excited an H II region in its vicinity. However, if it is an LMC member, then it is very luminous for a Herbig Ae/Be star. It shows irregular drops in brightness of up to 2 mag, and displays the reddening and "blueing" typical of this class of stars. Its spectrum, showing a combination of emission and absorption lines, is typical of a UX Ori star that is in a decline caused by obscuration from the circumstellar dust. SSTISAGE1C J050756.44-703453.9 has a strong IR excess and significant emission is present out to 500 micron. Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling of the SED requires that SSTISAGE1C J050756.44-703453.9 has both a dusty disk as well as a large extended diffuse envelope to fit both the mid- and far-IR dust emission. This star is a new member of the UX Ori subclass of the Herbig Ae/Be stars and only the second such star to be discovered in the LMC.Comment: ApJ, in press. 9 pages, 5 figure