Showing papers by "Boston College published in 1989"

Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach

Abstract: Media discourse and public opinion are treated as two parallel systems of constructing meaning. This paper explores their relationship by analyzing the discourse on nuclear power in four general audience media: television news coverage, newsmagazine accounts, editorial cartoons, and syndicated opinion columns. The analysis traces the careers of different interpretive packages on nuclear power from 1945 to the present. This media discourse, it is argued, is an essential context for understanding the formation of public opinion on nuclear power. More specifically, it helps to account for such survey results as the decline in support for nuclear power before Three Mile Island, a rebound after a burst of media publicity has died out, the gap between general support for nuclear power and support for a plant in one's own community, and the changed relationship of age to support for nuclear power from 1950 to the present.

Investment, Finacial Factors and Cash Flow: Evidence From UK Panel Data

Abstract: In this paper we provide some econometric evidence on the impact of financial factors like cash flow, debt and stock measures of liquidity on the investment decisions of U. K. firms. These variables are introduced via an extension of the Q model of investment which explicitly includes agency/financial distress costs. We discuss if the significance of cash flow may be due to the fact that it proxies for output or because it is a better measure of market fundamentals than Q. Moreover we investigate if the effect of financial factors varies across different types of firms, according to size, age, and type of industry (growing and declining). We analyze the determinants of the magnitude of the cash flow effect and explain why caution must be exercised in attributing inter-firm differences only to differences in the importance of agency or financial distress costs.

Understanding Social Partnerships: An Evolutionary Model of Partnership Organizations

Abstract: A model of the evolutionary process of developing social partnerships is presented. The model focuses on the interorganizational context out of which partnerships originate and proposes that six types of forces in the environment foster interaction. Next, processes of issue crystallization, coalition building, and purpose formulation, which originate in an "initiation" stage and focus the content of the partnership, are described. The evolutionary stages of social partnership are identified as (1) a context of forces generating a recognition of the need/use of partnership, (2) initiation of the partnership (encompassing issue crystallization, coalition building, and purpose formulation), (3) establishment, and (4) maturity. Processes are seen to be repetitive and cyclical, and purpose in successful partnerships tends to broaden over time. A case example is used to illustrate the model.

The relative effectiveness of private and public schools : evidence from two developing countries

Abstract: This report reviews quality estimates between private and public secondary schools in Colombia and Tanzania. Quality is measured by student performance on standardized achievement tests. Estimated sample selection effects suggest that Colombian students sort themselves by type of institution (private or public), but Tanzanian students appear to be selected by a hierarchical mechanism, with the worst students entering private institutions. These effects are consistent with the different institutional frameworks for educational choice in these countries. For each country, private schools offer an achievement advantage. By standardizing for differences in student and school attributes, private school students have higher achievement test scores.

Housing vacancies, thin markets, and idiosyncratic tastes

Abstract: This paper presents a model with rental housing vacancies in equilibrium. Because of the indivisibility and multi-dimensional heterogeneity of housing units, the housing market is thin. As a result, a typical household entering the market is willing to pay a premium for its most-preferred over its second most-preferred available (vacant) unit. This confers monopoly power on landlords, which they exploit by setting rents above costs. Free entry and exit force profits to zero, with vacancies as the equilibrating mechanism. A nice feature of the model is that housing vacancies are socially useful in expanding the choice set of entering households, though there is no presumption that the market vacancy rate is socially optimal. Thin markets are modeled by assuming an idiosyncratic component to households' tastes over housing units.

Age, Class, Politics, and the Welfare State

Abstract: Preface 1. The welfare state: some neglected considerations 2. Theoretical perspectives on the welfare state 3. Social welfare spending in advanced industrial democracies 4. Social welfare spending and democratic political context 5. Economic growth, social welfare spending, and income inequality 6. Infant mortality, equality, and social welfare spending 7. Conclusions: the causes and consequences of the welfare state References.

Stock market reactions to the depository institutions deregulation and monetary control act of 1980

Abstract: This paper evaluates the effects of events leading to the passage of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. The evidence suggests that the initial proposal of the Act by then President Carter, and the final passage of the Act by the House of Representatives, produced positive abnormal returns to stockholders of large commercial banks. Stockholders of small commercial banks and small savings and loans, on the other hand, generally experienced negative abnormal returns. Furthermore, when hopes of passage of the Act faced significant negative (positive) abnormal returns were experienced by stockholders of large (small) commercial banks.

Ultrastructural observations of human and mouse oocytes treated with cryopreservatives.

Abstract: The effects of the cryopreservative agents dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and propanediol (PROH) on mature human and mature mouse oocytes have been examined with transmission electron microscopy. Treatment of CD-1 mouse oocytes and human preovulatory oocytes in a stepwise manner with either DMSO or PROH up to 1.5 M appears to trigger the exocytosis of 70-80% of the cortical granules in all oocytes. Successive stages in premature dehiscence, including a loss in granule electron density, fusion of the granule-limiting membrane with the oolemma, and extrusion of the cortical granule core into the perivitelline space, have been observed in all human oocytes studied. In addition, all human DMSO- and PROH-treated oocytes exhibited crypt-like invaginations and clusters of endocytic vesicles that subtend the oolemma. The presence of these crypts and pinocytotic vesicles in treated oocytes may suggest a mechanism for the retrieval of cortical granule membrane that is inserted into the original plasmalemma during exocytosis. The paucity of cortical granules in treated mouse and human oocytes as it potentially relates to an impaired ability to elicit the cortical reaction at fertilization is discussed.

China eyes Japan

Abstract: What influence does the history of Japanese aggression in China have on Chinese images of and policies toward Japan today? Is Chinese acrimony and assertiveness toward Japan in the latter 1980s the product of calculated bargaining pressure or compulsive emotional nationalism? And what are the prospects for Sino-Japanese relations: increased political alignment or continued instability and friction? These are among the questions Allen Whiting, a leading scholar of Chinese foreign relations, addresses in this book. Working largely from interviews and from an examination of the Chinese media, Whiting finds that Chinese policy toward Japan embodies an uneasy tension between hostile imagery and pragmatic interest, manifest in increasing tension during the years 1982-1987. He challenges the commonplace assumptions that post-Mao Chinese foreign policy is pragmatically determined by economic and strategic calculations. Instead, Whiting argues that Sino-Japanese relations are vulnerable to Chinese images based on bitter memories of Japanese aggression combined with misperceptions of Japanese politics and society as well as provocative remarks by Japanese officials. These images are transmitted to younger generations by Chinese mass media with little challenge from more informed governmental and academic specialists. He concludes that, although there is an increased sophistication in the Chinese understanding of the United States and the Soviet Union, this is not yet evident in the case of Japan.

The relation between horizontality and rod-and-frame and vestibular navigational performance.

Abstract: Sex differences on Piaget's water-level (horizontality) test are well established but poorly understood. In this article, correlates of female horizontality performance are systematically explored. Across the five experiments reported, it was found that female subjects who failed the water-level test (poor-horizontality female subjects) were selectively impaired on tasks that required processing information from the otolith organs. In Experiment 1, poor-horizontality female subjects were found to be impaired relative to good-horizontality subjects on the rod-and-frame test. In Experiment 2, a relation was found between female horizontality performance and the ability to process vestibular information in a passive transport task. Experiment 3 ruled out poor spatial updating as a mediating factor in this relation. The results of Experiments 4 and 5 indicated that poor-horizontality female subjects perform randomly on vestibular navigation because they cannot judge linear displacement under conditions of passive transport. The linear transport task is similar to the rod-and-frame task in that both require the central processing of otolith signals. It is proposed that one way to solve the water-level test is to imagine, on the basis of prior perceptual experiences, what the water level looks like inside tilted containers. Because of complex visual-otolith interactions, poor-horizontality female subjects may experience these events differently than good-horizontality subjects. Language: en

An Anatomy of Autonomy: Managing Professionals

Abstract: The most vexing problem in the management of salaried professionals is how to provide them with their espoused right of autonomy while ensuring adequate control of the organization. In this article, Joseph Raelin explains how a standard approach of granting professionals operational autonomy (autonomy over the means or procedures to be used) while according management administrative and strategic autonomy (autonomy over the activities of the organizational unit or over the missions of the entire enterprise) is a convenient norm for executives to adopt in most situations. However, he goes on to illustrate how to manage the critical exceptions: those conditions when professionals out to be granted administrative and strategic autonomy as well as those conditions when management may actually invade the operational autonomy of the professional.

Central limit theorems for nonlinear functionals of stationary Gaussian processes

Abstract: Let X=(X t ,t∈ℝ) be a stationary Gaussian process on (Ω, ℱ,P), letH(X) be the Hilbert space of variables inL 2 (Ω,P) which are measurable with respect toX, and let (U s ,s∈ℝ) be the associated family of time-shift operators. We sayY∈H(X) (withE(Y)=0) satisfies the functional central limit theorem or FCLT [respectively, the central limit theorem of CLT if in [respectively, ], where $$Y_T (t) \equiv {{\int\limits_0^{Tt} {U_s \circ Yds} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\int\limits_0^{Tt} {U_s \circ Yds} } {\left\{ {Var\left( {\int\limits_0^T {U_s \circ Yds} } \right)} \right\}^{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern- ulldelimiterspace} 2}} }}} \right. \kern- ulldelimiterspace} {\left\{ {Var\left( {\int\limits_0^T {U_s \circ Yds} } \right)} \right\}^{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern- ulldelimiterspace} 2}} }}$$ andW(•) is a standard Wiener process on [0,1]. This paper provides some general sufficient conditions onX andY ensuring thatY satisfies the CLT or FCLT. Examples ofY are given which satisfy the CLT but not the FCLT. This work extends CLT's of Maruyama (1976) and Breuer and Major (1983).

Eating Patterns and Disorders in a College Population: Are College Women's Eating Problems a New Phenomenon?.

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between gender differences in eating patterns among college students and the disorders as clinically defined. A considerable number of college women but few men in our sample show behavioral patterns associated with an eating disorder (anorexia or bulimia). Our findings for women are in the moderate to high range for these symptoms, compared with other university populations. Results indicate that the eating difficulties of college women may be an eating problem, which only partially resembles clinical eating disorders. Although our female college sample displays the behavioral symptoms associated with anorexia and bulimia, they exhibit few of the constellation of psychological traits associated with these disorders. Some evidence suggests that the etiology of eating problems may be partly related to women wanting to be thinner than is medically desirable and may represent a response of “normal” women to the new, more demanding cultural and supercultural standards for thinness. Diagnosis and treatment issues as well as sociocultural implications of these results are discussed.

Stress Responses of Children to Sexual Abuse and Ritualistic Abuse in Day Care Centers

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sexual abuse and ritualistic abuse of children in day care settings. The sample was composed of 134 children; 67 children who were sexually abused and ritually abused in day care centers were compared on the Child Behavior Checklist with a carefully matched group of 67 nonabused children. Findings indicated that sexually abused children had significantly more behavior problems than did the nonabused children. Sexual abuse involving ritualistic abuse was associated with increased impact as well as increased severity in the extent of the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse the children experienced.

Molecular mechanics (MM2) calculations on peptides and on the protein crambin using the CYBER 205

Abstract: The MM2 potential functions for amides and peptides have been further extended by examining the experimental crystal structures for cyclo-(-Ala-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ala-Gly-), I, and cyclo-(-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Gly-), II. The force field obtained was then applied to a study of the structure of the hydrophobic protein Crambin, for which a high resolution crystal structure is available. The energy minimization was carried out using a version of MM2 adapted to the CYBER 205.

Adaptation to surgery for head and neck cancer

Abstract: We examined the postoperative adjustment of 45 patients who underwent surgery for cancers of the head and neck: 23 who had laryngeal cancer, 18 who had oral cavity/oropharyngeal cancers, and 4 who had cancers of other sites. Patients were assessed preoperatively, and at 3 months and 9 to 12 months postsurgery. Interviews and questionnaires were used to assess depression, body image, limitations, pain, financial problems, need for help at home, and social interaction. Results revealed that pain, fatigue, weakness, and loss of speech were major concerns. Pain and financial concerns were worst at 3 months and then improved. Physical limitations increased steadily with time. Depression was a major factor in patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers. Of note, patients who underwent postoperative radiation therapy had the most difficulty adapting to their illness and treatment, with persistent limitations in function and social isolation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The linear multi-objective R&D project selection problem

Abstract: A multi-objective model of the project-selection problem is described. The model departs from an earlier goal-programming formulation of the problem, which suggested Delphic methods for selection of priorities and aspiration levels. It is shown that the multiobjective formulation yields multiple nondominated solutions for the same problem solved by goal programming, whereas the goal-programming formulation revealed only one solution, and that the goal-programming solution is sensitive to choice of aspiration levels. The multiobjective model is recommended as a more general approach to the research and development project-selection problem, since it will develop a set of all nondominated solution. Subjective methods (such as the Delphic technique) can then be called for at a later point in the analysis to choose among alternative nondominated solutions. >

Three residues involved in binding and catalysis in the carbamyl phosphate binding site of Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamylase.

Abstract: Site-directed mutagenesis was used to create four mutant versions of Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamylase at three positions in the catalytic chain of the enzyme. The location of all the amino acid substitutions was near the carbamyl phosphate binding site as previously determined by X-ray crystallography. Arg-54, which interacts with both the anhydride oxygen and a phosphate oxygen of carbamyl phosphate, was replaced by alanine. This mutant enzyme was approximately 17,000-fold less active than the wild type, although the binding of substrates and substrate analogues was not altered substantially. Arg-105, which interacts with both the carbonyl oxygen and a phosphate oxygen of carbamyl phosphate, was replaced by alanine. This mutant enzyme exhibited an approximate 1000-fold loss of activity, while the activity of catalytic subunit isolated from this mutant enzyme was reduced by 170-fold compared to the wild-type catalytic subunit. The KD of carbamyl phosphate and the inhibition constants for acetyl phosphate and N-(phosphono-acetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA) were increased substantially by this amino acid substitution. Furthermore, this loss in substrate and substrate analogue binding can be correlated with the large increases in the aspartate and carbamyl phosphate concentrations at half of the maximum observed specific activity, [S]0.5. Gln-137, which interacts with the amino group of carbamyl phosphate, was replaced by both asparagine and alanine. The asparagine mutant exhibited only a small reduction in activity while the alanine mutant was approximately 50-fold less active than the wild type. The catalytic subunits of both these mutant enzymes were substantially more active than the corresponding holoenzymes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

How Incentive-Incompatible Deposit-Insurance Funds Fail

Abstract: An incentive-incompatible deposit-insurance fund (IIDIF) is a scheme. Lot guaranteeing deposits at client institutions that deploys defective systems of information collection, client monitoring, and risk management. These defective systems encourage voluntary risk- taking by clients and by managers and politicians responsible for administering the fund. The paper focuses on how principal-agent conflicts and asymmetries in the distribution of information lead to myopic behavior by IIDIF managers and by politicians who appoint and constrain them. Drawing on data developed in legislative hearings and investigations and in sworn depositions, the paper documents that managers of IISIFs in Ohio and Maryland knew well in advance of their funds' 1985 failures that important clients were both economically insolvent and engaging in inappropriate forms of risk-taking. It also establishes that staff proposals for publicizing and bringing these clients' risk-taking under administrative control were repeatedly rejected. The analysis has a forward-looking purpose. Congress and federal regulators have managed the massively undercapitalized Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) in much the same way Ohio and Maryland officials did. Unless and until incentives supporting political, bureaucratic and private risk-taking are reformed, the possibility of a FSLIC meltdown cannot be dismissed. To encourage timely intervention into insolvencies developing in a deposit-insurance fund's client base, the most meaningful reforms would be to force the development and release of estimates of the market value of the insurance enterprise and to require fund managers to use the threat of takeover to force decapitalized clients to recapitalize well before they approach insolvency.

Consistent Valuation and Cost of Capital Expressions with Corporate and Personal Taxes

Abstract: This paper examines three valuation methods, each of which should lead to the same value for a given asset. These are the Adjusted Present Value, Adjusted Discount Rate and Flows to Equity methods. To achieve identical valuations, however, the different methods must be implemented with cost of capital expressions that embody a consistent set of assumptions about (1) the tax regime and (2) the time pattern and riskiness of debt tax shields. Valuation and cost of capital expressions that have been proposed in the literature are grouped and contrasted according to these assumptions. It is also shown that the familiar weighted average cost of capital can be consistent with any such set of assumptions, as long as the correct expression is used to estimate the relationship between the levered and unlevered cost of equity.

Multiple-method, cross-cultural assessment of psychological distress.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to test the validity of cross-cultural use of a standardized instrument to measure psychological distress by triangulation of data obtained through a multiple-method approach. The sample consisted of 25 adult Polish immigrants who had at least a basic command of the English language. The three methodological approaches included a paper-and-pencil self-report instrument (Brief Symptom Inventory [BSI], verbal self-reports elicited during an in-depth interview, and micro-level and macro-level observations. The translated BSI was relatively valid except for the psychoticism, paranoid and interpersonal sensitivity subscales. Invalidity could be explained through information gathered by other methods. The importance of instrument translation for cross-cultural use and the need to incorporate multiple-method assessment into both clinical practice with ethnic populations and cross-cultural research are discussed.