The Conditioning of Verbal Behavior with Negative Cultural Connotations

(Ph.D)This study deals with two main problems: the effect of positive reinforcements on verbal behavior with negative cultural connotations, and the relationship of awareness of the reinforcement contingency to personality and performance variables. The specific hypotheses tested in this study are: 1. The frequency of verbal behavior that has negative cultural connotations increases when the behavior receives positive reinforcement. 2. The degree of awareness of the reinforcement contingency is inversely related to level of anxiety. 3. The degree of awareness of the reinforcement contingency is directly related to measures of interpersonal skill. 4. The increase in frequency of verbal behavior that has negative cultural connotations is not related to awareness of the reinforcement contingency. 5. The degree of awareness of the reinforcement contingency is inversely related to length of response time. Verbal behavior with negative cultural connotation was operationally defined as verbal responses connoting aggression. The verbal stimulus "Hm Mm" was used as reinforcer. Awareness was defined as the verbalization of the contingency of the reinforcement on verbal responses connoting aggression. Anxiety was defined as scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS). Measures of interpersonal skill were defined as scores on five scales of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI): Social Presence, Self Acceptance, Dominance, Capacity for Satus, and Sociability. To test the first hypothesis, and experimental group consisting of thirty nine subjects and a control group consisting of twenty subjects were given a word association test, consisting of fifty aggressive and fifty neutral words. The subjects were asked to say three words in response to each stimulus word. From the twenty first stimulus word on, the subjects in the experimental group received reinforcement whenever they gave an aggressive response. The control group did not receive this reinforcement. The responses were recorded and timed. Response time consisted of the time the subjects required to give three response words to each stimulus word. The two groups were then compared with regard to increase in frequency of aggressive responses. To test the remaining four hypotheses, the experimental group was interviewed to ascertain the presence or absence of awareness of the reinforcement contingency. The group was divided accordingly into two groups, the aware group consisting of sixteen subjects and the unaware group consisting of twenty three subjets. These two subgroups were given a questionnaire containing items from the TMAS and the five scales of the CPI. The groups were then compared with regard to scores on this test measuring level of anxiety and interpersonal skill. They were also compared with regard to level of conditioning, as measured by the increase of aggressive responses to the word association test, and with respect to response time scores. The experimental findings supported the first hypothesis and indicated that the frequency of occurrence of verbal behavior with negative cultural connotations increased when the behavior was reinforced. With regard to the hypotheses dealing with awareness, the results supported the second and third hypothesis and showed that degree of awareness was inversely related to level of anxiety, and directly related to measures of interpersonal skill. High degree of awareness was associated with low level of anxiety and vice versa. High degree of awareness was also associated with high level of social presence and self acceptance and vice versa. The experimental findings concerning the relation of awareness to personality variables such as dominance, capacity for status, and sociability, were in the predicted direction but the statistical analysis of the results did not demonstrate population differences. The results also supported the fourth hypothesis and indicated that degree of awareness was not related to overall response level. The hypothesized relationship between degree of awareness and length of response time was not supported by the experimental results. [TRUNCATED

Excess control rights, bank capital structure adjustment and lending

We investigate whether excess control rights of ultimate owners in pyramids affect banks' adjustment to their target capital ratio. When ultimate control rights and cash-flow rights are identical, banks increase their capital ratio by issuing equity and by reshuffling their assets without slowing their lending. However, when control rights exceed cash-flow rights, banks are reluctant to issue equity to increase their capital ratio and, instead, shrink their assets by mainly cutting their lending. A deeper investigation shows that this behavior is only apparent in family-controlled banks and in countries with relatively weak shareholder protection rights. Our findings provide new insights in the capital structure adjustment process and have critical policy implications for the implementation of Basel III

Ultimate Ownership Structure and Bank Regulatory Capital Adjustment: Evidence from European Commercial Banks

This paper empirically investigates whether a bank's decision to adjust its capital is influenced by the existence of a divergence between the voting and the cash-flow rights of its ultimate owner. We use a novel hand-collected dataset on detailed control and ownership characteristics of 405 European commercial banks to estimate an ownership-augmented capital adjustment model over the 2003-2010 period. We find no differences in adjustment speeds when banks need to adjust their Tier 1 capital downwards to reach their target capital ratio. However, when the adjustment process requires an upward shift in Tier 1 capital, the adjustment is significantly slower for banks controlled by a shareholder with a divergence between voting and cash-flow rights. Further investigation shows that such an asymmetry only holds if the ultimate owner is a family or a state or if the bank is headquartered in a country with relatively weak shareholder protection. Moreover, this behavior is tempered during the 2008 financial crisis, possibly because of government capital injections or support from ultimate owners (propping up). Our findings provide new insights for understanding capital adjustment in general and have policy implications on the road to the final stage of Basel III in 2019

Correlated evolution of LTR retrotransposons and genome size in the genus eleocharis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transposable elements (TEs) are considered to be an important source of genome size variation and genetic and phenotypic plasticity in eukaryotes. Most of our knowledge about TEs comes from large genomic projects and studies focused on model organisms. However, TE dynamics among related taxa from natural populations and the role of TEs at the species or supra-species level, where genome size and karyotype evolution are modulated in concert with polyploidy and chromosomal rearrangements, remain poorly understood. We focused on the holokinetic genus <it>Eleocharis </it>(<it>Cyperaceae</it>), which displays large variation in genome size and the occurrence of polyploidy and agmatoploidy/symploidy. We analyzed and quantified the long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons Ty1-<it>copia </it>and Ty3-<it>gypsy </it>in relation to changes in both genome size and karyotype in <it>Eleocharis</it>. We also examined how this relationship is reflected in the phylogeny of <it>Eleocharis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using flow cytometry, we measured the genome sizes of members of the genus <it>Eleocharis </it>(Cyperaceae). We found positive correlation between the independent phylogenetic contrasts of genome size and chromosome number in <it>Eleocharis</it>. We analyzed PCR-amplified sequences of various <it>reverse transcriptases </it>of the LTR retrotransposons Ty1-<it>copia </it>and Ty3-<it>gypsy </it>(762 sequences in total). Using real-time PCR and dot blot approaches, we quantified the densities of Ty1-<it>copia </it>and Ty3-<it>gypsy </it>within the genomes of the analyzed species. We detected an increasing density of Ty1-<it>copia </it>elements in evolutionarily younger <it>Eleocharis </it>species and found a positive correlation between Ty1-<it>copia </it>densities and C_/n-values (an alternative measure of monoploid genome size) in the genus phylogeny. In addition, our analysis of Ty1-<it>copia </it>sequences identified a novel retrotransposon family named Helos1, which is responsible for the increasing density of Ty1-<it>copia</it>. The transition:transversion ratio of Helos1 sequences suggests that Helos1 recently transposed in later-diverging <it>Eleocharis </it>species.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Using several different approaches, we were able to distinguish between the roles of LTR retrotransposons, polyploidy and agmatoploidy/symploidy in shaping <it>Eleocharis </it>genomes and karyotypes. Our results confirm the occurrence of both polyploidy and agmatoploidy/symploidy in <it>Eleocharis</it>. Additionally, we introduce a new player in the process of genome evolution in holokinetic plants: LTR retrotransposons.</p

DIVERSITÉ FLORISTIQUE DU MASSIF DU NADOR EN ZONE STEPPIQUE (TIARET, ALGÉRIE)

This study is devoted to Nador massif located in the steppe environment of Tiaret region in the west of Algeria. This massif is characterized by a diversity of flora composed of 121 taxa belonging to 38 families and 98 genera. Biological spectrum indicates a predominance of therophytes (38%) and chamaephytes (19%), geophytes (14%). The most important families are Poaceae and Asteraceae. Mediterranean element is relatively dominant (55%) according to chorologic plane. Shannon-Weaver e diversity index is relatively high (4.55) indicating a richly diverse site. Disturbance index (63.6%) reflects highly significant degree of massif vegetation disturbance, which also reflects a more open environment. To better understand the structure of vegetation using the classification is imperativ

\u3cem\u3eIonoSeis\u3c/em\u3e: A Package to Model Coseismic Ionospheric Disturbances

We present the framework of the modeling package IonoSeis. This software models Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) derived slant total electron content (sTEC) perturbations in the ionosphere due to the interaction of the neutral atmosphere and charged particles in the ionosphere. We use a simplified model to couple the neutral particle momentum into the ionosphere and reconstruct time series of sTEC perturbations that match observed data in both arrival time and perturbation shape. We propagate neutral atmosphere disturbances to ionospheric heights using a three-dimensional ray-tracing code in spherical coordinates called Windy Atmospheric Sonic Propagation (WASP3D), which works for a stationary or non-stationary atmospheric models. The source of the atmosphere perturbation can be an earthquake or volcanic eruption; both couple significant amounts of energy into the atmosphere in the frequency range of a few Millihertz. We demonstrate the output of the code by comparing modeled sTEC perturbation data to the observed perturbation recorded at GNSS station BTNG (Bitung, Indonesia) immediately following the 28 September 2018, Sulawesi-Palu earthquake. With this framework, we provide a software to couple the lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere that can be used to study post-seismic ionospherically-derived signals

Subcutaneous Metastatic Adenocarcinoma: An Unusual Presentation of Colon Cancer – Case Report and Literature Review

Subcutaneous metastasis from a visceral malignancy is rare with an incidence of 5.3%. Skin involvement as the presenting sign of a silent internal malignancy is an even rarer event occurring in approximately 0.8%. We report a case of a patient who presented to her dermatologist complaining of rapidly developing subcutaneous nodules which subsequently proved to be metastatic colon cancer, and we provide a review of the literature

Removal of emerging micropollutants from wastewater discharges by powdered and micro-grain activated carbon - Progress of the CarboPlus® project

International audienceThe implementation of a tertiary treatment in conventional wastewater treatment plants is more and more considered by managers to reduce the emerging contaminant discharges into the aquatic environment. In this context, a collaboration between the public sanitation service of Paris conurbation and the Water Environment and Urban Systems laboratory has been initiated since 2013 to study at large scale a pilot (CarboPlus® - SAUR/STEREAU) based on a high concentration fluidized bed activated carbon reactor (>100 kg/m3) with continuous fresh activated carbon injection. The objectives of this project are to i) characterize the efficiency of the process for emerging pollutants for powdered (PAC) and micro-grain (µGAC) activated carbons, ii) characterize the parameters influencing the sorption mechanism (organic matter, operating parameters, activated carbon structure and properties, etc.) and iii) identify the eventual improvements of the conventional quality parameters.In addition to the 14 campaigns already performed in 2013 in PAC configuration, 14 campaigns have been planed in 2014 (8 already performed) to study the fate of 131 micropollutants, including 61 pharmaceuticals and hormones and 70 other emerging pollutants, in addition to conventional wastewater parameters. This presentation aims at displaying the pilot efficiency in µGAC configuration and comparing it to the PAC configuration. The use of µGAC instead of PAC has several operational and economical advantages, but this new type of carbon was never tested with wastewater. Based on the first 8 campaigns, the results tend to indicate that the pilot is as efficient with µGAC than with PAC. In particular, ketoprofen, paracetamol, ibuprofen, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, roxithromycin, atenolol, propranolol, carbamazepine, oxazepam, lorazepam and estrone have removals higher than 80% in average. In addition, first results on the other emerging micropollutants show high or very high removals for pesticides (60-95%), bisphenol A (60-90%), alkylphenols (60-95%), PFOS (75-95%) and X-ray contrast agents (50-70%). Moreover, the high solid retention time (60-90 days) of the µGAC leads to a biological activity within the reactor, as displayed by NO2- (65-99%) and NH4+ (20-70%) removals. However, the results are still partial at this stage of the project, another µGAC dose is currently tested on the pilot and complementary lab-scale tests are still performed to better understand the sorption mechanism

Etude Eco-Dendrométrique Du Dépérissement Du Cèdre De l’Atlas Dans Le Parc National De Theniet El Had “Algérie”

This study aims to search the relationship between the decline of the Atlas cedar and the eco-dendrometrique factors in the National Park of Theniet El Had located in the north-west of Algeria. This study takes place throughout 30 circular plots of 1.000m2 area in which, a dendrometric measures and ecological data are taken in addition to descriptive data for Atlas cedar trees. The descriptive data shows that 34% of inventoried Atlas cedar have damaged leaves and 30% have more then 25% of their crowns damaged. The analysis of variance shows that there is no relationship between the rate of the Atlas cedar decline ant the ecological factors, components of the soil and dendrometric parameters except for the average circumference witch is influenced by the competition between trees. Therefor, a particular management plan for the regulation of competition is a necessity for this park