The Principle of Solidarity

The ethical basis of trade unionism is the principle of solidarity, according to which “an injury to one is an injury to all.” The principle is analyzed in accordance with three competing interpretations: a “common-interest” interpretation, a “common-fate” interpretation, and a “common front” interpretation. The last of these interpretations, according to which the principle sets out “the terms of a mutually advantageous practice of reliable and reciprocal defence of one another, as if we were each defending ourselves,” is explained and defended

Demythifying contract farming : evidence from rural South Africa

This paper intends to contribute to the on-going debate about whether and how restructured agri-food markets can provide viable market opportunities for small-scale farmers in South Africa. It aims at analyzing contract farming from the small-scale farmer perspective and at better understanding the implications for small-scale farmers regarding contractual arrangements with processing and/or marketing firms. The paper, based on empirical research conducted in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and on a combination of qualitative and econometric analyses, argues however that contract farming is not a panacea for small-scale farmers. On one hand, contract farming improves agricultural production for contract farmers benefiting from increased incomes, enables better access to services and resources and creates new opportunities to participate in markets. However, on the other hand, the results, show that contract farming remains limited and mostly involves the already better-off, who have benefited from specific development paths and public support. This case study shows that contract farming by itself does not appear to provide an efficient means of reducing poverty, nor does it provide an institutional tool through which to improve rural livelihoods. It does therefore, not represent a tool for the majority of small farmers and for redressing the historical imbalances in the South African agricultural sector.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragr20hb201

Using multivariate adaptive regression splines to estimate subadult age from diaphyseal dimensions

Subadult age estimation is considered the most accurate parameter estimated in a subadult biological profile, even though the methods are deficient and the samples from which they are based are inappropriate. The current study addresses the problems that plague subadult age estimation and creates age estimation models from diaphyseal dimensions of modern children. The sample included 1,310 males and females between the ages of birth and 12 years. Eighteen diaphyseal length and breadth measurements were obtained from Lodox Statscan radiographic images generated at two institutions in Cape Town, South Africa between 2007 and 2012. Univariate and multivariate age estimation models were created using multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS). K-fold cross-validated 95% prediction intervals (PIs) were created for each model and the precision of each model was assessed.The diaphyseal length models generated the narrowest PIs (two months to six years) for all univariate models. The majority of multivariate models had PIs that ranged from three months to five and six years. Mean bias approximated zero for each model, but most models lost precision after 10 years of age. While univariate diaphyseal length models are recommended for younger children, multivariate models are recommended for older children where the inclusion of more variables minimized the size of the prediction intervals. If diaphyseal lengths are not available, multivariate breadth models are recommended. The present study provides applicable age estimation formulae and explores the advantages and disadvantages of different subadult age estimation models using diaphyseal dimensions.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1096-8644hb201

Marketing innovation in distribution channels in Macedonian enterprises

Distribution channels, as part of the marketing strategy of each enterprise, represent the demand for optimal solutions in bringing products closer to consumers, ie services to consumers. The complexity of this issue stems from the many opportunities that businesses have at their disposal to get closer to consumers. Any possible combination is a particular specificity for the company at some point, but such combinations can change over time and the conditions imposed by the actors present in the markets. The creators of these policies, or strategies, endeavor to constantly carry out new, optimal solutions that will offer the best effects. The rapid development of technology has affected the constantly emerging new ways of distributing products or services. Such opportunities that stand in front of the companies on the Macedonian market are different from those on the world markets. The main reason for the lower level of utilization of the new technical and technological breakthroughs among Macedonian enterprises lies in the limited financial budgets of the country and the enterprises themselves. Also, the underdevelopment of the country, in terms of infrastructure and multimodal staffing, that is, the limited resources to perform on the world markets, can also be seen as a reason for this. Each of these problems is part of the great mosaic of problems that Macedonian enterprises face in their lifetime. Key words: marketing strategy; marketing innovations; marketing best effects; distribution channels; Macedonian enterprise

Estimativas trimestrais das transferências públicas de assistência e previdência no Brasil (1995-2012)

It is difficult to exaggerate the relevance of the "public transfers to the private sector" in modern Brazil. Few studies, however, analyze the evolution of these transfers as a whole. This paper attempts to fillt his gap in the literature in three different ways. First, it shows how to construct an annual series compatible with the current Brazilian national accounts system (2000) over the period 1995-2012. Second, it refines and extends (up until 2012) the previous effort of Santos et al. (2010) in constructing quarterly estimates of these transfers (disaggregated in its main components). Finally, it provides an analysis of the dynamics of the aforementioned transfers in the 1995-2012 years.É difícil exagerar a importância das "transferências (públicas) de assistência e previdência social" no Brasil atual. Poucos estudos, entretanto, analisam sua dinâmica de forma conjunta. Este trabalho contribui para preencher esta lacuna de três maneiras. Primeiro, pela construção de uma série anual compatível com o sistema de contas nacionais brasileiras referência 2000 no período 1995-2012. Segundo, pelo aperfeiçoamento e extensão (até 2012) do esforço de Santos et al. (2010) na construção de estimativas trimestrais agregadas e por componentes dessas transferências. Finalmente, por meio da análise do comportamento dessa variável no período 1995-2012

Exclusive photoproduction of pi degrees up to large values of Mandelstam variables s, t, and u with CLAS

Exclusive photoproduction cross sections have been measured for the process $\gamma p \rightarrow p\pi^0(e^+e^-(\gamma))$ with the Dalitz decay final state using tagged photon energies in the range of $E_{\gamma} = 1.275-5.425$ GeV. The complete angular distribution of the final state $\pi^0$, for the entire photon energy range up to large values of $t$ and $u$, has been measured for the first time. The data obtained show that the cross section $d\sigma/dt$, at mid to large angles, decreases with energy as $s^{-6.89\pm 0.26}$. This is in agreement with the perturbative QCD quark counting rule prediction of $s^{-7}$. Paradoxically, the size of angular distribution of measured cross sections is greatly underestimated by the QCD based Generalized Parton Distribution mechanism at highest available invariant energy $s=11$ GeV$^2$. At the same time, the Regge exchange based models for $\pi^0$ photoproduction are more consistent with experimental data.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Challenges of beta-deformation

A brief review of problems, arising in the study of the beta-deformation, also known as "refinement", which appears as a central difficult element in a number of related modern subjects: beta \neq 1 is responsible for deviation from free fermions in 2d conformal theories, from symmetric omega-backgrounds with epsilon_2 = - epsilon_1 in instanton sums in 4d SYM theories, from eigenvalue matrix models to beta-ensembles, from HOMFLY to super-polynomials in Chern-Simons theory, from quantum groups to elliptic and hyperbolic algebras etc. The main attention is paid to the context of AGT relation and its possible generalizations.Comment: 20 page

Evaluation of skin dose associated with different frequencies of bolus applications in post-mastectomy three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The study aimed to calculate chest-wall skin dose associated with different frequencies of bolus applications in post-mastectomy three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and to provide detailed information in the selection of an appropriate bolus regimen in this clinical setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>CT-Simulation scans of 22 post-mastectomy patients were used. Chest wall for clinical target volume (CTV) and a volume including 2-mm surface thickness of the chest wall for skin structures were delineated. Precise PLAN 2.11 treatment planning system (TPS) was used for 3D-CRT planning. 50 Gy in 25 fractions were prescribed using tangential fields and 6-MV photons. Six different frequencies of bolus applications (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25) were administered. Cumulative dose-volume histograms were generated for each bolus regimen. The minimum, maximum and mean skin doses associated with the bolus regimens were compared. To test the accuracy of TPS dose calculations, experimental measurements were performed using EBT gafchromic films.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean, minimum and maximum skin doses were significantly increased with increasing days of bolus applications (p < 0.001). The minimum skin doses for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 days of bolus applications were 73.0% ± 2.0%, 78.2% ± 2.0%, 83.3% ± 1.7%, 88.3% ± 1.6%, 92.2% ± 1.7%, and 93.8% ± 1.8%, respectively. The minimum skin dose increments between 20 and 25 (1.6% ± 1.0%), and 15 and 20 (4.0% ± 1.0%) days of bolus applications were significantly lower than the dose increments between 0 and 5 (5.2% ± 0.6%), 5 and 10 (5.1% ± 0.8%), and 10 and 15 (4.9% ± 0.8%) days of bolus applications (p < 0.001). The maximum skin doses for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 days of bolus applications were 110.1% ± 1.1%, 110.3% ± 1.1%, 110.5% ± 1.2%, 110.8% ± 1.3%, 111.2% ± 1.5%, and 112.2% ± 1.7%, respectively. The maximum skin dose increments between 20 and 25 (1.0% ± 0.6%), and 15 and 20 (0.4% ± 0.3%) days of bolus applications were significantly higher than the dose increments between 0 and 5 (0.2% ± 0.2%), 5 and 10 (0.2% ± 0.2%), and 10 and 15 (0.2% ± 0.2%) days of bolus applications (p ≤ 0.003). The TPS overestimated the near-surface dose 10.8% at 2-mm below the skin surface.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In post-mastectomy 3D-CRT, using a 1-cm thick bolus in up to 15 of the total 25 fractions increased minimum skin doses with a tolerable increase in maximum doses.</p

Optimality and distortionary lobbying: regulating tobacco consumption

We examine policies directed at regulating tobacco consumption through three types of instruments: (i) an excise tax hindering consumption by increasing the price of cigarettes, (ii) prevention programs helping consumers to make choices that are more time consistent when trading-off the current pleasure from smoking and its future health harms, and (iii) smoking bans directly restricting consumption. First, on normative grounds, we focus on the optimal design of public policies maximizing the economy’s surplus. Second, in a positive perspective, we investigate how the lobbying activities of the tobacco industry, of smokers, and of anti-tobacco organizations may distort government intervention

Elliptic flow of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV

We report the first measurement of charged particle elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|$\eta$|<0.8) and transverse momentum range 0.2< $p_{\rm T}$< 5.0 GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow signal v$_2$, measured using the 4-particle correlation method, averaged over transverse momentum and pseudorapidity is 0.087 $\pm$ 0.002 (stat) $\pm$ 0.004 (syst) in the 40-50% centrality class. The differential elliptic flow v$_2(p_{\rm T})$ reaches a maximum of 0.2 near $p_{\rm T}$ = 3 GeV/$c$. Compared to RHIC Au-Au collisions at 200 GeV, the elliptic flow increases by about 30%. Some hydrodynamic model predictions which include viscous corrections are in agreement with the observed increase.Comment: 10 pages, 4 captioned figures, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/389