The 2016 Wines of Portugal Challenge: general implications of more than 8400 wine-score observations

The Wines of Portugal Challenge is an annual competition among wines produced by over 1000 vintners in over 30 of the country’s wine growing regions. In 2016, judges assigned scores to over 1300 wines resulting in over 8400 wine-score observations. Analysis of that large sample yields implications about wine judges’ ratings that are difficult to detect with statistical significance in the small samples that are typical of most wine tastings. The Challenge’s frequency distribution of scores showed left skewness and local peaks just below the score thresholds for bronze, silver and gold awards. Student’s t-tests showed that there were no significant differences in scores assigned by gender-of-judge, nationality-of-judge and to wines from different regions. However, judges did assign higher scores to sweet wines than to other types of wine. While the dispersion in scores was material, p-values showed that the aggregate order of rating was very unlikely to be random and the distributions of mean scores showed that the strengths of judges’ preferences against the least-preferred wines were stronger than those in favor of the most-preferred wines. Ties between wines’ mean scores were common and could be broken by several methods including the preference probabilities implied by a Plackett-Luce modelinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rectification by Doped Mott-Insulator Junctions

Junctions of doped Mott insulators offer a route to rectification at frequencies beyond the terahertz range. Mott insulators have strong electronic correlations and therefore short timescales for electron-electron scattering. It is this short time scale that allows for the possibility of rectification at frequencies higher than those of semiconductor devices that are limited by the slow diffusion of charge carriers. We model a junction by a one dimensional chain of electrons with p- and n-doping on the two halves of the chain. Two types of systems are investigated: spin polarized electrons with nearest-neighbor interaction, and spin-half electrons that interact via on-site repulsion (the Hubbard model). For short chains the many-body Schrodinger equation can be integrated numerically exactly, and when driven by an oscillating electromagnetic field such idealized junctions rectify, showing a preferred direction for charge transfer. Longer chains are studied by the time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group method, and also shown to rectify.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE Lester Eastman Conference on High Performance Devices. Figure 5 has been replaced with a version that shows how tDMRG block size affects the accuracy of the simulation. Some wording changes have been made for clarit

Gold in the South African market: a safe haven or hedge?

Thesis (M.Com. (Finance)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2014.The evolution of gold from a precious metal to a means of exchange and a financial asset has allowed gold to exhibit unique characteristics from a portfolio management perspective. This research report seeks to analyse the characteristics of gold in order to determine its feasibility as a safe haven asset, a diversifier or a hedge in the South African capital markets during different economic climates. This study replicates the methodology of Baur and Lucey (2010) and uses two principle regression models to analyse the properties of gold as a safe haven, a hedge or a diversifier for the South African Investor. Despite the general consensus of gold as a safe haven asset, academic research on this topic to date is relatively sparse, especially within a South African context. This study therefore provides empirical evidence to support the hypothesis of gold as a safe haven and a hedge in a South African context. The findings of this research show that, for South African investors investing in South African equities, gold acts as a hedge on average. In relation to the finding for gold as a safe haven or a hedge for the South African bond market, it was found that gold does act as a hedge on average. The findings further demonstrate that for a South African investor, gold does not act as a hedge for international stocks. The portfolio analysis section of this paper demonstrates that the return for gold is positive on the day that an extreme negative shock occurs in the stock market. Furthermore, the safe haven effect of gold is eliminated after two trading day

On Intolerance and Immigration: Understanding Perceptions of Intra- and Extradiversity in Denmark and Canada

The increasing pace of immigration to the Western world and the subsequent xenophobic backlashes to immigrants has created an urgent need for empirical research that examines the dynamics of immigration and xenophobia. This project addresses that dynamic through a comparative analysis of Denmark and Canada, whose histories since World War II have shaped both official responses and dominant discourses in ways that position the two countries at near opposite ends of the spectrum of immigration responses in the Western world. Moving away from linear, macro-level models employed in most immigration research, this project employs methods triangulation. It uses both qualitative and quantitative data to explore the hypothesis that the perceived level of diversity – of the 'self' and the 'other' – is instrumental in shaping the dynamics within which discourses and attitudes about immigration are negotiated. The research findings support the diversity hypothesis while also causing us to expand on it: not only is the receiving population's negotiation of the national identity vis a vis diversity central in shaping responses to immigration, but the nature of the distinction between the 'self' and the 'other' is instrumental in this negotiation process. Furthermore, the level of society from which the identity negotiation process stems - whether group-based or focused on the individual - plays a large role in shaping the responses to immigration

Principals' perceptions of the key tensions, processes and consequences characterising the secularisation of South African public schools.

Grounded in the qualitative tradition, the aim of this study was to explore how principals perceive the processes governing, tensions inherent in and consequences, of the secularisation of public schools in South Africa, against the backdrop of the old apartheid system. Principals are key informants who bridge the gap between the political arena and the individuals who are affected at the implementation level and therefore provide a valuable lens through which the process of secularisation can be explored. Eight principals, who had been in this position of leadership for at least eight years, participated in semi-structured interviews, which were then subjected to a thematic content analysis. Principals perceived the process as characterised by a lack of consultation and transparency, with no clear guidelines provided to them and no follow-through from the education ministry. They also perceived tensions in the manner in which principals continued to embrace Christian principles in the management of their schools. Tolerance and respect of different religions were identified as positive outcomes of secularisation but these were perceived to have been offset by the negative consequences of a moral collapse, an ungovernable school and a loss of identity among the students. Through exploring the nature of key socialising agents, in the educational arena, it became evident that the participants often conceptualised themselves as martyrs and perceived parents as morally neglectful. The changing role of the school, as an agent of religious education, was also explored. Overall, all the principals strongly agreed that despite the good intentions of the government in fostering a democratic society, the impact of secularisation had resulted in some unintended effects, including a negative impact on the moral development of the students. In sum they perceived that the negative consequences of secularisation outweighed the promises of the government’s overall secularisation vision

Penerapan Lean Supply Chain pada Proses Loading Pupuk In Bag di Pelabuhan PT. Petrokimia Gresik

PT. Petrokimia Gresik merupakan salah satu produsen pupuk terbesar di Indonesia yangmempunyai jaringan supply chain lintas negara dan distribusi ke seluruh Nusantara baik pupukcurah maupun pupuk in bag. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada pelabuhan PT. PG yangmerupakan titik utama dari kegiatan logistik di Perusahaan ini sendiri, yakni pemuatan danpembongkaran. Dengan fokus penelitian pada proses pemuatan pupuk in bag. Permasalahanyang terjadi pada proses ini dikarenakan inefisiensi aliran Supply Chain, yang disebabkan olehadanya waste dan non value added actvity. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengetahui jenis wasteapa saja yang terjadi selama proses, serta saran perbaikan dengan menggunakan konsep LeanSupply Chain dan Value Stream Mapping serta mencari penyebab masalah menggunakan 5Whys dan Fishbone. Jenis pemborosan yang paling berpengaruh selama aliran proses adalahWaiting Time (20,42%), serta Non Value Added Actvity sebesar 51,9%. Dengan menggunakanfishbone dan 5Whys dapat diketahui penyebab waste terbesar diantaranya adalah lamanya trukmenunggu muatan, banyaknya crane tidak sehat, serta tidak adanya penjadwalan dan alokasimuatan. Sementara rekomendasi yang diberikan adalah penjadwalan dan pengalokasian,pengadaan lini khusus di gudang, penyediaan crane dengan kondisi kecepatan muat yang sesuai.Berdasarkan saran perbaikan diprediksi dapat mereduksi total NVA sebesar 59.8

Genomic Analyses of Bifidobacterium moukalabense Reveal Adaptations to Frugivore/Folivore Feeding Behavior

Funding: This research was funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), grant for the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) “Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Forest through Sustainable Coexistence between Human and Wild Animals” (PI, Juichi Yamagiwa) and the study was also supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (15K18775, Sayaka Tsuchida)”. Acknowledgments: We thank Ayumi Akiyoshi and Chiaki Hagiwara for technical assistance and Takahiro Yonezawa at Tokyo University of Agriculture for his valuable discussion about genetic evolution of Bifidobacterium. The authors are indebted for the sampling to Juichi Yamagiwa (Kyoto University), Yuji Takenoshita (Chubu Gakuin University), Shiho Fujita (Kagoshima University), Ludovic Ngok Banak and Alfred Ngomanda, the former and the actual Director of the Research Institute of Tropical Ecology (IRET)/National Center of Scientific Research and Technology (CENAREST) of Gabonese Republic. Takahiro Segawa was supported by Transdisciplinary Research Integration Center (TRIC) of the Research Organization of Information and Systems. Ortholog analyses were supported by Basis for Supporting Innovative Drug Discovery and Life Science Research program (2051). Computations were partially performed on the NIG (National Institute of Genetics) supercomputer at ROIS (Research Organization of Information and Systems) National Institute of Genetics.Peer reviewe

Organic fertilizer significantly mitigates N2O emissions while increase contributed of comammox Nitrospira in paddy soils

Peer reviewe

Distinctions between experiences of anger and sadness in children's and adolescents' narrative accounts of peer injury

Children’s varied emotions following peer injury may reflect distinct ways of understanding and coping with such events. This study examined how children’s references to anger and sadness in their accounts of peer injury were differentially related to narrative descriptions of their motivations, interpretations, evaluations, and behavioral responses, as well as the relationships in which harm occurred. We also explored how these associations between emotions and other narrative elements varied with age. The study was based on a corpus of 275 transcripts of oral narratives recounted by equal numbers of boys and girls across three age groups: 7, 11, and 16 years. In line with functionalist theories, anger was uniquely linked to maximizing attributions, indignation, and aggression, after accounting for age and gender. Sadness was related to harm in close relationships and relational goals, underlining the value placed on relationships with the offender, as well as a sense of powerlessness and confusion. Some associations between emotions and other narrative elements varied with age, suggesting that children’s experiences of anger and sadness became increasingly agentic and relationally oriented. Findings suggest how narrative constructions of meaning about peer injury may serve as contexts for reflecting on how anger and sadness emerge from and are resolved through interpersonal relationships