Showing papers by "San Francisco State University published in 1987"

DNA hybridization evidence of hominoid phylogeny: results from an expanded data set.

Abstract: The living hominoids are human, the two species of chimpanzees, gorilla, orangutan, and nine species of gibbons. The cercopithecoids (Old World monkeys) are the sister group of the hominoids. A consensus about the phylogeny of the hominoids has been reached for the branching order of the gibbons (earliest) and the orangutan (next earliest), but the branching order among gorilla, chimpanzees, and human remains in contention. In 1984 we presented DNA-DNA hybridization data, based on 183 DNA hybrids, that we interpreted as evidence that the branching order, from oldest to most recent, was gibbons, orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzees, and human. In the present paper we report on an expanded data set totaling 514 DNA hybrids, which supports the branching order given above. The ranges for the datings of divergence nodes are Old World monkeys, 25–34 million years (Myr) ago; gibbons, 16.4–23 Myr ago; orangutan, 12.2–17 Myr ago; gorilla, 7.7–11 Myr ago; chimpanzees-human, 5.5–7.7 Myr ago. The possible effects of differences in age at first breeding are discussed, and some speculations about average genomic rates of evolution are presented.

Optimization of nested SQL queries revisited

Abstract: Current methods of evaluating nested queries in the SQL language can be inefficient in a variety of query and data base contexts. Previous research in the area of nested query optimization which sought methods of reducing evaluation costs is summarized, including a classification scheme for nested queries, algorithms designed to transform each type of query to a logically equivalent form which may then be evaluated more efficiently, and a description of a major bug in one of these algorithms. Further examination reveals another bug in the same algorithm. Solutions to these bugs are proposed and incorporated into a new transformation algorithm, and extensions are proposed which will allow the transformation algorithms to handle a larger class of predicates. A recursive algorithm for processing a general nested query is presented and the action of this algorithm is demonstrated. This algorithm can be used to transform any nested query.

Freezing the Master Production Schedule Under Rolling Planning Horizons

Abstract: The stability of the Master Production Schedule MPS is a critical issue in managing production operations with a Material Requirements Planning System. One method of achieving stability is to freeze some portion or all of the MPS. While freezing the MPS can limit the number of schedule changes, it can also produce an increase in production and inventory costs. This paper examines three decision variables in freezing the MPS: the freezing method, the freeze interval length, and the planning horizon length. Simulation experiment results are reported which suggest that freezing up to 50% of the planning horizon has a marginal effect on production and inventory cost under a wide range of operating conditions. These results also suggest that an order based freezing method produces superior results in comparison with a period based method.

Reproduction of the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis in fram strait

Abstract: Egg production rates of Calanus glacialis (Jaschnov) were measured in the laboratory (in 1985) and in the field (in 1983–1984). In the laboratory, daily egg production was studied over one month at alternating feeding and fasting conditions. Spawning ceased after 3 d of starvation and started as soon as females were reintroduced to food. Egg production increased stepwise at 3-d intervals. Females survived more than nine months in captivity. In the field, egg production was measured during PREMIZEX 1983 and MIZEX 1984 at 5 and 16 stations, respectively. High egg production was found in polynyas on the East Greenland Shelf, where melt water induced stratification which supported a spring bloom. Highest egg production was converted into 6.1% body carbon female-1 d-1. Under thick pack-ice no eggs were spawned. Spawning was induced in females from a station with low food abundance by feeding them on board ship. These results from both experiments and field studies show that egg production in C. glacialis is closely related to food availability. Thus, C. glacialis exhibits a reproductive behavior similar to that of C. finmarchicus, but not C. hyperboreus, the other two dominant species in this region.

Adolescent Peer Tutoring and Special Friend Experiences

Abstract: Fifteen high school peer tutors and 15 “special friends” interacted daily for a semester with a class of 9 students with severe disabilities. Two measurement systems were employed: an attitude surv...

Recruitment of Internal Oblique and Transversus Abdominis Muscles During the Eccentric Phase of the Curl-up Exercise

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of a training method to increase voluntary recruitment of internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. Forty volunteers were assigned to either a Control or an Experimental Group. Training consisted of multisensory (auditory, tactile, visual, and kinesthetic) cuing focused on the lower abdominal muscles during the slow curl-back (eccentric) phase of curl-up exercises with the subjects' feet unsupported. We recorded integrated electromyographic (IEMG) values using surface electrodes from internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles during pretest and posttest exercises. Using an analysis of covariance, posttest IEMG values of the Experimental Group were significantly higher (p less than .001) than the Control Group. Our results reveal that multisensory cuing with the feet unsupported during the curl-back is an effective method of increasing combined recruitment of internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. Motor skills developed by this technique are discussed in relation to optimal trunk function and rehabilitation.

Visual anthropology's contribution to the field of anthropology

Abstract: This is an account of the movement of photography as art into the objectivity of the camera image as scientific evidence. On arrival at Cornell University, Collier did not appreciate the extreme fl...

Changing the rules of the game: Reflections toward a feminist analysis of sport

Abstract: Sport, play and games are institutionalized forms of activity used to help maintain male cultural hegemony. Despite reform which has improved access to sport for highly skilled females, the vast majority of girls and women are still systematically denied opportunities to develop physical competence. Imposition of various social control mechanisms enforces this denial, serving to disable women and to perpetuate women's lack of control over our bodies. Despite the thorough identification of sport with masculinity, its strong symbolic value for patriarchy, and women's lack of full access, sport, play, and games have received little attention from feminist scholars. The dynamics which perpetuate a lack of feminist dialogue about sport may stem from the dualistic view which supports patriarchy, and its influence even on feminist scholars. Homophobia, lesbian-baiting, fear, and lack of understanding among those who could engage in the dialogue are further barriers. Yet sport may have the potential to be reclaimed and to function for women's benefit. A shift in framework must first occur, so that women-centered questions form the bases of our analyses of sport. Women-centered questions in two areas, sport and women's sense of meaning of self, and sport and women's sexuality, give rise to a rich vision of sport as a women-defined and women-serving endeavor, useful in cracking the foundations of patriarchal control. While reconceptualization of support is a difficult task, it must begin with changes in the concept of domination and submission upon which sport under patriarchy is based. Eliminating this expression of dualism may enable women to use the sport experience to help reclaim ourselves as unified, self-controlling women.

A Reconsideration of Taxi Regulation

Abstract: In this paper we offer an explanation of how the regulatory enforcement of an average pricing rule for taxi services, which has been frequently observed throughout the history of taxi cabs,1 can reduce exchange costs and promote efficiency. We further argue that in the modern era, the taxi medallion system became a useful and perhaps necessary institutional arrangement for enforcing average pricing rules. We do not claim that markets for taxi services cannot exist in the absence of regulation and medallions, but only that under certain circumstances, average pricing regulation, enforced by a medallion system, may promote efficiency. Finally, we discuss alternative institutional arrangements for enforcing average pricing.

Social Interaction Research for Adolescents with Severe Handicaps.

Abstract: Social interaction research for persons with severe handicaps has accelerated over the past 20 years. The majority of the research has focused on preschool-age children. This may have been due to the large number of university-based preschool programs; and the smaller developmental discrepancy between handicapped and nonhandicapped students has probably slowed the appearance of integrated programs as well as l imited the attempts at social interaction research with older students. Yet there has been an increasing number of studies in the past 5 years which focus on adolescents. This article reviews relevant research on social interaction and presents a model and approach for interpreting this l i terature. Although the tit le refers to individuals with severe handicaps, there appear to be direct implications for behaviorally disordered students. In fact, many of the participants in the cited studies were autistic. Autism has historically been considered within the behaviorally disordered orseriously emotionally disturbed category; and in educational service delivery, students with autism have generally been considered within the severely handicapped category. More importantly, the authors leel that the commonalities in social interaction interventions between autistic and mentally retarded students far outweigh their differences. Therefore, the findings and views advanced here will refer to autistic and mentally retarded individuals who have fallen within the severely handicapped category. Social interaction research has been investigated in fourways: child-centered social skill training, environment-centered program evaluation, attitude research, and investigation of the influence of ecological settings. Social skill training has probably been the most common research approach. lt attempts to target and train particular behaviors. Such social skil l training uses a behavioral observation methodology which codes discrete behaviors. The majority of behavioral training studies have used a peer-mediated strategy which teaches a nonhandicapped peer to emit a number of interactive social behaviors in the presence of the handicapped peer. Some studies (e.9., Gaylord-Ross, Haring, Breen, & Pitts-Conway, 1984) have taught the handicapped individual a number of social behaviors to display in the integrated setting. Behavior analytic procedures are typically used so that the person is prompted and reinforced to emit a set of task analyzed behaviors in a training setting. Thetraining usually consists of a series of role-playing trials between the targeted child and a confederate. Generalization probes are then taken in the natural setting to see if the learned behaviors transfer tolhe in vivo situation. Behavioral training studies are usually evaluated with single case designs although this is not required. Gaylord-Ross and Peck (1985) have dist inguished between chi ld-centered and environment-centered research. Certainly, behavioral skil l training would typify the former in its precise monitoring of interactional behavior at the individual level. There are three other types of environment-centered approaches which have added to the research literature. Program evaluation research focuses on the influence of the program as the primary independent variable. For example, does the effect of a peer tutoring program increase social interaction between handicapped and nonhandicapped students? Attitude research typically contrasts the sentiments of nonhandicapped persons toward handicapped individuals in integrated versus egregated settings. Ecological research compares the similarit ies and differences in behavior within and across different settings. Ecological research might attend to the organizational structure or the roles and rituals in a school or work setting as they effect social interaction.

In Support of Specialized Programs for Blind and Visually Impaired Children: The Impact of Vision Loss on Learning:

Abstract: The learning needs of blind and visually impaired children can be divided into three categories: needs that are met by adapting the curriculum, needs that are met by changes in methodology, and dev...

Types of emotional disclosures and request compliance between spouses

Abstract: The present study investigated variations in emotional disclosures when making requests of one's spouse Unpleasant emotions are often thought of as “taboos,”; but this study demonstrated that, from the hearer's perspective, all unpleasant emotions are not equally negative In fact, in comparison to messages that were devoid of emotions and other types of unpleasant emotions, disclosing vulnerabilities and hostilities toward persons other than the hearer often prompted hearers to respond with more positive messages and to report a more positive attitude toward request compliance, one's relationship with the requester, and oneself Respondents, however, did not report any difference in the likelihood with which they would comply with requests on the basis of variations in emotional disclosures The hypotheses and the results are discussed in terms of the face‐needs of communicators

The Role of Ethnicity in Enclave Enterprises: A Study of the Chinese Garment Factories in New York City

Abstract: As part of current efforts to understand the role of ethnicity in entrepreneurship, the present study investigates the cultural/ethnic aspects of the Chinese garment factories in New York City. It was found that enclave enterprises function differently than those in the center economy. The often assumed incompatibility of traditional values, personalism, familism and informal social relations which prevail in the enclave economy are important assets for the entrepreneurial pursuits of Chinese in the ethnic enclave in New York City. The skillful use of non-economic resources is vital in the establishment of the efficient but small garment factories which are best suited for: (1) the exploitation of the opportunity structure of New York's garment industry, (2) the maximization of capital and labor resources, and (3) the neutralization of management/labor conflicts. Contrary to the claims of many social scientists that ethnic enterprises are riven by conflicts and burdened by low productivity, the present st...

International news media exposure, knowledge, and attitudes

Abstract: This study provided mixed support for traditional expectations on the impact of exposure to international news in the U.S. The study questioned whether different news media have a differential impact on knowledge, attitudes, and opinions about international subjects. The medium seemed to make a difference under certain circumstances and for certain topics. Not all media, however, had equal impact. The study also questioned whether knowledge and views espoused by an adult audience are made more homogeneous as exposure to international news increases. The media were not likely to promote homogeneity or cognitive and attitudinal dependence in their audiences.

Initiators of Multicriteria Optimization

Abstract: Multicriteria optimization is what one attempts to carry out in every applied decision process. Perhaps this was most evident to the early political economists such as Edgeworth and Pareto who laid the foundations of the subject in their competitive equilibrium and welfare theories. For mathematicians, such as Cantor and Hausdorff, it was reflected in the consideration of ordered sets. For anyone who studied economics, a theory of psychological games would seem to be useful in outtrading the other participants to achieve one’s economic ends. Not surprisingly, Borel first constructed such a theory, and economics and game theory were properly united by von Neumann and Morgenstern. The subject was further developed by Koopmans within the niceties of a linear theory of the firm. It eventually gained mathematical recognition when Kuhn and Tucker provided a proper definition of a vector maximum,and mathematical acceptance with Hurwicz’s treatment of the subject in topological vector spaces.

Building a learning orientation

Abstract: The messages students receive about the purposes of academic tasks vary in different classrooms. Teachers use a variety of strategies, either deliberately or inadvertently, to convey information about why students are to accomplish these tasks. In some classrooms, the teacher's emphasis on doing work serves to create a work orientation. A common refrain in these classrooms is "Finish your work so you can go out to recess." Here, the goal of instruction is to complete work. In other classrooms, the orientation is toward learning and thinking. "Think it through" and "Your ideas are important" are typical comments. In classrooms with this learning orientation, teachers attempt to motivate students to learn rather than simply finish their work. The goal of instruction in these classrooms is that of learning itself and continued motivation to learn. Students are helped to see learning as beneficial to their own self-development (Marshall, in press). In a third type of classroom, neither a work nor a learning orientation is present. As a consequence of the lack of work or learning orientation, students tend to avoid work. Without clear and consistently enforced instructional goals, the students' goal or game is to see how much they can get away with, how long they can "goof off" or play, rather than do work or learn. This article focuses on how teachers can build the understanding that the goal of instruction is

Working conditions in urban schools

Abstract: The recent wave of reform reports in education promulgated a wide variety of recommendations to address identified concerns This research explores an issue mostly ignored by the reform reports, the working conditions teachers face Utilizing ethnographic techniques and multisite analyses of in-depth case studies of six schools in two large urban areas, the authors identify five broad categories of stressors in the work environment, including governance/leadership, budget cuts, security, staff relations, and student issues In addition, two major themes characterizing working conditions for teachers are specified, the no respect syndrome and barriers to teaching The need to address these issues before attempting to implement the major reforms in the national reports is highlighted