Library Instruction on the Go: Podcasting at the Kresge Library

Business school students today want to plug in, download and go. That’s where podcasting comes in as a non-traditional medium/delivery to enhance student learning. The University of Michigan Kresge Dash Podcast Series developed by Digital Services Librarian Jennifer Zimmer and the Kresge Librarians delivers a substantial sound & visual “bite” of information: see http://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgeLibrary/help/podcast.htm The scripts are edited to follow the Kresge Dash Podcast format (introduction, overview, content, recap, and conclusion.) The voice track is recorded, then screen shots and other images are added at appropriate chapter marks. Music and the logo for the series are added at the beginning and end of each Podcast to provide uniformity and branding. An Apple MacBook Pro and Plantronics headphone/microphone set are used to record the Podcasts. We have just edited our first video podcast as of this writing. More are in the works in time for the Conference.The episodes are “enhanced” podcasts, i.e., combining voice, images, video and links to websites, which can be played on an Ipod, or by using iTunes and QuickTime on the student’s computer. In this Breakout Session, Jennifer will discuss how she created the podcasts—including what equipment she used, alternative equipment possibilities for other libraries, real world feasibility and costs, scriptwriting, video, mp3 players, problems and solutions, and future projects. Kresge Librarian Sally Ziph (fellow scriptwriter and Instruction Librarian videotaped for the podcasts) will discuss the results of student surveys of the podcast and Dash Series as tool(s) for learning about business resources at Kresge Library

Empirical competence-testing: A psychometric examination of the German version of the Emotional Competence Inventory

The “Emotional Competence Inventory“ (ECI 2.0) by Goleman and Boyatzis assesses emotional intelligence (EI) in organizational context by means of 72 items in 4 clusters (self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, social skills) which at large consist of 18 competencies. Our study examines the psychometric properties of the first German translation of this instrument in two different surveys (N = 236). If all items are included in reliability analysis the ECI is reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha = .90), whereas the reliability of the four sub dimensions is much smaller (Alpha = .62 - .81). For 43 items the corrected item-total correlation with its own scale is higher than correlations with the other three clusters. Convergent validity was examined by using another EI instrument (Wong & Law, 2002). We found a significant correlation between the two instruments (r = .41). The German version of the ECI seems to be quite useful, although the high reliability is achieved by a large number of items. Possibilities of improvement are discussed

Emotional Intelligence and its consequences for occupational and life satisfaction - Emotional Intelligence in the context of irrational beliefs

According to Albert Ellis' theory of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy irrational beliefs (IB) lead to maladaptive emotions. A central component of irrationality is the denial of one's own possibilities to control important aspects of life. A specific IB is that one cannot control and thus cannot avoid certain emotion states. Emotion research considers regulative emotion control a pivotal component of the concept of emotional intelligence (EI). A negative association between IB and EI can thus be theoretically derived from both concepts. Furthermore both should be related to life satisfaction. We examined the relationship between IB and EI using standardized questionnaire instruments and the predictive value of both concepts regarding life satisfaction. We found a significant negative correlation between both conceptions (r = -.21). Life satisfaction and occupational satisfaction are better predicted by IB. R² increases from .04 to .12 when both concepts are incorporated in regression analysis

Experimentelle Überprüfung einer evolutionstheoretischen Erklärung von Schlafplatzpräferenzen des Menschen

Obwohl Menschen einen großen Teil des Tages an ihrem Schlafplatz verbringen, gibt es kaum experimentelle und theoriegeleitete Studien zur Schlafplatzwahl des Menschen. Da der Mensch im Schlaf relativ schutzlos gegenüber Angreifern ist und eine passende Wahl der Schlafumgebung Schutz und damit höhere Überlebenschancen bietet, wird die Schlafplatzwahl aus evolutionärer Perspektive untersucht. Es wird ein Evolutionsbedingter Psychologischer Mechanismus (EPM) zur Schlafplatzwahl postuliert und daraus abgeleitete Hypothesen überprüft: Ein Schlafplatz sollte so gewählt werden, dass er schnelle Reaktionen auf Angreifer ermöglicht. Daher sollte (1) vom Bett aus die Tür im Blickfeld sein, (2) das Bett in deutlicher Weise von der Tür abgerückt sein und (3) bevorzugt in die Zimmerhälfte gestellt werden, in die sich die Tür öffnet. Eine Studie mit 138 Probanden, die Möbel auf experimentell manipulierten Grundrissen anrichten, kann diese Hypothesen bestätigen

The Rule of Law and the Effective Protection of Taxpayers' Rights in Developing Countries

The overall aim of this article is to analyse the taxpayers' rights in relation to the emerging standard of transparency with specific reference to Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and Uruguay. Exchange of information between tax authorities is increasing rapidly all around the world. This global development is largely the result of the introduction of the standard of transparency by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ("OECD") with the political mandate of the G20 and more recently, in 2013, the introduction of the global standard of automatic exchange of information. Governments have agreed that exchange of information is necessary to prevent tax evasion and to tackle tax avoidance including aggressive tax planning. All surveyed countries have accepted the standard of transparency including the standard of automatic exchange of information. Furthermore, it is evident that the development of such standards appears to have taken place in a coordinated manner, led mainly by international organizations comprising governmental officials. This article has first provided a comparative overview of the rules that Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and Uruguay have introduced to protect the taxpayers' rights in the exchange of information process being the right to access to public information, the right to confidentiality, the right to privacy, and the procedural rights (right to be informed, the right to be notified and right to object and appeal). Thereafter, this article has assessed whether the rules introduced by the surveyed countries to protect these rights are consistent with the fundamental taxpayers' rights that belong to the rule of law of these countries and with the principles of good governance and fiscal transparency. The main conclusion is that the countries have introduced to some extent similar rules to protect the right to confidentiality, right to privacy and the procedural rights in the exchange of information. However, some differences may be found in the detail level of protection of confidentiality in South Africa and in respect of the procedural rights in Uruguay. One of the drawbacks of these rules is that the rules introduced by the surveyed countries do not ensure that the protection of the right to confidentiality and the right to privacy is effectively guaranteed. The results of the analysis show that these rules do not protect the taxpayer in case of breach of confidentiality or misuse of the information exchanged. This article argues that the differences among rules and the lack of protection for taxpayer information may hinder the effective protection of the taxpayer and the tax administration should guarantee the protection of the taxpayer rights as part of the rule of law. Therefore, this article provides in Section 4 three recommendations addressing the right to confidentiality, the right to privacy and the taxpayers' procedural rights. These recommendations may be extended (as best practices) to other developing countries on a similar economic and legal scale. However, further research will be needed to see whether the conclusions of this article are also applicable to (other) developing countries.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie

Sensitivity Projections for Dark Matter Searches with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The nature of dark matter is a longstanding enigma of physics; it may consist of particles beyond the Standard Model that are still elusive to experiments. Among indirect search techniques, which look for stable products from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, or from axions coupling to high-energy photons, observations of the $\gamma$-ray sky have come to prominence over the last few years, because of the excellent sensitivity of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. The LAT energy range from 20 MeV to above 300 GeV is particularly well suited for searching for products of the interactions of dark matter particles. In this report we describe methods used to search for evidence of dark matter with the LAT, and review the status of searches performed with up to six years of LAT data. We also discuss the factors that determine the sensitivities of these searches, including the magnitudes of the signals and the relevant backgrounds, considering both statistical and systematic uncertainties. We project the expected sensitivities of each search method for 10 and 15 years of LAT data taking. In particular, we find that the sensitivity of searches targeting dwarf galaxies, which provide the best limits currently, will improve faster than the square root of observing time. Current LAT limits for dwarf galaxies using six years of data reach the thermal relic level for masses up to 120 GeV for the $b\bar{b}$ annihilation channel for reasonable dark matter density profiles. With projected discoveries of additional dwarfs, these limits could extend to about 250 GeV. With as much as 15 years of LAT data these searches would be sensitive to dark matter annihilations at the thermal relic cross section for masses to greater than 400 GeV (200 GeV) in the $b\bar{b}$ ($\tau^+ \tau^-$) annihilation channels.Comment: Updated with a few additional and corrected references; otherwise, text is identical to previous version. Submitted on behalf of the Fermi-LAT collaboration. Accepted for publication in Physics Reports, 59 pages, 34 figures; corresponding author: Eric Charles ([email protected]

The Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector at the European XFEL

The Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector (AGIPD) is an x-ray imager, custom designed for the European x-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL). It is a fast, low noise integrating detector, with an adaptive gain amplifier per pixel. This has an equivalent noise of less than 1 keV when detecting single photons and, when switched into another gain state, a dynamic range of more than 10$^4$ photons of 12 keV. In burst mode the system is able to store 352 images while running at up to 6.5 MHz, which is compatible with the 4.5 MHz frame rate at the European XFEL. The AGIPD system was installed and commissioned in August 2017, and successfully used for the first experiments at the Single Particles, Clusters and Biomolecules (SPB) experimental station at the European XFEL since September 2017. This paper describes the principal components and performance parameters of the system.Comment: revised version after peer revie

Impacts of Climate Change on Multiple Use Management of Bureau of Land Management Land in the Intermountain West, USA

Although natural resource managers are concerned about climate change, many are unable to adequately incorporate climate change science into their adaptation strategies or management plans, and are not always aware of or do not employ the most current scientific knowledge. One of the most prominent natural resource management agencies in the United States is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is tasked with managing over 248 million acres (\u3e1 million km2) of public lands for multiple, often conflicting, uses. Climate change will affect the sustainability of many of these land uses and could further increase conflicts between them. As such, the purpose of our study was to determine the extent to which climate change will affect public land uses, and whether the BLM is managing for such predicted effects. To do so, we first conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature that discussed potential impacts of climate change on the multiple land uses the BLM manages in the Intermountain West, USA, and then expanded these results with a synthesis of projected vegetation changes. Finally, we conducted a content analysis of BLM Resource Management Plans in order to determine how climate change is explicitly addressed by BLM managers, and whether such plans reflect changes predicted by the scientific literature. We found that active resource use generally threatens intrinsic values such as conservation and ecosystem services on BLM land, and climate change is expected to exacerbate these threats in numerous ways. Additionally, our synthesis of vegetation modeling suggests substantial changes in vegetation due to climate change. However, BLM plans rarely referred to climate change explicitly and did not reflect the results of the literature review or vegetation model synthesis. Our results suggest there is a disconnect between management of BLM lands and the best available science on climate change. We recommend that the BLM actively integrates such research into on-the-ground management plans and activities, and that researchers studying the effects of climate change make a more robust effort to understand the practices and policies of public land management in order to effectively communicate the management significance of their findings