Towards a sociology of (public) mourning?

Within the last decade or so there has been a growing recognition among sociologists of the role played by emotions in various aspects of human behaviour (witness, for example, the range of articles appearing in Sociology alone, e.g. Jackson 1993; Craib 1995; Burkitt 1997, and the formation of a BSA study group devoted to the sociology of emotion). This burgeoning focus on emotions has challenged sociology to rethink its dominant conception of the human subject as governed by rational and conscious thought alone. In so doing it has raised a question mark both against the adequacy of the (theoretical) tools used for analysing emotions which have developed from these premises and the ability of sociology in general to provide answers to such questions

Perceptual dimensions of infants' cry signals : a dissertation present in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Education at Massey University

Two experiments were performed to uncover perceptual dimensions of 24 infant cry signals. In Experiment 1, the 24 cries were rated by listeners on 50 semantic differential scales. A factor analysis of the ratings uncovered three meaningful factors (Effect, Potency & Value) which emphasise emotional aspects of the cries, and support a suggestion that different cry-types essentially differ along a continuum of intensity/aversiveness. In Experiment 2, the method of pair-comparisons was used to obtain cry similarity ratings which were submitted to INDSCAL (a multidimensional scaling program). Three dimension were uncovered which emphasise physical aspects of the cries. These dimensions (Potency, Form and Clarity) were labelled in terms of the 50 semantic differential scales using standard linear multiple regression. For both experiments, accurate predictions of cry recognition results were made from the cry similarity data, suggesting that the listeners attended to the same cry features in each task. A canonical analysis of the semantic differential factor scores and the INDSCAL dimension weights revealed two significant canonical correlations, which suggests that the two techniques are essentially describing the same perceptual space. The relative advantages of the semantic differential and the method of pair-comparisons (coupled to INDSCAL) are discussed, and also the possibility of applying the semantic differential to study different cry-types, clinically abnormal cries, and the effects of crying on the caregiver

Financing asset growth : [version 11 august 2013]

In this paper we provide new evidence that corporate financing decisions are associated with managerial incentives to report high equity earnings. Managers rely most heavily on debt to finance their asset growth when their future earnings prospects are poor, when they are under pressure due to past declines in earnings, negative past stock returns, and excessively optimistic analyst earnings forecasts, and when the earnings yield is high relative to bond yields so that from an accounting perspective equity is ‘expensive’. Managers of high debt issuing firms are more likely to be newly appointed and also more likely to be replaced in subsequent years. Abnormal returns on portfolios formed on the basis of asset growth and debt issuance are strongly positively associated with the contemporaneous changes in returns on assets and on equity as well as with earnings surprises. This may account for the finding that debt issuance forecasts negative abnormal returns, since debt issuance also forecasts negative changes in returns on assets and on equity and negative earnings surprises. Different mechanisms appear to be at work for firms that retire debt

Vibration analysis of a tyre model using the wave finite element method

The vibration of a tyre is predicted using the wave finite element (WFE) method. The material properties are considered to be frequency dependent. The WFE method starts from a conventional finite element (FE) model of only a short section of a structure, which is uniform in one direction. Existing element libraries can be fully utilised and the size of the FE model can be very small. Free wave propagation characteristics are extracted from the dynamic stiffness matrix of the FE model. The forced response is calculated using the wave approach. An approach for determining the amplitudes of the directly excited wave is proposed to reduce numerical difficulties. The method is applied to a tyre FE model formed using ANSYS. The material properties of rubber are considered to be frequency dependent. The free wave propagation is shown including nearfield waves. The predicted forced response is compared with experimental data. Good agreement can be seen on the whole

Assessing Asset Pricing Anomalies

The optimal portfolio strategy is developed for an investor who has detected an asset pricing anomaly but is not certain that the anomaly is genuine rather than merely apparent. The analysis takes account of the fact that the parametes of both the underlying asset pricing model and the anomalous returns are estimated rather than known. The value that an investor would place on the ability to invest to exploit the apparent anomaly is also derived and illustrative calculations are presented for the Fama-French three factor model, which is anomalous relative to the CAPM.

Importance of long-term cycles for predicting water level dynamics in natural lakes

Lakes are disproportionately important ecosystems for humanity, containing 77% of the liquid surface freshwater on Earth and comprising key contributors to global biodiversity. With an ever-growing human demand for water and increasing climate uncertainty, there is pressing need for improved understanding of the underlying patterns of natural variability of water resources and consideration of their implications for water resource management and conservation. Here we use Bayesian harmonic regression models to characterise water level dynamics and study the influence of cyclic components in confounding estimation of long-term directional trends in water levels in natural Irish lakes. We found that the lakes were characterised by a common and well-defined annual seasonality and several inter-annual and inter-decadal cycles with strong transient behaviour over time. Importantly, failing to account for the longer-term cyclic components produced a significant overall underestimation of the trend effect. Our findings demonstrate the importance of contextualising lake water resource management to the specific physical setting of lakes

Civic Capacity and Engagement in Building Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Newcomers: Praxis, Recommendations, and Policy Implications

As newcomers, immigrants and refugees contribute to social and cultural diversity, and play an important role in communities’ social and economic development. However, their talent, energy, and entrepreneurial spirit and skills can only be fully harnessed when the communities are welcoming and inclusive. Drawing from a two-year qualitative research study conducted in the Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada, this paper examines the degree of civic capacity, along with policies and practices related to building a welcoming and inclusive community for immigrants and refugees. Through examining civic capacity and high-impact practices and programs to support the integration of immigrants and refugees, this paper shares new insights on how community stakeholders interact with each other to support or subvert the inclusion and equity in the community and offers policy implications and practical recommendations on building welcoming communities for immigrants and refugees in small communities