Face to Face: Place and Poetry

This paper focuses specifically on three poems: ‘The Driver’, ‘The Slope’ and ‘Incident at Galore Hill’ and the relationship between poetry and place. In trying to prepare the ground for a philosophy which can deal with what he terms the ‘phenomenal field’, Merleau- Ponty spends a number of pages early in The Phenomenology of Perception clarifying what he sees as the limits and traps of several narrowly psychological approaches to perception. Such psychologies set up the observed world as a transcendent domain which maps consciousness as if it were somehow separated out from the world, as if, to employ his phrase, there are two different ‘modes’ of being. In this paper I explore the relations between inside and outside and the perceiver and the perceived as well sensory experience in relation to poetry, in conjuction with discussions of Merleau-Ponty's philosophies

Learning versus stealing : how Important are market-share -- reallocations to India's productivity growth?

Recent trade theory emphasizes the role of market-share reallocations across firms ("stealing") in driving productivity growth, while the older literature focused on average productivity improvements ("learning"). The authors use comprehensive, firm-level data from India's organized manufacturing sector to show that market-share reallocations did play an important role in aggregate productivity gains immediately following the start of India's trade reforms in 1991. However, aggregate productivity gains during the overall period from 1985 to 2004 were driven largely by improvements in average productivity, which can be attributed to India's trade liberalization and FDI reforms.Economic Theory&Research,Industrial Management,E-Business,Labor Policies,Debt Markets

Theoretical aspects of quantum electrodynamics in a finite volume with periodic boundary conditions

First-principles studies of strongly-interacting hadronic systems using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) have been complemented in recent years with the inclusion of quantum electrodynamics (QED). The aim is to confront experimental results with more precise theoretical determinations, e.g. for the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and the CP-violating parameters in the decay of mesons. Quantifying the effects arising from enclosing QED in a finite volume remains a primary target of investigations. To this end, finite-volume corrections to hadron masses in the presence of QED have been carefully studied in recent years. This paper extends such studies to the self-energy of moving charged hadrons, both on and away from their mass shell. In particular, we present analytical results for leading finite-volume corrections to the self-energy of spin-0 and spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles in the presence of QED on a periodic hypercubic lattice, once the spatial zero mode of the photon is removed, a framework that is called $\mathrm{QED}_{\mathrm{L}}$. By altering modes beyond the zero mode, an improvement scheme is introduced to eliminate the leading finite-volume corrections to masses, with potential applications to other hadronic quantities. Our analytical results are verified by a dedicated numerical study of a lattice scalar field theory coupled to $\mathrm{QED}_{\mathrm{L}}$. Further, this paper offers new perspectives on the subtleties involved in applying low-energy effective field theories in the presence of $\mathrm{QED}_{\mathrm{L}}$, a theory that is rendered non-local with the exclusion of the spatial zero mode of the photon, clarifying recent discussions on this matter.Comment: 57 pages, 10 figures, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Using game theory to model interspecific brood parasitism in bird populations

The interaction between hosts and parasites in bird populations has been studied extensively. I use game theoretic methods to model this interaction. This has been done previously but has not been studied taking into account the detailed sequential nature of this game. I introduce models allowing the host and parasite to make a number of decisions which will depend on a number of natural factors. A sequence of events follows, which is broken down into two key stages; firstly the interaction between the host and the parasite adult, and secondly that between the host and the parasite chick. The final decision involves the host choosing whether to raise or abandon the chicks that are in the nest. There are certain natural parameters and probabilities which are central to these various decisions; in particular the host is generally uncertain whether parasitism has taken place, but can assess the likelihood of parasitism based upon certain cues (e.g. how many eggs remain in its nest). I have taken elements of games which have been previously created and constructed my own models to fully describe this interaction. These parasites have different methods of parasitizing the nests of their hosts, and the hosts can in turn have different reactions to these parasites. This is later built into a model where there is more than one host nesting over a breeding season. We have a number of nesting sites and different time points in which the host can begin to nest. In the previous models the host was given the opportunity to abandon the nest. In this game the host is allowed to abandon and then restart the nesting process. The probability that the host is parasitized can be decided using a number of factors including the number of hosts laying during a given time period, the nesting site or the number of parasites during the course of the season. Using these models we are able to find situations which match those which we have seen in nature. Also the models are able to predict what natural changes such as parasitism rate or mimicry will do to the interaction. Overall I believe these models to give as good an indication of the key elements of the interaction and how they can change over time

Please Hold Your Applause: How Clapper v. Amnesty International USA Deters Data Breach Litigants from Seeking a Judicial Remedy

The article presents the U.S. Supreme Court case Clapper v. Amnesty International USA to discuss issues on data breach litigations and the remedies used by the courts to confer standing for litigants

Eligibility and enrollment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)--27 states and New York City, 2007-2008.

The national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutrition education, growth monitoring, breastfeeding promotion and support, and food to low-income pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children aged <5 years. Several studies have linked WIC services with improved maternal and infant health outcomes. Most population-based studies have lacked information needed to identify eligible women who are not receiving WIC services and might be at risk for poor health outcomes. This report uses multistate, population-based 2007-2008 survey data from CDC's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) and California's Maternal and Infant Health Assessment (MIHA) to estimate how many women were eligible but not enrolled in WIC during pregnancy and to describe their characteristics and their prevalence of markers of risk for poor maternal or infant health outcomes. Approximately 17% of all women surveyed were eligible but not enrolled in WIC during pregnancy. The proportion of women eligible for WIC and WIC participation rates varied by state. WIC participants had higher prevalences of markers of risk for poor maternal or infant health outcomes than eligible nonparticipants, but both groups had higher prevalences of risk markers than ineligible women, suggesting that many eligible women and their children might benefit from WIC services. The results of this analysis can help identify the scope of WIC outreach needed to include more eligible nonparticipants in WIC and whom to target