4,674 research outputs found
Narratives of Diversity in the Corporate Boardroom: What Corporate Insiders Say About Why Diversity Matters
Over the last generation, the concept of diversity has become commonplace and taken-for-granted in discourses ranging from law to education to business. In higher education, for example, it is hard to imagine a faculty job search or a student admissions discussion that was not heavily laden with talk of diversity, in the sense of the representative inclusion of women and racial and ethnic minorities in a group or organization. In this paper we present the results of an interview-based study of the discourse of diversity in a particular business setting: the corporate boardroom. Our principal observation is thatâthirty-one years after the Supreme Courtâs Bakke decision introduced the term into public discourse--corporate insiders appear not to have arrived at a master narrative to explain the pursuit of diversity on boards of directors. Instead, their accounts stress a variety of factors and feature few concrete examples
Dangerous Categories: Narratives of Corporate Board Diversity
In this article, we report the results of a series of interviews with corporate directors about racial, ethnic, and gender diversity on corporate boards. On the one hand, our respondents were clear and nearly uniform in their statements that board diversity was an important goal worth pursuing. Yet when asked to provide examples or anecdotes illustrating why board diversity matters, many subjects acknowledged difficulty in illustrating theory with reference to practice.
This expressed reluctance to come to specific terms with general claims about the value of director diversity inspired our title phrase: dangerous categories. That is, while diversity evokes universal acclaim in the abstract, our respondentsâ narratives demonstrate that it is an elusive and even dangerous subject to talk about concretely. So we are left with narratives that simultaneously extol difference and express embarrassment with it.This expressed reluctance to come to specific terms with general claims about the value of director diversity inspired our title phrase: dangerous categories. That is, while diversity evokes universal acclaim in the abstract, our respondentsâ narratives demonstrate that it is an elusive and even dangerous subject to talk about concretely. So we are left with narratives that simultaneously extol difference and express embarrassment with it
Integrated Numerical Modelling System for Extreme Wave Events at the Wave Hub Site
This paper examines an extreme wave event which occurred during a storm at the Wave Hub site in 2012. The extreme wave of 9.57 m height was identified from a time series of the heave data collected by an Oceanor Seawatch Mini II Buoy deployed at the site. An energy density spectrum was derived from this time series and then used to drive a physical model, which represents the extreme wave at 1:20 scale in Plymouth Universityâs new COAST Lab. The NewWave technique was used to define the input to the physical model. The experiment is reproduced in a numerical wave tank using the fully nonlinear CFD library OpenFOAMÂź and the wave generation toolbox waves2Foam. Results are evaluated, and issues regarding the predictions of a numerical model that is driven by the NewWave input signal are discussed. This study sets the basis for further research in coupling field data, physical modelling and numerical modelling in a more efficient and balanced way. This will lead to the new approach of composite modelling that will be implemented in future work
The Peculiar Velocities of Local Type Ia Supernovae and their Impact on Cosmology
We quantify the effect of supernova Type Ia peculiar velocities on the
derivation of cosmological parameters. The published distant and local Ia SNe
used for the Supernova Legacy Survey first-year cosmology report form the
sample for this study. While previous work has assumed that the local SNe are
at rest in the CMB frame (the No Flow assumption), we test this assumption by
applying peculiar velocity corrections to the local SNe using three different
flow models. The models are based on the IRAS PSCz galaxy redshift survey, have
varying beta = Omega_m^0.6/b, and reproduce the Local Group motion in the CMB
frame. These datasets are then fit for w, Omega_m, and Omega_Lambda using
flatness or LambdaCDM and a BAO prior. The chi^2 statistic is used to examine
the effect of the velocity corrections on the quality of the fits. The most
favored model is the beta=0.5 model, which produces a fit significantly better
than the No Flow assumption, consistent with previous peculiar velocity
studies. By comparing the No Flow assumption with the favored models we derive
the largest potential systematic error in w caused by ignoring peculiar
velocities to be Delta w = +0.04. For Omega_Lambda, the potential error is
Delta Omega_Lambda = -0.04 and for Omega_m, the potential error is Delta
Omega_m < +0.01. The favored flow model (beta=0.5) produces the following
cosmological parameters: w = -1.08 (+0.09,-0.08), Omega_m = 0.27 (+0.02,-0.02)
assuming a flat cosmology, and Omega_Lambda = 0.80 (+0.08,-0.07) and Omega_m =
0.27 (+0.02,-0.02) for a w = -1 (LambdaCDM) cosmology.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Is there Evidence for a Hubble bubble? The Nature of Type Ia Supernova Colors and Dust in External Galaxies
We examine recent evidence from the luminosity-redshift relation of Type Ia
Supernovae (SNe Ia) for the detection of a ``Hubble bubble'' --
a departure of the local value of the Hubble constant from its globally
averaged value \citep{Jha:07}. By comparing the MLCS2k2 fits used in that study
to the results from other light-curve fitters applied to the same data, we
demonstrate that this is related to the interpretation of SN color excesses
(after correction for a light-curve shape-color relation) and the presence of a
color gradient across the local sample. If the slope of the linear relation
() between SN color excess and luminosity is fit empirically, then the
bubble disappears. If, on the other hand, the color excess arises purely from
Milky Way-like dust, then SN data clearly favors a Hubble bubble. We
demonstrate that SN data give , instead of the
one would expect from purely Milky-Way-like dust. This suggests that either SN
intrinsic colors are more complicated than can be described with a single
light-curve shape parameter, or that dust around SN is unusual. Disentangling
these possibilities is both a challenge and an opportunity for large-survey SN
Ia cosmology.Comment: Further information and data at
http://qold.astro.utoronto.ca/conley/bubble/ Accepted for publication in ApJ
Temporal responses of coastal hypoxia to nutrient loading and physical controls
The incidence and intensity of hypoxic waters in coastal aquatic ecosystems has been expanding in recent decades coincident with eutrophication of the coastal zone. Worldwide, there is strong interest in reducing the size and duration of hypoxia in coastal waters, because hypoxia causes negative effects for many organisms and ecosystem processes. Although strategies to reduce hypoxia by decreasing nutrient loading are predicated on the assumption that this action would reverse eutrophication, recent analyses of historical data from European and North American coastal systems suggest little evidence for simple linear response trajectories. We review published parallel time-series data on hypoxia and loading rates for inorganic nutrients and labile organic matter to analyze trajectories of oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) response to nutrient loading. We also assess existing knowledge of physical and ecological factors regulating O<sub>2</sub> in coastal marine waters to facilitate analysis of hypoxia responses to reductions in nutrient (and/or organic matter) inputs. Of the 24 systems identified where concurrent time series of loading and O<sub>2</sub> were available, half displayed relatively clear and direct recoveries following remediation. We explored in detail 5 well-studied systems that have exhibited complex, non-linear responses to variations in loading, including apparent "regime shifts". A summary of these analyses suggests that O<sub>2</sub> conditions improved rapidly and linearly in systems where remediation focused on organic inputs from sewage treatment plants, which were the primary drivers of hypoxia. In larger more open systems where diffuse nutrient loads are more important in fueling O<sub>2</sub> depletion and where climatic influences are pronounced, responses to remediation tended to follow non-linear trends that may include hysteresis and time-lags. Improved understanding of hypoxia remediation requires that future studies use comparative approaches and consider multiple regulating factors. These analyses should consider: (1) the dominant temporal scales of the hypoxia, (2) the relative contributions of inorganic and organic nutrients, (3) the influence of shifts in climatic and oceanographic processes, and (4) the roles of feedback interactions whereby O<sub>2</sub>-sensitive biogeochemistry, trophic interactions, and habitat conditions influence the nutrient and algal dynamics that regulate O<sub>2</sub> levels
A Difficult Conversation: Corporate Directors on Race and Gender
This symposium essay summarizes our ongoing ethnographic research on corporate board diversity. This research is based on fifty-seven interviews with corporate directors and a limited number of other persons of interest (including institutional investors, executive search professionals, and proxy advisors) regarding their views on race and gender diversity in the boardroom.
Using a method rooted in anthropology and discourse analysis, we have worked from a general topic outline and conducted open-ended interviews in which respondents are encouraged to raise and develop issues of interest to them. The interviews range from forty-five minutes to two hours in length and each interview is taped and transcribed. As a group, we then listen to each taped interview at least once with transcript in hand, analyzing each interview qualitatively with a focus on the themes that the respondents identify, the emphases given to these themes, the stories (or narratives) that they tell, and the details of the language that they use. We also thematically code the transcripts and use sorting software to get another, complementary view of the frequency and distribution of the various themes.
As we discuss at length in other published work, there are numerous tensions in directorsâ accounts of race and gender in the boardroom. In this essay, we discuss what we view as the central tension in our respondentsâ views on corporate board diversityâtheir overwhelmingly enthusiastic support of board diversity coupled with an inability to articulate coherent accounts of board diversity benefits that might rationalize that enthusiasm
Real-time Analysis and Selection Biases in the Supernova Legacy Survey
The Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) has produced a high-quality, homogeneous
sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) out to redshifts greater than z=1. In its
first four years of full operation (to June 2007), the SNLS discovered more
than 3000 transient candidates, 373 of which have been confirmed
spectroscopically as SNe Ia. Use of these SNe Ia in precision cosmology
critically depends on an analysis of the observational biases incurred in the
SNLS survey due to the incomplete sampling of the underlying SN Ia population.
This paper describes our real-time supernova detection and analysis procedures,
and uses detailed Monte Carlo simulations to examine the effects of Malmquist
bias and spectroscopic sampling. Such sampling effects are found to become
apparent at z~0.6, with a significant shift in the average magnitude of the
spectroscopically confirmed SN Ia sample towards brighter values for z>0.75. We
describe our approach to correct for these selection biases in our three-year
SNLS cosmological analysis (SNLS3), and present a breakdown of the systematic
uncertainties involved.Comment: Accepted for publication in A
Does Critical Mass Matter? Views from the Boardroom
In this Article, we report and analyze the results of forty-six wide-ranging interviews with corporate directors and other relevant insiders on the general topic of whether and how the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of corporate boards matters. In particular, we explore their views on the concept of âcritical massâ â that is, the theory that women and racial or ethnic minorities are unlikely to have an impact in the boardroom until they grow from a few tokens into a considerable minority of the board.
In contrast to other recent qualitative research on corporate boards, we find more limited support among our respondents for critical mass theory. Though some female respondents expressed the view, consistent with critical mass theory, that having more women on the board increased their comfort level and eased some of the stresses associated with being the first and only female, this narrative is in tension with our respondentsâ apparent embrace of their first and only status. Moreover, with the possible exception of employee relations, our interviews largely fail to support the theory that a critical mass of female directors will produce different, and distinctly feminine, boardroom outcomes
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Perturbations in neuroinflammatory pathways are associated with paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer survivors.
Paclitaxel is a common chemotherapy drug associated with the development of chronic paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). PIPN is associated with neuroinflammatory mechanisms in pre-clinical studies. Here, we evaluated for differential gene expression (DGE) in peripheral blood between breast cancer survivors with and without PIPN and for neuroinflammatory (NI) related signaling pathways and whole-transcriptome profiles from other experiments. Pathway impact analysis identified 8 perturbed NI related pathways. Expression profile analysis found 15 experiments having similar whole-transcriptome profiles of DGE related to neuroinflammation and PIPN. These findings suggest that perturbations in pathways associated with neuroinflammation are found in cancer survivors with PIPN
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