The Collective Bargaining Effects of NBA Player Productivity Dynamics

We apply quintile regression methodology to player pay and performance data from the 1985-86 to 2005-06 seasons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In addition to confirming a finding from Hakes and Turner (2007) of systematic bias in pooled OLS regressions of career paths for salary and productivity, the quintile analysis presents two important results regarding NBA salary structure. Unlike Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest ability veteran NBA players suffer salary suppression relative to the lesser-talented players in their debut-year cohort, indicating rents have been transferred from the most able players to players of lesser abilities. Also, while young NBA players in general suffer from salary suppression relative to free agents, as is well-reported in baseball, our regression results show that the highest-ability young players suffer the most salary suppression, and that the effects of the rookie salary cap in the 1995 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement depressed salaries for young players of all ability levels.career dynamics; pay and productivity; professional basketball

Einsatz von E-Portfolios bei der Qualifizierung pädagogischer Professionals in restriktiven Settings

Der Beitrag zeigt den Einsatz von E-Portfolios bei der Qualifizierung pädagogischer Professionals in der beruflichen Bildung auf. Dabei werden als Referenz die Theorie der Selbstreflexion, des kritischen Denkens sowie des Konzeptwandels zugrunde gelegt. Es werden Möglichkeiten aufgezeigt, wie E-Portfolios auch in restriktiven Settings eingesetzt werden können. Bislang dominiert in der Literatur der Einsatz von E-Portfolios in der Schule bzw. in der Bildung von Lehrkräften. Restriktive Settings sind Settings, die für das formale Lernen nur kurze Zeiträume eröffnen, mit heterogenen Zielgruppen verbunden sind und die zum Teil ungünstige motivationale und kognitive Ausgangsvoraussetzungen mitbringen. Die dargestellten Ergebnisse fussen auf der Entwicklung, Erprobung und Erforschung eines solchen Settings, nämlich der Erprobung eines Qualifizierungskonzepts für pädagogische Professionals im Einzelhandel

Die Chemie-Abteilung der Ingenieurschule beider Basel

The essential features of the education of HTL chemists (equivalent to a B.Sc.) at Basle Engineering College are presented along with the aims of each subject. Some current problems are spotlighted

En Sverigebild säger mer än tusen ord : hur bilden av Sverige formas på Svenska Institutet i Paris

This master’s thesis explores and discusses the discursive construction of the image of Sweden within the exhibition practice of the Swedish Institute in Paris, France (SI Paris). SI Paris is the only Swedish culture centre abroad and hosts several exhibitions portraying different elements of Swedish culture each year. SI Paris is a part of the larger organisation the Swedish Institute (SI) which operates as a government agency for the promotion of Sweden internationally. The study is a critical discourse analysis (CDA), as developed by Norman Fairclough, with empirical focus on press releases for over fifty exhibitions from the year 2000 and up until the first quarter of 2015. In addition to the CDA-methodology we use new institutional theory combined with new museological theory to better comprehend the many aspects of this uniquely situated cultural institution and its exhibitions. The analysis of the press releases and additional interviews with personnel within the organisation help us to conceive of the image of Sweden as a social construction largely built upon cliché-based and stereotypical ideas of Sweden, forged over decades passed, suggesting the existence and the continual relevance of an essential national identity; a Swedishness. Within the press releases clichés and stereotypes are presented as if logical or natural which obscures their deep-lying ideological tendencies. What tends to be described and perceived as merely a culture centre and an exhibition venue can thus be said to function as a political instrument for the implementation of a positive view on the Swedish way of life and the promotion of Sweden as a potential business partner to the world. SI Paris claims that there are ways of promoting Sweden other than waving a Swedish flag (as one informant puts it). However, our study shows that in presenting and exhibiting cliché-based national symbols, SI Paris is participating in the same narrative and reproduction of traditional ideas of nation and nationality as if they were indeed waving the proverbial flag

The Collective Bargaining Effects of NBA Player Productivity Dynamics

We apply quintile regression methodology to player pay and performance data from the 1985-86 to 2005-06 seasons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In addition to confirming a finding from Hakes and Turner (2007) of systematic bias in pooled OLS regressions of career paths for salary and productivity, the quintile analysis presents two important results regarding NBA salary structure. Unlike Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest ability veteran NBA players suffer salary suppression relative to the lesser-talented players in their debut-year cohort, indicating rents have been transferred from the most able players to players of lesser abilities. Also, while young NBA players in general suffer from salary suppression relative to free agents, as is well-reported in baseball, our regression results show that the highest-ability young players suffer the most salary suppression, and that the effects of the rookie salary cap in the 1995 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement depressed salaries for young players of all ability levels

Self-reported muscle pain in adolescents with migraine and tension-type headache

Aim: To identify possible associations between muscular pain and headache in adolescents in a large population-based sample. Methods: Grammar school students were invited to fill in a questionnaire on headache and associated lifestyle factors. Headache was classified according to the German version of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (2nd edition). Muscular pain was assessed via denoting affected areas in schematic drawings of a body and via provoked muscular pain on controlled movements of head, neck and shoulder regions. Results: Prevalence of any headache within the previous 6 months exceeded 80%. In all subjects muscular pain or pain on movement was most prominent in the neck and shoulder region, ranging from 9% to 27% in the non-headache population to up to 63% for individuals with migraine or mixed migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). Frequency of muscular pain increased significantly with growing chronicity of TTH. Interpretation: A strong association between muscle pain in the neck/shoulder region and headache was observed, pointing to the importance of muscular pain for headache in adolescents. Also, in this age group muscular pain appears to be of particular importance in chronic TTH and – unexpectedly – in migraine, which is the most important new finding in our study

The feature of bone cutting with fiber guided excimer laser beam

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Möglichkeiten aufgezeigt, die zu einer effektiveren Abtragung von Gewebe beim Knochenschneiden mit fasergeführtem Excimerlaserstrahl führen können. Durch eine ringförmige Intensitätsverteilung im Laserstrahl kann das konische Schnittprofil verändert und damit die bisherige Behinderung der Nachführung der Faser aufgehoben werden

The spliceosomal autoantigen heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2 (hnRNP-A2) is a major T cell autoantigen in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

A hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the appearance of autoantibodies to nuclear antigens, including autoantibodies directed to the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2 (hnRNP-A2), which occur in 20% to 30% of SLE patients as well as in animal models of this disease. To investigate the underlying cellular reactivity and to gain further insight into the nature and potential pathogenic role of this autoimmune response we characterized the T cell reactivity against hnRNP-A2 in patients with SLE in comparison to healthy controls. Cellular proliferation of peripheral blood T cells to hnRNP-A2 was determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation and T cell clones (TCCs) specific for hnRNP-A2 were grown by limiting dilution cloning; IFNγ, IL-4 and IL-10 in culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. Bioactivity of culture supernatants was determined by incubation of anti-CD3/anti-CD28 stimulated peripheral blood CD4+ T cells with supernatants of TCCs. Stimulation assays performed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 35 SLE patients and 21 healthy controls revealed pronounced proliferative responses in 66% of SLE patients and in 24% of the controls, which were significantly higher in SLE patients (p < 0.00002). Furthermore, hnRNP-A2 specific TCCs generated from SLE patients (n = 22) contained a relatively high proportion of CD8+ clones and mostly lacked CD28 expression, in contrast to TCCs derived from healthy controls (n = 12). All CD4+ TCCs of patients and all control TCCs secreted IFNγ and no IL-4. In contrast, CD8+ TCCs of patients secreted very little IFNγ, while production of IL-10 did not significantly differ from other T cell subsets. Interestingly, all CD8+ clones producing IL-10 in large excess over IFNγ lacked expression of CD28. Functional assays showed a stimulatory effect of the supernatants derived from these CD8+CD28- hnRNP-A2 specific TCCs that was similar to that of CD4+CD28+ clones. Taken together, the pronounced peripheral T cell reactivity to hnRNP-A2 observed in the majority of SLE patients and the distinct phenotype of patient-derived CD8+ TCCs suggest a role for these T cells in the pathogenesis of SLE