Full of noises: when “World Shakespeare” met the “Arab Spring”

In summer 2012, to coincide with the Olympic Games, the United Kingdom celebrated a summer of Shakespeare. Troupes from around the world were invited to produce their own versions of plays from the playwright's corpus. 2012 was also a very eventful year, politically, in the Arab world, as people reacted to what had been dubbed the “Arab Spring”. This article looks at three plays produced by Arabic companies for the World Shakespeare Festival: the Palestinian Ashtar Theatre's Richard II, the Iraqi Theatre Company's Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad, and the Tunisian Artistes Producteurs Associés’ Macbeth: Leila and Ben – A Bloody History. Using these performances, this article examines how different Arabic theatre troupes negotiate expectations of different audiences as well as their own artistic aims using the “playable surface” of Shakespeare's plays.Accepted manuscrip

The Common Core Debate

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have ignited a passionate national debate about the standards that guide the education of our nation’s and state’s students. The purpose of this Arkansas Education Report is to add some clarity to the Common Core debate as well as offer a perspective that is specific to the Natural State

A study of the opinions of senior staff nurses concerning the regionalization of Visiting Nursing Associations

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Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High-Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2013

The GPA measure, we believe, is a better representation of student achievement on statewide standardized exams. In this report, we are presenting a list of the top 25 schools in each area. In some cases, these top 25 lists will contain more than 25 schools as some schools\u27 GPA scores will be identical. This is not a new phenomenon, as we also exceeded 25 schools in previous reports when using the percent proficient and advanced metric as an indicator for student achievement; however, there are fewer ties using the more precise GPA measure. After we present our overall snapshot of high-performing schools, we will release subsequent reports every few weeks focusing on different subsets of schools. For example, in section two of the OEP Awards AER, we will feature schools that are beating the odds (that is, schools that have high levels of student achievement while serving a high percentage of low-income students). In the following weeks, we will focus on high-performing elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools in the various regions across the state. Finally, we will conclude our report by focusing on the schools with the greatest improvement in test scores

Growing up in the new age

This issue of Fieldstudy was published as part of the Growing up in the New Age project. It features the archive photographs of Dave Walkling, made in a 1970s' squatted house in South London and at the Kirkdale Free School. It also presents the photographs of Marjolaine Ryley, who was a child in living in the collective housing photographed by Walkling. Ryley has collected Walkling's photographs, and her own new series is a mediation on history and memory

Asset Liquidity and Segment Divestitures

We investigate a sample of firms whose number of reported segments falls by one or more for the first time in their reporting history. The firms in our sample have a significantly larger diversification discount, underperform, and underinvest relative to comparable firms. Firms are more likely to divest segments from industries with a more liquid market for corporate assets, segments unrelated to the core activities of the firm, poorly performing segments, and small segments. The liquidity of the market for corporate assets plays an important role in explaining why some firms divest assets while others stop reporting them without divesting them, and why some firms divest core segments while others divest unrelated segments.

Corporate Focusing and Internal Capital Markets

A sample of firms that focus by divesting at least one segment allows us to investigate the characteristics of segments divested as well as the nature of focusing firms. We find that firms are more likely to divest segments unrelated to the core activities of the firm and that the probability that a segment is divested is inversely related to its relative size within the firm. In fact, a segment's relative size is the variable that has the most explanatory power in predicting which segment a firm divests. We argue that this is consistent with the importance of asset market liquidity as a determinant of the divestiture decision. Financial constraints play an important role in determining which firms focus, which segments these firms divest, and in the market's reaction to divestiture announcements. Focusing firms perform less well and invest significantly less than heir non-focusing counterparts.

Schwellenuntersuchung zur physiologischen Blendung für ortsfeste Straßenbeleuchtung: Weiterentwicklung der TI-Formel für nasse und trockene Straßen

Die vorliegende Arbeit beinhaltet eine grundlegende Untersuchung zur physiologischen Blendung für ortsfeste Straßenbeleuchtung und leistet einen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Sichtbarkeit im nächtlichen Straßenverkehr. Die damit verbundene Förderung der Verkehrssicherheit kann die nächtlichen Verkehrsunfälle reduzieren helfen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass im Blendungsfall die Komponente der Kontrastminderung die Leuchtdichteunterschiedsschwelle stärker beeinflusst als die Komponente der gleichzeitig auftretenden Netzhautaufhellung. Eine Abhängigkeit der Unterschiedsschwelle mit Blendungsschleier wird von der Darbietungsart ebenso nachgewiesen. Ein Vergleich mit Schwellenwerten von Blackwell/Adrian ergibt keine Übereinstimmung aufgrund der dort fehlenden physikalischen Wirkung des Blendungsschleiers. Aus dem Schwellenmodell nach Narisada und den eigenen Messdaten lassen sich erstmals neuartige, erweiterte TI-Formeln für foveales und peripheres Sehen ableiten. Damit ist es möglich, die Blendung korrekter quantitativ zu erfassen, weil einerseits die stärker wirksame Kontrastminderung einbezogen wird und weil andererseits die neuen Blendungsformeln von der Hintergrundleuchtdichte eines Hindernisses im Bewertungsfeld abhängen, wodurch die insbesondere auf nasser Straße vorhandene inhomogene Leuchtdichteverteilung genauer einberechnet wird.This work includes basic research focusing on the disability glare caused by fixed road lighting on wet and dry roads, and contributes to the improvement of visibility during night-time driving. Such promotion affiliated with road safety can help to reduce the amount of traffic incidences that occur at night. The literature review shows a considerable gap regarding the failure to take into account perceived luminance contrast reduction from veiling, caused by disability glare (also known as the physical effect of the veiling or masking effect), in road lighting standards. Until now, the TI-Formula of a threshold value increase has been assumed without this effect. Therefore, the true viewing conditions are not accurately reflected and can lead to misjudgments in glare evaluation. An experimental apparatus making it possible to investigate the influence of perceived contrast reduction from veiling on threshold measurements was developed. Adaptation level, observation time and performance type (i.e. foveal or peripheral vision) were used as influencing variables. It was first proven that NarisadaÕs original study for threshold measurement with veiling from 1977 is replicable and reliable. From there, his experimental results can be confirmed. The results show that, in the case of glare, the components of the reduced contrast of the luminance difference threshold have a stronger influence than the components on the simultaneously occurring retinal illumination. Dependency of the difference threshold with the veiling is also proven from the performance type. Due to the lack of physical effects of the veiling luminance, there is no match when comparing the threshold values from Blackwell/Adrian to the underlying threshold measurement. From NarisadaÕs threshold model and oneÕs own measuring data, extended TI-Formulae can be derived in terms of foveal and peripheral vision. Thus, it is possible to detect the correct glare more quantitatively since the physical effect of veiling luminance is taken into account. The newly developed glare formula is also dependent on the background luminance of an obstacle in the assessment field, in which the existing inhomogeneous luminance distribution, especially on wet roads, is more accurately taken into account.Die vorliegende Arbeit beinhaltet eine grundlegende Untersuchung zur physiologischen Blendung für ortsfeste Straßenbeleuchtung und leistet einen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Sichtbarkeit im nächtlichen Straßenverkehr. Die damit verbundene Förderung der Verkehrssicherheit kann die nächtlichen Verkehrsunfälle reduzieren helfen. Aus der Literaturrecherche ist ersichtlich, dass die Nichtberücksichtigung einer zugleich wahrgenommenen Kontrastminderung durch einen Schleier infolge Blendung (auch physikalischer Effekt des Blendungsschleiers genannt) in der Straßenbeleuchtungsnorm eine erhebliche Lücke darstellt. Bisher geht man bei der TI-Formel von einer Schwellenwerterhöhung ohne diesen Effekt aus, die daher die tatsächlichen Wahrnehmungsbedingungen weniger exakt widerspiegelt und bei der Blendungsbewertung zu Fehlurteilen führt. Es ist eine Versuchsapparatur entwickelt worden, die es ermöglichte, den Einfluss dieser Kontrastminderung bei der Schwellenmessung zu untersuchen. Als Einflussgrößen wurden das Adaptations- bzw. Blendungsniveau, die Darbietungsdauer und -art verwendet. Es wird erstmals nachgewiesen, dass der Ur-Versuch von Narisada aus dem Jahre 1977 zur Schwellenmessung mit äquivalentem Blendungsschleier replizierbar und verlässlich ist. Sein gefundenes experimentelles Ergebnis kann daher bestätigt werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass im Blendungsfall die Komponente der Kontrastminderung die Leuchtdichteunterschiedsschwelle stärker beeinflusst als die Komponente der gleichzeitig auftretenden Netzhautaufhellung. Eine Abhängigkeit der Unterschiedsschwelle mit Blendungsschleier wird von der Darbietungsart ebenso nachgewiesen. Ein Vergleich mit Schwellenwerten von Blackwell/Adrian ergibt keine Übereinstimmung aufgrund der dort fehlenden physikalischen Wirkung des Blendungsschleiers. Aus dem Schwellenmodell nach Narisada und den eigenen Messdaten lassen sich erstmals neuartige, erweiterte TI-Formeln für foveales und peripheres Sehen ableiten. Damit ist es möglich, die Blendung korrekter quantitativ zu erfassen, weil einerseits die stärker wirksame Kontrastminderung einbezogen wird und weil andererseits die neuen Blendungsformeln von der Hintergrundleuchtdichte eines Hindernisses im Bewertungsfeld abhängen, wodurch die insbesondere auf nasser Straße vorhandene inhomogene Leuchtdichteverteilung genauer einberechnet wird

Board Changes and the Director Labor Market: The Case of Mergers

We provide benchmarks for board changes over time and in response to the evolution of firm structure. Boards are more stable in the modern era. At the same time, shifts made around mergers are substantial and significantly different than those at non-merging firms. Changes to acquiring boards reflect firm needs, increased demand for executive and merger experience and bargaining between targets and acquirers, rather than agency motives. Conversely, director selection at non-merging firms is driven by general skills and diversity. Our analyses provide insight into the dynamic nature of board structure and characteristics demanded in the director labor market