Wage structure in the rubber estates in West Malaysia

Economic literature is full of general theoretical discussions about the determination of wages, but there is, relatively speaking, a dismal shortage of detailed factual studies or discussions about wages in labour markets in the less developed economies. This study on the Wage Structure in the Rubber Estates in West Malaysia tries to fill a little part of this gap. The study is divided into two parts. The first deals with the findings of a sample survey conducted on about 500 workers. A detailed description of the workers' earnings structure, at one point of time, highlighted the importance of the union-management agreements as a proximate determinant. This was supported by other information on the low rate of mobility amongst the estate workers and the increasing levels of unemployment amongst the estate population. This finding raised questions on the role of unionisation over a period of time, as distinct from that at a point of time, on the industry's wage levels (and therefore on the industry's wage structure). It also raised questions' on the influence of the Union's wage policy on the industry's unemployment levels. These questions were examined in the second part of the study. The examination confirmed the importance of the Union in determining the wage levels (and therefore of the wage structure) in the estates, but it rejected the probability that the Union was chiefly responsible for the unemployment problem in the estates. A summing-up chapter has been left out because this would merely repeat materials included more appropriately elsewhere in the study. Almost all the materials discussed in Part I are original. These add on to the existing knowledge of Malaysia. Much of the time spent in the field and in the analysis was necessarily taken up by this section. The materials in Part II are partly original and partly secondary, but their relationship to the industry's wage and unemployment levels has been attempted for the first time in an academic study. The interpretation in Part I is fairly definitive, but that in Part II is not as definitive mainly because of incomplete information and because much more time and money than available would have been required to collect this information. In the past, the lack of published information and the almost insurmountable difficulties of accessibility to primary data (for a single unofficial investigator) have been amongst the main factors deterring research scholars from pursuing the type of questions raised for Part II. Although these difficulties still exist, it is considered preferable to discuss such problems with whatever limited information is available than to wait until more information can be obtained (if ever) for them to be examined more scientifically

What does touch tell us about emotions in touchscreen-based gameplay?

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ACM. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution.Nowadays, more and more people play games on touch-screen mobile phones. This phenomenon raises a very interesting question: does touch behaviour reflect the player’s emotional state? If possible, this would not only be a valuable evaluation indicator for game designers, but also for real-time personalization of the game experience. Psychology studies on acted touch behaviour show the existence of discriminative affective profiles. In this paper, finger-stroke features during gameplay on an iPod were extracted and their discriminative power analysed. Based on touch-behaviour, machine learning algorithms were used to build systems for automatically discriminating between four emotional states (Excited, Relaxed, Frustrated, Bored), two levels of arousal and two levels of valence. The results were very interesting reaching between 69% and 77% of correct discrimination between the four emotional states. Higher results (~89%) were obtained for discriminating between two levels of arousal and two levels of valence

Molecular Analysis of Echovirus 13 Isolates and Aseptic Meningitis, Spain

Echovirus 13 (EV13), considered rare, was reported worldwide in 2000, mostly related to aseptic meningitis outbreaks. In Spain, 135 EV13 isolates were identified. The genetic relationships between 64 representative strains from Spain and other reported isolates from the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden were described by analyzing the partial sequence of the major capsid protein (VP1) gene. The strains from Spain were clearly identified as EV13 (79.5% similarity with the EV13 reference strain) and were grouped phylogenetically into two different clusters (by origination on either the Iberian Peninsula or Canary Islands). Isolates from Germany from 2000 clustered with the Canary Islands group. The isolates from other countries obtained before 2000 were genetically distant. Changes in EV13 coding sequence involved several differences in the C-terminal extreme of the VP1 protein. Part of the neutralizing antigenic site III has been described in this genome region in poliovirus and swine vesicular disease virus

Conversations in a Crowded Room: An Assessment of the Contribution of Historical Research to Criminology

The relationship between history and social science generally, as well as history and criminology specifically, has long been considered problematic. But, since the likes of Burke (1992) and King (1999) spoke of a ‘dialogue of the deaf’, crime history has rapidly expanded and, more latterly, historical criminology has begun to emerge. This article reappraises the relationship of the subject areas by considering the impact that historical research has had on criminology. Although the impact is found to be somewhat patchy, the article identifies positive signs within the two fields that might point towards a more mutually‐enriching future

Hope amidst hopelessness: life histories of illiterate Oraon women In Jharkhand, India.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. April 2012. Major: Education, Work/Community/Family Education. Advisor: Dr. Rosemarie J. Park. 1 computer file (PDF); xvi, 277 pages, appendices A-B.Hope Amidst Hopelessness: Life Histories of Illiterate Oraon Tribal Women in Jharkhand, India. This interpretive study asked the question: “What education and literacy insights can be gained from the studies of the life stories of illiterate Oraon women in Jharkhand, India?” Life history methodology was used to gain insights into the lived experiences of illiterate women. I hoped to provide meaning and give voice to the voiceless. Observations, in-depth and open-ended interviews were used for data collection. The six Oraon tribal women shared their life experiences in Sadri language with the researcher who was from the same group. Six themes were identified: First, our lives are heavy and painful because of daily hard work; second, we do everything to send our children to school hoping that their lives will be better than ours; third, why do our husbands who went to school live as if they have never been to school?; fourth, no one is there to listen to us; fifth, we look forward to cultural gatherings because they give us joy and satisfaction and sixth occasionally our hopes are raised by those in power but soon we are forgotten. The study emphasizes the role of women as major providers and loss of women’s work. The women felt shame because of illiteracy. The focus of the women’s lives was their children. Also the lack of support from spouses and feelings of isolation permeated their lives. Their lives were in flux due to change in household and loss of tribal identity. The one brighter spot was their joy in celebration. The study recommendations are for more in-depth study of Oraon women and in-depth study of the education system as related to the cultural identity of Oroans. The influence of patriarchy on women’s lives in the Oraon community. Adult education recommendations are for the implementation of culturally sensitive and comprehensive literacy campaign among Oraon women. The study of Oraon songs and dance can be used as a tool for literacy. Using a Frieran model of literacy is recommended for training adult educators from the Oraon community. Village involvement and supervision of community action programs is needed

Source level optimisation of VHDL for behavioural synthesis

Optimisation in high level behavioural synthesis is usually performed by applying transforms to the datapath and control graphs. An alternative approach, however, is to apply transforms at a higher level in the process, specifically directly to the behavioural source description. This technique is analogous to the way in which the source code of a conventional sequential programming language may be processed by an optimising compiler. Applying this kind of preprocessing to a number of example behavioural VHDL source descriptions, (which are then fed into a 'conventional' synthesis system), produces structural descriptions which are up to 32% smaller and 52% faster

Garment costing

The volatile nature and rigorous competition in the garment industry drive all the companies to minimise their cost by controlling inventory, accurate forecasting and low mark-downs. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the concept of cost in the garment industry. The chapter discusses the elements of garment costing and the factors that influence the price of the garments. A clear understanding of the cost components and their percentage distribution at each stage of the garment supply chain is necessary. Since profitability is a main factor on which companies build their future, this chapter also focuses on constructs of profitability and how a company can increase its profitability

Antigenic characterisation of swine vesicular disease virus

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN014147 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Teachers' attitudes towards the application of merit pay programs in British Columbia

Eight years ago the members of the British Columbia Schools Trustees' Association recommended to the teaching profession in British Columbia that they give serious consideration to the proposition of including merit as one of the factors in the determination of their salaries. The British Columbia Teachers' Federation, representing the teaching profession in the province, was vigorous in its opposition to merit pay schedules. The purpose of the present study is to assess the attitudes of the rank and file in the profession, as opposed to the institutional stand of the Teachers' Federation towards this issue. A study of the existing salary structures for teachers in the province showed that the teachers were paid primarily on the basis of their training and experience. An examination of the literature on merit rating pointed out that the training and experience of a teacher could not be equated with his teaching performance, as the research studies conducted indicated very low correlationships between them. The first part of the study, therefore, concluded that the teachers in British Columbia are not being paid on the basis of their teaching experience. The attitudes of the teachers towards this issue of pay based on teaching performance were then examined. Responses from 402 teachers from all levels of the teaching profession were fed into an IBM computer and the results analyzed. Slightly less than half of them (48.0%) opposed merit rating, and the rest were either in favor (39.0%) or were uncertain or did not answer (13.0%). The study, however, showed that the opposition to merit pay was greater if this meant that salaries were to be affected by double increments or super-maxima salaries superimposed on the existing salary structure. The opposition would be lesser if the merit of a teacher was being recognized by rewarding him/her with supervisory posts carrying extra allowances, granting study leave or sabbatical leave, and awarding travel grants for approved purposes. The recommendations in the concluding chapter were made on this basis.Business, Sauder School ofGraduat