Showing papers by "University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee published in 2001"
TL;DR: It is found that most people use few search terms, few modified queries, view few Web pages, and rarely use advanced search features, and the language of Web queries is distinctive.
Abstract: In studying actual Web searching by the public at large, we analyzed over one million Web queries by users of the Excite search engine. We found that most people use few search terms, few modified queries, view few Web pages, and rarely use advanced search features. A small number of search terms are used with high frequency, and a great many terms are unique; the language of Web queries is distinctive. Queries about recreation and entertainment rank highest. Findings are compared to data from two other large studies of Web queries. This study provides an insight into the public practices and choices in Web searching.
1,153 citations
TL;DR: Qualitative examination of human brain autopsy material has shown that fragile-X patients exhibit abnormal dendritic spine lengths and shapes on parieto-occipital neocortical pyramidal cells, which may suggest a global failure of normal dendrites maturation and or pruning during development that persists throughout adulthood.
Abstract: Fragile-X syndrome is a common form of mental retardation resulting from the inability to produce the fragile-X mental retardation protein. Qualitative examination of human brain autopsy material has shown that fragile-X patients exhibit abnormal dendritic spine lengths and shapes on parieto-occipital neocortical pyramidal cells. Similar quantitative results have been obtained in fragile-X knockout mice, that have been engineered to lack the fragile-X mental retardation protein. Dendritic spines on layer V pyramidal cells of human temporal and visual cortices stained using the Golgi-Kopsch method were investigated. Quantitative analysis of dendritic spine length, morphology, and number was carried out on patients with fragile-X syndrome and normal age-matched controls. Fragile-X patients exhibited significantly more long dendritic spines and fewer short dendritic spines than did control subjects in both temporal and visual cortical areas. Similarly, fragile-X patients exhibited significantly more dendritic spines with an immature morphology and fewer with a more mature type morphology in both cortical areas. In addition, fragile-X patients had a higher density of dendritic spines than did controls on distal segments of apical and basilar dendrites in both cortical areas. Long dendritic spines with immature morphologies and elevated spine numbers are characteristic of early development or a lack of sensory experience. The fact that these characteristics are found in fragile-X patients throughout multiple cortical areas may suggest a global failure of normal dendritic spine maturation and or pruning during development that persists throughout adulthood.
746 citations
TL;DR: Genetic, biochemical, ultrastructural, and behavioral studies are providing insight into the machineries employed by these diverse bacteria that enable them to glide over surfaces.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract The mechanisms responsible for bacterial gliding motility have been a mystery for almost 200 years. Gliding bacteria move actively over surfaces by a process that does not involve flagella. Gliding bacteria are phylogenetically diverse and are abundant in many environments. Recent results indicate that more than one mechanism is needed to explain all forms of bacterial gliding motility. Myxococcus xanthus “social gliding motility” and Synechocystis gliding are similar to bacterial “twitching motility” and rely on type IV pilus extension and retraction for cell movement. In contrast, gliding of filamentous cyanobacteria, mycoplasmas, members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium group, and “adventurous gliding” of M. xanthus do not appear to involve pili. The mechanisms of movement employed by these bacteria are still a matter of speculation. Genetic, biochemical, ultrastructural, and behavioral studies are providing insight into the machineries employed by these diverse bacteria that enable them to g...
359 citations
TL;DR: This article found that college self-efficacy was associated with stronger persistence intentions and associated indirectly with better health, but social and faculty integration were not associated directly with persistence intentions, while students who reported stronger availability of family support reported stronger selfefficacy.
348 citations
TL;DR: The present analysis uses models and data sets similar to those used in previous work for the Portland, Oregon, area but applies them toward analysis of nonwork walking travel, suggesting that regardless of the effects that land use has on individual nonwork walkers, the impacts take place at the neighborhood level.
Abstract: Much has been written about the connection between land use/urban form and transportation from the perspective of affecting automobile trip generation. This addresses only half the issue. The theoretical advances in land use-transportation relationships embodied in paradigms such as the jobs-housing balance, neotraditional design standards, and transitoriented development rely very heavily on the generation of pedestrian traffic to realize their proposed benefits. The present analysis uses models and data sets similar to those used in previous work for the Portland, Oregon, area but applies them toward analysis of nonwork walking travel. The results suggest that regardless of the effects that land use has on individual nonwork walking trip generation, the impacts take place at the neighborhood level.
346 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors solved the critical exponent problem for the nonlinear wave equation with damping and showed that this critical exponent coincides with the famous Fujita critical exponent for the heat equation.
344 citations
TL;DR: Although there is much interest in the effects of sperm competition on sexual dimorphism, this work suggests that traditional explanations based on social mating systems are better predictors ofDimorphism in birds.
Abstract: Comparative analyses suggest that a variety of factors influence the evolution of sexual dimorphism in birds. We analyzed the relative importance of social mating system and sperm competition to sexual differences in plumage and body size (mass and tail and wing length) of more than 1000 species of birds from throughout the world. In these analyses we controlled for phylogeny and a variety of ecological and life-history variables. We used testis size (corrected for total body mass) as an index of sperm competition in each species, because testis size is correlated with levels of extrapair paternity and is available for a large number of species. In contrast to recent studies, we found strong and consistent effects of social mating system on most forms of dimorphism. Social mating system strongly influenced dimorphism in plumage, body mass, and wing length and had some effect on dimorphism in tail length. Sexual dimorphism was relatively greater in species with polygynous or lekking than monogamous mating systems. This was true when we used both species and phylogenetically independent contrasts for analysis. Relative testis size was also related positively to dimorphism in tail and wing length, but in most analyses it was a poorer predictor of plumage dimorphism than social mating system. There was no association between relative testis size and mass dimorphism. Geographic region and life history were also associated with the four types of dimorphism, although their influence varied between the different types of dimorphism. Although there is much interest in the effects of sperm competition on sexual dimorphism, we suggest that traditional explanations based on social mating systems are better predictors of dimorphism in birds.
336 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a framework that integrates and reinterprets current research in cross-cultural consumer behavior and identify areas that need further research and can be used as a template for marketers seeking to understand their foreign consumers.
Abstract: The world economy is becoming increasingly cross‐cultural. During the next decades, as marketers enter new international markets, an understanding of how culture influences consumer behavior will be crucial for both managers and consumer researchers. This article presents a framework that integrates and reinterprets current research in cross‐cultural consumer behavior. The framework also serves to identify areas that need further research and can be used as a template for marketers seeking to understand their foreign consumers. The article also attempts to integrate from an applied perspective two distinct traditions in the study of culture and consumer behavior: the anthropological approach and the cross‐cultural psychology tradition.
323 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual model linking market orientation, marketing competencies, and export performance is proposed to investigate the role of the Internet technology in these relationships and find that firms' integration of Internet technology into marketing activities generally leverages the influence of market orientation on the firms' marketing competency (compared with competitors), which in turn have a positive impact on their export performance.
Abstract: Internet technology is often considered to be fundamentally changing the business paradigm and increasingly integrated into the marketing function. The authors offer a conceptual model linking market orientation, marketing competencies, and export performance and investigate the role of the Internet technology in these relationships. On the basis of an analysis of survey data from 381 manufacturing firms involved in exporting, the authors find that firms’ integration of Internet technology into marketing activities generally leverages the influence of market orientation on the firms’ marketing competencies (compared with competitors), which in turn have a positive impact on their export performance. The authors identify competitive intensity, firm size, and degree of export dependence as additional moderating variables.
279 citations
TL;DR: To investigate the populations of Bacteria and Archaea associated with metal-rich sediments from Green Bay, WI, nucleic acids were extracted and the phylogenetic relationships of cloned 16S rRNA genes were analysed.
Abstract: Biology is believed to play a large role in the cycling of iron and manganese in many freshwater environments, but specific microbial groups indigenous to these systems have not been well characterized. To investigate the populations of Bacteria and Archaea associated with metal-rich sediments from Green Bay, WI, we extracted nucleic acids and analysed the phylogenetic relationships of cloned 16S rRNA genes. Because nucleic acids have not been routinely extracted from metal-rich samples, we investigated the bias inherent in DNA extraction and gene amplification from pure MnO2 using defined populations of whole cells or naked DNA. From the sediments, we screened for manganese-oxidizing bacteria using indicator media and found three isolates that were capable of manganese oxidation. In the phylogenetic analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene clones, we found two groups related to known metal-oxidizing genera, Leptothrix of the beta-Proteobacteria and Hyphomicrobium of the alpha-Proteobacteria, and a Fe(III)-reducing group related to the Magnetospirillum genus of the alpha-Proteobacteria. Groups related to the metal-reducing delta-Proteobacteria constituted 22% of the gene clones. In addition, gene sequences from one group of methanogens and a group of Crenarchaeota, identified in the archaeal gene clone library, were related to those found previously in Lake Michigan sediments.
231 citations
TL;DR: The properties of an excess power method to detect gravitational waves in interferometric detector data, derived from Bayesian analyses and shown how to compute Bayesian thresholds, are examined.
Abstract: We examine the properties of an excess power method to detect gravitational waves in interferometric detector data. This method is designed to detect short-duration $(\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.5$ s) burst signals of unknown waveform, such as those from supernovae or black hole mergers. If only the bursts' duration and frequency band are known, the method is an optimal detection strategy in both Bayesian and frequentist senses. It consists of summing the data power over the known time interval and frequency band of the burst. If the detector noise is stationary and Gaussian, this sum is distributed as a ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2}$ (non-central ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2})$ deviate in the absence (presence) of a signal. One can use these distributions to compute frequentist detection thresholds for the measured power. We derive the method from Bayesian analyses and show how to compute Bayesian thresholds. More generically, when only upper and/or lower bounds on the bursts duration and frequency band are known, one must search for excess power in all concordant durations and bands. Two search schemes are presented and their computational efficiencies are compared. We find that given reasonable constraints on the effective duration and bandwidth of signals, the excess power search can be performed on a single workstation. Furthermore, the method can be almost as efficient as matched filtering when a large template bank is required: for Gaussian noise the excess power method can detect a source to a distance at least half of the distance detectable by matched filtering if the product of duration and bandwidth of the signals is $\ensuremath{\lesssim}100,$ and to a much greater fraction of the distance when the size of the matched filter bank is large. Finally, we derive generalizations of the method to a network of several interferometers under the assumption of Gaussian noise. However, further work is required to determine the efficiency of the method in the realistic context of a detector network with non-Gaussian noise.
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that learning opportunities that were interesting, engaging, competence-producing, and mastery-oriented were associated with optimal child behavioral change, and the importance of these learning opportunities for early intervention practices is discussed.
Abstract: The relationships between several different person and environment characteristics of everyday natural learning opportunities and changes in both child learning opportunities and child behavior and performance were examined in an intervention study lasting 19 to 26 weeks. Participants were 63 parents or other caregivers and their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities or delays. Findings showed that learning opportunities that were interesting, engaging, competence-producing, and mastery-oriented were associated with optimal child behavioral change. Implications for early intervention practices are discussed.
TL;DR: This paper investigated how knowledge becomes meaningful in professional practice across four different professions: social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education programs 9 to 24 months previously and found that professionals make meaning by moving back and forth between continuing professional education programs and their professional practice.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to investigate how knowledge becomes meaningful in professional practice across four different professions. Eighty semistructured interviews were conducted with social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education programs 9 to 24 months previously. Findings indicate that professionals make meaning by moving back and forth between continuing professional education programs and their professional practice. In addition, each profession studied framed their meaning-making process through an understanding of the nature of their professional work. Implications for research and practice in continuing professional education are drawn.
01 Apr 2001-International Journal of Human-computer Studies \/ International Journal of Man-machine Studies
TL;DR: The results indicate that interactivity positively influences user attitude, and some dimensions of attitude translate into enhanced user performance.
Abstract: Multimedia technology-based interactive learning/training programs have recently emerged as major tools for learning in educational settings (schools), at home and for training in corporations. Multimedia aspects and an ability to interact with the programs are claimed to enhance the learning experiences. A central thesis of this study is that such “interactive multimedia learning systems” would significantly improve users' attitudes, and that this, in turn, would enhance their learning achievement. An additional thesis of the study is that the “learning style” of the users will moderate the relationship between interactivity and attitude. This article reports the findings of a controlled quasi-experimental study of the influences of “interactivity” on six different dimensions of user attitude (content, format, user-control, feedback, ease of use and motivation) and performance improvement (achievement-gain). The results indicate that interactivity positively influences user attitude, and some dimensions of attitude translate into enhanced user performance. The study finds some interesting support for the moderating effects of learning styles. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
TL;DR: This article argued that the nation states, especially major Western states, remain important players in the regulation of global businesses and that the role of the banking regulators and their reliance upon auditing technologies to regulate major banks is compromised by history, domestic concerns and relationships with class and capitalist interests rather than by globalization per se.
Abstract: Globalization of businesses raises major questions about the regulation of corporations, both in the national and international context. The debate is marked by two competing views. The ‘hyperglobalists’ claim that in a globalized world, nation-states cannot take effective actions to regulate multinational businesses, especially those relating to banking and finance. In response, the ‘skeptics’ accept the view that to regulate corporations, the nation-state has always had to restructure itself. However, they challenge the contention that globalization has reduced the power, functions and authority of the state. The paper contributes to the debate through an examination of some of the processes leading to the forced closure (and the aftermath) of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), a bank that operated from 73 countries. It particularly focuses upon the role of the banking regulators and their reliance upon auditing technologies to regulate major banks. The paper sides with the ‘skeptics’ and argues that the nation states, especially major Western states, remain important players in the regulation of global businesses. It concludes that the nation-state’s capacity to regulate global enterprises is compromised by history, domestic concerns and relationships with class and capitalist interests rather than by globalization per se.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of top management team changes on organizational change in a sample of firms attempting turnarounds. But, despite support from numerous case analyses, there is little systematic evidence that replacing top managers leads to substantial organizational change at declining firms, despite the fact that top executives at some firms are able to avoid being replaced even though their firms perform poorly.
Abstract: Researchers have argued that top management team changes are an important force spurring change at declining firms. Yet, studies find that top executives at some firms are able to avoid being replaced even though their firms perform poorly. Also, despite support from numerous case analyses, there is little systematic evidence that replacing top managers leads to substantial organizational change at declining firms. In this study, we examine these issues by looking at levels of top management team replacement at a sample of declining firms attempting turnarounds. We find that top management team replacement levels vary with the presence of inertial or change-creating forces within firms. In particular, reduced levels of top management team replacement occur during turnaround attempts at large firms and those that have followed the same strategic orientation for a long period of time. Meanwhile, increases in outsider control of the board are associated with increased levels of replacement. We further find that higher levels of top management team replacement are associated with greater changes in firm competitive strategy and firm structure and controls during turnaround attempts. Overall, our findings show that organizational-level forces play an important role in top management and strategic change processes at declining firms.
TL;DR: It is apparent that site colonization by A. petiolata was not dependent on the creation of patches of bare soil by disturbance, since plants were capable of invading sites with an intact litter layer, and mesic forests with a more open canopy structure and forest trails or edges may be the most vulnerable to invasion and the most difficult sites to manage.
Abstract: With the ever-burgeoning spread of nonindigenous plants, often facilitated by human activities, it is imperative to conduct case studies of particular invasive plants and the sites they invade in order to develop effective and efficient habitat management strategies. Alliaria petiolata is a native European biennial mustard that has become a serious invasive pest in many North American forests. In order to better characterize habitat vul- nerability to invasion by A. petiolata, we conducted an experiment to test the effects of environmental heterogeneity in the form of habitat, microenvironment, and small-scale litter disturbance on A. petiolata germination, survival, growth, and reproduction. Treatments consisted of two habitats (upland and lowland), two microenvironments (forest edge and forest interior), and three small-scale litter disturbance treatments (control, litter completely removed, and litter partially removed). Seeds were sown into plots in November, and plots were monitored for two years. Lowland plots had greater soil moisture and less litter per unit area than upland plots. In general, forest edge plots had greater understory cover and light availability and lower overstory cover than forest interior plots. Rosette survival, mature plant survival, plant biomass, height, and fruit and seed production were significantly greater for plants in the lowland compared with plants in the upland. Germination, rosette survival, mature plant survival, and reproduction were significantly greater in the forest edge plots when compared with interior plots. Litter disturbance had no significant effect on germination, growth, or reproduction. It is apparent that site colonization by A. petiolata was not dependent on the creation of patches of bare soil by disturbance, since plants were capable of invading sites with an intact litter layer. Alliaria petiolata growth and repro- duction was greatest in plots with adequate soil moisture and increased light availability. Therefore, mesic forests with a more open canopy structure and forest trails or edges may be the most vulnerable to invasion and the most difficult sites to manage. Drier upland forest interiors, which were more resistant to invasion, may be more responsive to man- agement techniques.
TL;DR: An unshared object can be accessed without regard to possible conflicts with other parts of a system, whether concurrent or single‐threaded.
Abstract: An unshared object can be accessed without regard to possible conflicts with other parts of a system, whether concurrent or single-threaded. A unique variable (sometimes known as a ‘free’ or ‘linear’ variable) is one that either is null or else refers to an unshared object. Being able to declare and check which variables are unique improves a programmer's ability to avoid program faults.
In previously described uniqueness extensions to imperative languages, a unique variable can be accessed only with a destructive read, which nullifies it after the value is obtained. This approach suffers from several disadvantages: the use of destructive reads increases the complexity of the program which must continually restore nullified values; adding destructive reads changes the semantics of the programming language; and many of the nullifications are actually unnecessary.
We demonstrate instead that uniqueness can be preserved through the use of existing language features. We give a modular static analysis that checks (nonexecutable) uniqueness annotations superimposed on an imperative programming language without destructive reads. The ‘alias-burying’ intuition is that aliases that are ‘dead’ (will never be used again) can be safely ‘buried’ (made undefined). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: The authors analyzes the three fundamental processes of China's economic reforms (decentralization, marketization, and globalization) and argues that an understanding of these triple transitions is necessary for a better understanding of regional development in China.
Abstract: China since the late 1970s has implemented a series of reforms and has undergone profound changes. This paper analyzes the three fundamental processes of China's economic reforms—decentralization, marketization, and globalization, and argues that an understanding of these triple transitions is necessary for a better understanding of regional development in China. These changes also have had significant implications for the development of regions, as the central state is no longer monopolizing the regional development process. It is speculated that China's regions will remain fragmented and the coastal-interior divide may persist.
TL;DR: The authors examined a psycholinguistic model of bilingual concept organization and extended it to the processing of advertisements by bilingual consumers and found that a high level of congruity between picture and text facilitates conceptual processing of L2 messages, increasing memory for second-language ads and thereby reducing the impact of language asymmetries on memory.
Abstract: This article examines a psycholinguistic model of bilingual concept organization and extends it to the processing of advertisements by bilingual consumers. The model suggests that second‐language (L2) messages result in inferior memory as compared with first‐language (L1) stimuli. These language asymmetries in memory are thought to occur because processing an L2 message at a conceptual level is less likely than processing an L1 message conceptually. Applying this notion to advertisements, this research examines picture‐text congruity as a potential moderator of language effects in memory. The results suggest that a high level of congruity between picture and text facilitates conceptual processing of L2 messages, increasing memory for second‐language ads and thereby reducing the impact of language asymmetries on memory.
18 Jun 2001
TL;DR: This paper shows how annotations on pointer variables such as “read-only,” “unique,’ and “borrowed” can be subsumed into a general capability system for pointers, which has a welldefined semantics and supports research in new less-restrictive type systems that permit a wider range of idioms to be statically checked.
Abstract: Many languages and language extensions include annotations on pointer variables suchas “read-only,” “unique,” and “borrowed”; many more annotations have been proposed but not implemented. Unfortunately, all these annotations are described individually and formalised independently — assuming they are formalised at all. In this paper, we show how these annotations can be subsumed into a general capability system for pointers. This system separates mechanism (defining the semantics of sharing and exclusion) from policy (defining the invariants that are intended to be preserved). The capability system has a welldefined semantics which can be used as a reference for the correctness of various extended type systems using annotations. Furthermore, it supports researchin new less-restrictive type systems that permit a wider range of idioms to be statically checked.
TL;DR: This article explored the combined influence of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process, and found that person-centeredness influence perceptions of what makes for good comforting.
Abstract: This study explores the combined influence of nonverbal immediacy and verbal person centeredness in the emotional support process. Three complementary models were tested in an experiment with 216 participants who disclosed an emotionally upsetting event to a confederate trained to display different levels of nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness. Participants subsequently completed a set of instruments measuring the perceived comforting quality of the confederate. Results suggested that nonverbal immediacy and person centeredness influence perceptions of what makes for good comforting. The data supported 2 of the advanced models but failed to provide support for a nonverbal primacy effect on perceived comforting quality.
TL;DR: This paper examined the professional development history of five tenured African American women at a predominantly white university to explore how minority professionals develop competencies to meet career expectations in white organizational cultures and found that race, culture, and identity play a vital role in the career development of minority professionals in majority organizations.
Abstract: Many theorists have proposed models to explain career development. The appropriateness of these models for women and minority groups, however, has been widely criticized. Changes in the composition of the workforce, including the increased number of minority professionals in majority organizations, call for new ways of theorizing career development. Using a bicultural framework, this study examined the professional development history of five tenured African American women at a predominantly White university to explore how minority professionals develop competencies to meet career expectations in White organizational cultures. The findings indicate that race, culture, and identity play a vital role in the career development of minority professionals in majority organizations. An important finding is the way the women accessed the power of their bicultural life structure to develop strategies for maintaining successful careers in White organizational cultures.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case is made for broadening the view of qualitative research that governs its practice within special education in an effort to challenge both the nature of the stories we choose to tell about disability as well as the frameworks by which these stories are disciplined.
Abstract: In recent years qualitative research has earned an increasingly legitimate place as a form of systematic inquiry in educational scholarship. Special education researchers who draw on qualitative methods have responded by using this research paradigm chiefly to document stories of individuals with disabilities. However, rarely have these studies been extended to consider the broader sociocultural contexts within which disability exists. A case is made in this article for broadening the view of qualitative research that governs its practice within special education in an effort to challenge both the nature of the stories we choose to tell about disability as well as the frameworks by which these stories are disciplined.
TL;DR: The optically pure 6-methoxy-D-tryptophan 62 was prepared by this protocol on a large scale and should permit entry into many ring-A oxygenated indole alkaloids when coupled with the asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction.
Abstract: A novel and concise synthesis of optically active tryptophan derivatives was developed via a palladium-catalyzed heteroannulation reaction of substituted o-iodoanilines with an internal alkyne. The required internal alkyne 14a or 25 was prepared in greater than 96% de via alkylation of the Schollkopf chiral auxiliary 19 employing diphenyl phosphate as the leaving group. The Schollkopf chiral auxiliary was chosen here for the preparation of l-tryptophans would be available from d-valine while the d-isomers required for natural product total synthesis would originate from the inexpensive l-valine (300-g scale). Applications of the palladium-catalyzed heteroannulation reaction were extended to the first asymmetric synthesis of l-isotryptophan 38 and l-benz[f]tryptophan 39. More importantly, the optically pure 6-methoxy-d-tryptophan 62 was prepared by this protocol on a large scale (>300 g). This should permit entry into many ring-A oxygenated indole alkaloids when coupled with the asymmetric Pictet−Spengler ...
TL;DR: Experimental results are presented showing improved tracking accuracy and friction compensation by NPID control in tracking and to systems with state feedback and integral control.
Abstract: Nonlinear proportional-integral-derivative (NPID) control is implemented by varying the controller gains as a function of system state. NPID control has been previously described and implemented, and recently a constructive Lyapunov stability proof has been given. Here, NPID control analysis and design methods are extended to tracking, and to systems with state feedback and integral control. Experimental results are presented showing improved tracking accuracy and friction compensation by NPID control.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare the opportunity costs of alternative institutional arrangements and conclude that the cost of government intervention is greater or smaller than the alternative of the unregulated market, which is a special case answer to the broader question of the societal role of planning which is still being debated.
Abstract: Discussion of public land use planning and development control has given different answers to the question *... why does society choose this institution of government regulation of land uses?' (Lai, 1994, 81). Many of them are premised on Pigouvian welfare economics, which use the concept of market failure to account for public intervention. Failures in supposedly perfect markets include negative externalities (for example environmental pollution), positive externalities demanding some public-private goods (such as education), and pure public goods that the market cannot supply (for example defense).Applied to planning, this rationale justifies public intervention in what would otherwise be a spontaneous property market and an unregulated land development process (Moore, 1978; Mills, 1979; Klosterman, 1985). These market failures include negative externalities demanding separation of incompatible land uses, positive externalities suggesting the integrated planning and development of compatible or synergistic land uses, and the 'public goods' aspect of necessary public facilities, open space and infrastructure investments (Lai, 1994, 78-80).This is really a special case answer to the broader question of the societal role of planning which is still being debated. In this debate the subject may be generic planning, ranging from planning as 'ordinary forethought' (Branch, 1990, 4-9), through planning as an attribute of all intentional action (Miller et al., 1960), to associating planning with hierarchical organisation (Alexander, 1992a).When the subject is limited to public planning and intervention in the broadest sense, various positive rationales have been offered. From an institutional perspective these include the link between planning and governance (Healey, 1997, 205-19) or with the functions of government (Friedrich, 1969). From a socio-economic perspective they include the market failure justification, supplemented by arguments from games and public-choice theory (Alexander, 1992b, 121-23) and the communitarian case for a public domain (Friedmann, 1987, 335-40; Etzioni, 1993).On the other hand, public planning may also have negative societal roles- as an instrument of social control for implementing state policy (Yiftachel, 1998), or serving oppressive or indifferent urban regimes (Feldman, 1995; Flyvberg, 1998). But here the question is not about public planning in general; it focuses on land use planning in particular. Consequently, the following discussion is limited to explanations for public land use planning and development control and their implications.1One of these is Coasian transaction-cost economics which have also addressed the above question. Like Pigouvian welfare economics, Coase queried the simplistic assumptions underlying classic economics, focusing on the nature and costs of economic transactions. Contrary to the classic 'perfect market' where prices (allowing only for production costs and profit) find their optimal equilibrium between multiple buyers and sellers, Coase suggested that there are transaction costs too, such as information cost, performance monitoring and contract enforcement. To minimise these, markets are modified in predictable ways, which include hierarchical organisation (the emergence of large firms and corporations through vertical or horizontal integration) and institutional governance (self or third-party regulation) to provide a framework for determining and enforcing market actors' rights.2Coasian transaction cost economics justifies public land use planning and zoning as a form of institutional governance that regulates the property rights framework necessary for land and real-estate markets to function (Lai, 1994). But, after his very comprehensive answer, Lai modifies the question to ask... whether the cost of [government intervention] is greater or smaller than the alternative of ... the unregulated market. To answer this question, it is possible to compare the opportunity costs of alternative institutional arrangements. …
TL;DR: A framework for the design of a web-based public participation system (WPPS) that integrates Internet GIS, Internet communications, and scenario-building tools is discussed, based on a taxonomy created to describe the level of services in serving public participation according to the information content, level of user interactivity, and system functionality.
Abstract: Internet GIS, serving spatial data and GIS functionality on the web, offers a special and potentially important means to facilitate public participation in the planning and decision-making process. In this paper I discuss a framework for the design of a web-based public participation system (WPPS) that integrates Internet GIS, Internet communications, and scenario-building tools. The design framework is based on a taxonomy that is created to describe the level of services in serving public participation according to the information content, level of user interactivity, and system functionality. The system is designed to enhance public participation in the planning and decision-making process by providing the general public with data, analysis tools, and a forum to explore knowledge, express opinion, and discuss issues. The unique feature of the WPPS using Internet GIS is that it provides users not only the option of evaluating, commenting, and selecting alternatives, but also the capability of forming the...
TL;DR: The authors identified the characteristics of police officers (i.e., background attributes, arrest activity, age, and assignment) who most frequently receive complaints from citizens regarding the use of excessive force.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the necessity of the nuclear dominance condition for the existence of a process having its sample paths in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) turns out to be incorrect.
Abstract: A theorem of M. F. Driscoll says that, under certain restrictions, the probability that a given Gaussian process has its sample paths almost surely in a given reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) is either 0 or 1. Driscoll also found a necessary and sufficient condition for that probability to be 1. Doing away with Driscoll’s restrictions, R. Fortet generalized his condition and named it nuclear dominance. He stated a theorem claiming nuclear dominance to be necessary and sufficient for the existence of a process (not necessarily Gaussian) having its sample paths in a given RKHS. This theorem – specifically the necessity of the condition – turns out to be incorrect, as we will show via counterexamples. On the other hand, a weaker sufficient condition is available. Using Fortet’s tools along with some new ones, we correct Fortet’s theorem and then find the generalization of Driscoll’s result. The key idea is that of a random element in a RKHS whose values are sample paths of a stochastic process. As in Fortet’s work, we make almost no assumptions about the reproducing kernels we use, and we demonstrate the extent to which one may dispense with the Gaussian assumption.