Breaking hospitality apart: bad hosts, bad guests, and the problem of sovereignty

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91999/1/j.1467-9655.2012.01758.x.pd

The University of Pennsylvania Faculty: A Study in American Higher Education

Excellence in the University of Pennsylvania, as in other universities, exists or can be attained only by virtue of excellence in its faculties. Policies and procedures which improve the quality of the faculties are therefore vital to the well-being of the institution; and this conclusion - though a seeming truism - must be central to all thinking about the University\u27s future. The present study deals with this essential theme, which for the sake of brevity may be termed the faculty program. The subject relates to all the major purposes of the University, since these must be carried out - ultimately - by the academic staff. Moreover, it transcends the interests of particular schools or areas of learning, and cuts across the resulting boundaries of institutional structures and functions. Under these circumstances, a faculty program may seem so all-embracing as to be almost the equivalent of university policy as a whole. Yet faculties must admit, with becoming modesty, that they alone do not constitute the University of Pennsylvania. Studies of other essential elements in this or any similar institution - as of administrators or of students - will also ramify in all directions. Delimitation of themes here is a matter of focus and emphasis. The present study concentrates on the academic staff and considers other categories only in so far as they enter the resulting picture

Age-related differences in the relationship between activity familiarity and well-being.

Background and Objectives: This study explored age-related differences in the relationship between activity novelty/familiarity and well-being, conceptualized within theories including Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST). For all ages, participation in activities has been shown to enhance well-being. Known mediators of this relationship include psychological, physical, and psychosocial benefits. It is less clear what types of experiences are optimal across the lifespan. Research Design and Methods: A online cross-sectional, correlational study (N= 200) was conducted. Measures included demographic data, ratings of three self-identified recent activities, three activity choices of familiar or novel activity options, measures of well-being, and control variables including measures of overall activity level, physical health, personality traits, and COVID-19 stress. Results: An 8-item familiarity scale was developed and validated. Chronological age was not correlated with familiar activity choice. However, age was significantly positively correlated with mean ratings of activity familiarity. Age did not moderate the relationship between the familiarity of activity and eudaimonic well-being as hypothesized. Overall activity level had a significant direct effect on hedonic well-being and hedonic well-being had a significant direct effect on eudaimonic well-being, but there was no direct effect of overall activity level on eudaimonic well-being. Ratings of activity familiarity were significantly positively related to ratings of activity automaticity, and mean familiarity ratings across three self-identified activities were significantly negatively related to extraversion. Controlling for negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic using the COVID Stress Scales did not improve model fit for any of the analyses. Discussion and Implications: This study highlights the complexity of research on activity participation and preferences, and the need for use of techniques such as ecological momentary assessment, qualitative research, and longitudinal studies to better capture complex constructs such as activity familiarity and participation. Future research on age-related differences in the relationship between activity familiarity and well-being may contribute to a lifespan theory of activity benefits and will be useful in personalizing interventions that increase well-being, such as weighting selection of activities in behavioral activation treatments or designing activity programs for older adults

Synthesis Of Benzyl Beta D-Gulopyranosiduronic Acid-(2\u27,3\u27: 4,5)-Oxazolidone-2

Although D-glucosamine has been found as a constituent of some antibiotics (28), very little research has been carried out in the area of synthetic preparations. Dutcher (7) recently reviewed the biochemical importance of this class of amino sugars as a constituent of complex antibiotic substances which compose the streptothricin family. For a complete elucidation of these antibiotics, it becomes necessary to investigate thoroughly the synthesis and reactions of the D-glucosamine compounds. Gross et al. (12) have succeeded in preparing the oxazolidone of α-D-glucosamine as well as some derivatives (13) of this compound. The present work reports an attempt to prepare the oxazolidone of β-D-glucosamine, its uronic acid, and some uronic acid derivatives. Of special interest is the uronic acid since uronic acids of other compounds have been used as intermediates for several types of reactions. One of the most interesting employments of such intermediates is the use of uronic acids for the indirect introduction of an omega-amino group (27, 29, 30, 33, 34) in syntheses of diamino sugars. Another use of uronic acids is in the so-called transposition reaction, as carried out by Fischer (9) on glucose and later applied to amino sugars by Weidmann et al. (35). This series of reactions involves transposition of the C-1 carbonyl function to C-6 thereby converting 2-amino D-glucose to 5-amino L-gulose. Other uronic acid derivatives may prove useful in the future. This research problem may be divided into four categories; (i) preparation of a suitable starting material, (ii) an investigation of suitable methods for the preparation of the desired glucosamine compound, (iii) conversion of the glucosamine compound to the uronic acid, and (iv) preparation of the desired uronic acid derivatives

Alignment of Faculty Expectations and Course Preparation between First-Year Mathematics and Physics Courses and a Statics and Dynamics Course.

Alignment of the expectations of engineering faculty and the preparation engineering students receive in first-year mathematics and physics mechanics courses provided the motivation for the work contained in this study. While a number of different aspects of student preparation including intangibles, such as motivation, time management skills, and study skills, affect their performance in the classroom, the goal of this study was to assess the alignment of the mathematics and physics mechanics knowledge and skills addressed in first-year courses with those needed for a sophomore-level statics and dynamics course. Objectives of this study included: (1) development of a set of metrics for measuring alignment appropriate for an engineering program by adapting and refining common notions of alignment used in K-12 studies; (2) study of the degree of alignment between the first-year mathematics and physics mechanics courses and the follow-on sophomore-level statics and dynamics course; (3) identification of first-year mathematics and physics mechanics skills needed for a sophomore-level statics and dynamics course through the development of mathematics and physics instruments based on the inputs from faculty teaching the statics and dynamics courses; (4) analysis of tasks given to the students (in the form of homework and exam problems) and the identification of the mathematics and physics skills required; (5) comparison of the required skills to the skills reported by faculty members to be necessary for a statics and dynamics course; and (6) the comparison of student preparation in the form of grades and credits received in prerequisite courses to performance in statics and dynamics. Differences were identified between the content/skills developed in first-year mathematics and physics mechanics courses and content/skills expected by engineering faculty members in the sophomore year. Furthermore, skills stated by engineering faculty members as being required were not necessarily utilized in homework and exam problems in a sophomore engineering mechanics course. Finally, success in first-year physics mechanics courses provided a better indicator of success in a sophomore-level statics and dynamics course than that of first-year mathematics. Processes used in the study could be applied to any course where proper alignment of material is desired

The economic and performance impact of technology adoption

Since first commercialized in 1996, biotech corn has experienced rapid adoption. By 2010 over 75% of the corn planted area in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and the Philippines was planted with biotech seed. These countries represent a significant presence in the global corn markets—averaging 53% of world production and 83% of world exports from 1996-2010. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the ex post global economic efficiencies generated from the commercialization of biotech corn in these six countries. This study only focuses on the quantifiable market benefits accruing to producers and consumer stakeholders. As such, this analysis does not include the benefits to the input market or the value of non-pecuniary benefits. Global economic efficiency is evaluated on: 1) the extent to which the adoption of biotech corn has impacted yields, and 2) the extent to which the adoption of biotech corn has impacted world production, price and distributional welfare. The extent to which biotech adoption has impacted corn yields is econometrically estimated via a model for technical inefficiency effects in a stochastic frontier production function for panel data. A partial equilibrium seven-region world model of the corn market calibrated to the 2000-2010 decade is developed to evaluate the ex post counterfactual world supply, demand and price impacts of biotech corn adoption. The cumulative 1996-2010 net global economic welfare gain realized from corn biotech adoption was $38.85 billion. Of this total, the largest share ($25.05 billion) went to U.S. corn consumers followed by U.S. producers ($7.13 billion). The cumulative economic welfare gained by all consumers was estimated at$77.97 billion. The adoption of biotech corn has significantly increased production efficiencies of adopting producers which has led to larger and cheaper food supplies for all consumers