The effect of interviewers' motivation and attitudes on respondents' consent to contact secondary respondents in a multi-actor design

In surveys using a multi-actor design, data is collected not only from sampled ‘primary’ respondents, but also from related persons such as partners, colleagues, or friends. For this purpose, primary respondents are asked for their consent to survey such ‘secondary’ respondents. The existence of interviewer effects on unit nonresponse of sampled respondents in surveys is well documented, and research increasingly focuses on interviewer attributes in the non-response process. However, research regarding interviewer effects on unit nonresponse of secondary respondents, more specifically, primary respondents’ consent to include secondary respondents into the survey, is sparse. We use the German Family Panel (pairfam) and an interviewer survey conducted during the fifth wave of the panel (2012) to investigate the effects of interviewer motivation and attitudes on respondents’ consent to a survey of their parents via a separate mail questionnaire. Using multi-level models, we find a substantial interviewer effect on consent rates when not controlling for interviewer characteristics. In a second step, we include variables which capture interviewers’ work motivation and attitudes. Our results show that being motivated for the job as an interviewer by interest in the work itself as well as attitudes towards persuading respondents are both associated with interviewers’ success in obtaining respondent consent to a parent survey. However, interviewer characteristics (including motivation and attitudes) are only able to explain a small part of the interviewer effect

Secondary Respondent Consent in the German Family Panel

To achieve high return among secondary respondents, primary respondents’ consent rates must be high. In the German Family Panel (pairfam), a large, randomly sampled panel study, primary respondents’ consent rates to surveying their parents were found to be low. Since we suspected that the underlying reason could be interviewer behavior, we tested in an experiment if placing the consent questions in the self-interview (CASI) part of the interview would increase consent rates. Results show that bypassing interviewers by asking respondents directly in the CASI section did not increase consent rates. </jats:p

A Greedy Algorithm for the Social Golfer and the Oberwolfach Problem

Inspired by the increasing popularity of Swiss-system tournaments in sports, we study the problem of predetermining the number of rounds that can be guaranteed in a Swiss-system tournament. Matches of these tournaments are usually determined in a myopic round-based way dependent on the results of previous rounds. Together with the hard constraint that no two players meet more than once during the tournament, at some point it might become infeasible to schedule a next round. For tournaments with $n$ players and match sizes of $k\geq2$ players, we prove that we can always guarantee $\lfloor \frac{n}{k(k-1)} \rfloor$ rounds. We show that this bound is tight. This provides a simple polynomial time constant factor approximation algorithm for the social golfer problem. We extend the results to the Oberwolfach problem. We show that a simple greedy approach guarantees at least $\lfloor \frac{n+4}{6} \rfloor$ rounds for the Oberwolfach problem. This yields a polynomial time $\frac{1}{3+\epsilon}$-approximation algorithm for any fixed $\epsilon>0$ for the Oberwolfach problem. Assuming that El-Zahar's conjecture is true, we improve the bound on the number of rounds to be essentially tight.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

Treasonous repertoires: Performing collaboration and musical life in Japanese-occupied Beijing, 1937–1945

This thesis explores the musical culture of the “occupation state” in Japanese-occupied Beijing during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). While cultural production in support of resistance against the Japanese in wartime China is well explored and its memory propagated to boost the CCP’s legitimacy, music composed and performed in support of the occupation state in Japanese-occupied China has largely been disregarded or dismissed. This thesis thus lies at the hitherto uncharted intersection of several areas of research, including wartime “collaboration”, the cultural history of Japanese-occupied north China, the development of music in wartime China, and musical culture of occupation more broadly. What can we learn about the occupation state in north China through an analysis of the musical repertoires and performance practices it developed and appropriated, and how does accounting for the musical culture of the occupation state alter our understanding of musical culture in wartime China? To address these questions, I draw on a broad range of sources, including musical scores, performance programmes and campaign reports published in the occupation state’s main news outlets, as well as archival material pertaining to the regime’s propaganda policies, music textbooks, a private collection of wartime concert programmes, musicians’ (auto)biographies and recordings. The first three chapters offer an overview of the occupation state, as well as its organization, ideologies and main campaigns in north China. They also provide a critical view of the historiography of music in twentieth century China, explaining the significance of this thesis as an intervention into dominant narratives, and a detailed account of the musical infrastructure in Japanese-occupied Beijing. The second part of the thesis offers a detailed musical analysis of the evolving musical repertoires and performance practices developed and appropriated by the regime with a particular focus on “new music”. I also consider how the regime employed collective and individual gendered voices and the spatial aspects of sound. I show how the song commission and mass singing activities initiated by the occupation state, as well as local musical elites’ concern for topical repertoire and voices, were surprisingly similar to musical developments in both pre-war China and in the non-occupied areas in wartime China. Such continuities and similarities draw into question long-standing narrative alignments between the aesthetic and moral judgement of musical culture in wartime China. I further show how musical repertoire and practice reflects changes and dissonances in the occupation state’s relationship with its citizens and reveals the regime’s attempts at mitigating the limitations of its territorial control, countering the normalization of the condition of occupation, and forging a distinctly local identity for itself through concert programme design. This analysis of the musical culture of the occupation state in north China thus contributes not only to our understanding of the cultural history of the occupation state in Japanese-occupied north China, but to broader discussions of musical culture in twentieth-century China and the role of music in shaping military occupations more broadly

Pictures in Your Mind: Using Interactive Gesture-Controlled Reliefs to Explore Art

Tactile reliefs offer many benefits over the more classic raised line drawings or tactile diagrams, as depth, 3D shape, and surface textures are directly perceivable. Although often created for blind and visually impaired (BVI) people, a wider range of people may benefit from such multimodal material. However, some reliefs are still difficult to understand without proper guidance or accompanying verbal descriptions, hindering autonomous exploration. In this work, we present a gesture-controlled interactive audio guide (IAG) based on recent low-cost depth cameras that can be operated directly with the hands on relief surfaces during tactile exploration. The interactively explorable, location-dependent verbal and captioned descriptions promise rapid tactile accessibility to 2.5D spatial information in a home or education setting, to online resources, or as a kiosk installation at public places. We present a working prototype, discuss design decisions, and present the results of two evaluation studies: the first with 13 BVI test users and the second follow-up study with 14 test users across a wide range of people with differences and difficulties associated with perception, memory, cognition, and communication. The participant-led research method of this latter study prompted new, significant and innovative developments

Cold acclimation has a differential effect on leaf vascular bundle structure and carbon export rates in natural Arabidopsis accessions originating from southern and northern Europe

Acclimation to low but non‐freezing temperature represents an ecologically important process for Arabidopsis thaliana but also for many other plant species from temperate regions. Cold acclimation comprises and affects numerous molecular and physiological processes and the maintenance of sugar supply of sink tissue by photosynthetically active source tissue is essential for plant survival. Here, changes in vascular bundle (VB) structure at the leaf petiole were analysed together with sucrose exudation rates before and after cold acclimation. Six natural Arabidopsis accessions originating from southern and northern Europe were compared. Photosynthetic efficiency, that is, maximum and effective quantum yield of photosystem II, revealed a significant effect of environmental condition. Only for northern accessions was a highly significant negative correlation observed between leaf sucrose exudation rates, xylem, and petiole cross‐sectional areas. Furthermore, only for northern accessions was a significant increase of VB and leaf petiole cross‐sectional area observed during cold acclimation. In contrast, variance of cross‐sectional areas of cold acclimated southern accessions was strongly reduced compared to control plants, while mean areas remained similar under both conditions. In summary, these findings suggest that natural Arabidopsis accessions from northern Europe significantly adjust sink strength and leaf VB structure to maintain plant growth and photosynthesis under low temperature

Scenario planning: An alternative approach to European Commission for combating antimicrobial resistance by 2050

Aim: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major health challenges of the future, but the concrete impact of counteracting measures is still unclear. To study possible outcomes within the European Union, a scenario analysis for the year 2050 was performed on the possible influence of the European Commission (EC). Methods: Scenario planning and development of strategies based on different scenarios. Results: Rational use of antimicrobials in animals and humans, surveillance and monitoring, new antimicrobial therapies, travel and globalization, exposure to the environment, and awareness were recognized as the main driving elements. Four Scenarios were developed: An efficient and impli-cated EC sorts out AMR; An implicated but unsuccessful EC withstands AMR; AMR is managed regardless of the EC disinterest; and A neutral and inefficient EC fails to manage AMR. Conclusion: All the strategies developed on the basis of the four scenarios probe for an increase in European Union's dedication to achieve positive outcomes. These include the development of effective legislation and international coordination. Acknowledgment: Peter Schröder-Bäck, Helmut Brand and Kiranjeet Kaur’s contribution is co-funded through a grant of the European Commission within the Erasmus+ programme (Project: Prevent it. Project reference: 598515-EPP-1-2018-1-IN-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). Conflict of interests:&nbsp;None declared

Scenario planning: An alternative approach to European Commission for combating antimicrobial resistance by 2050

Aim: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major health challenges of the future, but the concrete impact of counteracting measures is still unclear. To study possible outcomes within the European Union, a scenario analysis for the year 2050 was performed on the possible influence of the European Commission (EC). Methods: Scenario planning and development of strategies based on different scenarios. Results: Rational use of antimicrobials in animals and humans, surveillance and monitoring, new antimicrobial therapies, travel and globalization, exposure to the environment, and awareness were recognized as the main driving elements. Four Scenarios were developed: An efficient and impli-cated EC sorts out AMR; An implicated but unsuccessful EC withstands AMR; AMR is managed regardless of the EC disinterest; and A neutral and inefficient EC fails to manage AMR. Conclusion: All the strategies developed on the basis of the four scenarios probe for an increase in European Union's dedication to achieve positive outcomes. These include the development of effective legislation and international coordination. Acknowledgment: Peter Schröder-Bäck, Helmut Brand and Kiranjeet Kaur’s contribution is co-funded through a grant of the European Commission within the Erasmus+ programme (Project: Prevent it. Project reference: 598515-EPP-1-2018-1-IN-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). Conflict of interests: None declared