International service transactions: Is time a trade barrier in a connected world?

The firms' international fragmentation of production has recently widened its focus from outsourcing of intermediates to off-shoring of business services such as software program development and international call centre networks. Although a large number of business services are intangible and non-storable, gravity model estimates show that geographical distance between business partners is still relevant even when information and communication technologies (ICT) provide alternatives for face-to-face interaction. It has recently been argued that time zones can be a driving force of international service transactions by allowing for continuously operating over a 24 hours business day. In this paper, we find empirical evidence for the continuity effect in trade of business and commercial services which is even higher for trade with Non-OECD countries and robust to measurement and sample size. We show that the time zone effect in trading business services is dependent on the level of ICT infrastructure.international trade, business services, gravity model, distance, time zones, digital divide

Highly efficient Bayesian joint inversion for receiver-based data and its application to lithospheric structure beneath the southern Korean Peninsula

With the deployment of extensive seismic arrays, systematic and efficient parameter and uncertainty estimation is of increasing importance and can provide reliable, regional models for crustal and upper-mantle structure.We present an efficient Bayesian method for the joint inversion of surface-wave dispersion and receiver-function data that combines trans-dimensional (trans-D) model selection in an optimization phase with subsequent rigorous parameter uncertainty estimation. Parameter and uncertainty estimation depend strongly on the chosen parametrization such that meaningful regional comparison requires quantitative model selection that can be carried out efficiently at several sites. While significant progress has been made for model selection (e.g. trans-D inference) at individual sites, the lack of efficiency can prohibit application to large data volumes or cause questionable results due to lack of convergence. Studies that address large numbers of data sets have mostly ignored model selection in favour of more efficient/simple estimation techniques (i.e. focusing on uncertainty estimation but employing ad-hoc model choices). Our approach consists of a two-phase inversion that combines trans-D optimization to select the most probable parametrization with subsequent Bayesian sampling for uncertainty estimation given that parametrization. The trans-D optimization is implemented here by replacing the likelihood function with the Bayesian information criterion (BIC). The BIC provides constraints on model complexity that facilitate the search for an optimal parametrization. Parallel tempering (PT) is applied as an optimization algorithm. After optimization, the optimal model choice is identified by the minimum BIC value from all PT chains. Uncertainty estimation is then carried out in fixed dimension. Data errors are estimated as part of the inference problem by a combination of empirical and hierarchical estimation. Data covariance matrices are estimated from data residuals (the difference between prediction and observation) and periodically updated. In addition, a scaling factor for the covariance matrix magnitude is estimated as part of the inversion. The inversion is applied to both simulated and observed data that consist of phase- and group-velocity dispersion curves (Rayleigh wave), and receiver functions. The simulation results show that model complexity and important features are well estimated by the fixed dimensional posterior probability density. Observed data for stations in different tectonic regions of the southern Korean Peninsula are considered. The results are consistent with published results, but important features are better constrained than in previous regularized inversions and are more consistent across the stations. For example, resolution of crustal and Moho interfaces, and absolute values and gradients of velocities in lower crust and upper mantle are better constrained

Art and design lecturers’ perspectives of dyslexia and dyslexic higher education students

© 2023 ADSHE.Lecturer perspectives of dyslexic students in higher education are important due to the impact that teaching staff have on their university experiences. In this study, two art and design lecturers took part in an interpretivist case study using semi-structured interviews. It was found that both lecturers had, in practice, positive attitudes to dyslexic students in their classrooms. However, these perceptions and the ability to include anticipatory adjustments for students shifted once the realities of teaching workloads were taken into account.Peer reviewe

The effect of soy protein beverages on serum cell adhesion molecule concentrations in prehypertensive/stage 1 hypertensive individuals

Background and Aims: Prehypertensive and hypertensive individuals are at an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The role of hypertension in endothelial dysfunction and increased cell adhesion molecule (CAM) expression may lead to atherosclerotic progression. Soy protein and isoflavones have been shown to favorably alter cardiovascular disease risk factors. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of daily cow\u27s milk compared with soy beverage prepared from whole soy bean (WSB) or soy protein isolate (SPI) on soluble cell adhesion molecules. Methods: We enrolled healthy prehypertensive/Stage 1 hypertensive men (n=60, aged 18 - 63 yr) and premenopausal women (n=8, aged 20 - 48 yr) and randomized them to one of three beverage groups for 8 weeks of treatment: cow\u27s milk (600 mL/d), soy beverage (840 mL/d) prepared from SPI (30.1 mg total isoflavones/d [aglycone form]) or prepared from WSB (91.4 mg total isoflavones/d [aglycone form]). We measured soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) at baseline and week 8. Results: Treatment did not alter soluble CAM concentrations. Time had an effect on VCAM-1 (-9%, P = 0.01) and E-selectin (+4%, P = 0.01) but not ICAM-1 (+5%, P=0.86). Gender also had a significant effect on ICAM-1 (P=0.0037), whereas gender did not reach significance for E-selectin (P=0.067) or VCAM-1 (P=0.16). Men had higher circulating concentrations of ICAM-1 and E-selectin, respectively, at both baseline (P = 0.0071, P = 0.049) and week 8 (P = 0.0054, P = 0.038) than women. ICAM concentrations were not significantly different between prehypertensive and hypertensive participants. Conclusion: Prehypertensive/Stage I hypertensive individuals who consumed either cow\u27s milk or soy beverages (prepared from WSB or SPI) for 8 weeks daily did not show any change in soluble CAM concentrations. Consequently, we cannot suggest that daily intake of either cow\u27s milk or soy protein beverages improves circulating CAM concentrations and hence risk of atherosclerotic CVD in these individuals

Moral education in public schools: Some realities, problems and suggestions for educators

The debate about moral education in public schools continues