Terms Of Desire Research Articles

The politics of central bank independence in Russia

UNTIL THE EARLY 1990S little scholarly attention was devoted to the politics of central bank independence (CBI). Discussions of CBI focused on its desirability in terms of growth and inflation performance. Little thought was given to how central banks become (more) independent and how they maintain their independence once it is gained.1 Since 1991, however, much has been written on the political determinants of CBI.2 There is now a body of hypotheses and evidence against which to evaluate the emergence and maintenance of CBI in individual countries and in cross-national comparison. The aim of this article is to examine this issue specifically with reference to the Central Bank of Russia (TsBR). The TsBR presents an interesting case for several reasons. First, Russia is an economy in transition; the literature on the politics of CBI has been concerned primarily with developed market economies.3 Secondly, the TsBR is a new central bank, so its institutional position has been the focus of much debate. Finally, during 1992-93, the TsBR presented the astonishing spectacle of a highly independent, inflation-prone central bank at odds with a government committed to tight fiscal and monetary polices. Each of these factors has served to make the politics of central banking in Russia quite different from what has been found in studies of Western countries. The article begins with a brief discussion of the literature concerning the political aspects of CBI. This is followed by an analysis of the TsBR's position with respect to the various dimensions of CBI and a more general section assessing the political underpinnings of CBI in Russia.

Growth, Yield, and Postharvest Attributes of Glasshouse Tomatoes Produced under Deficit Irrigation

In glasshouse-grown tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. `Virosa'), deficit irrigation (DI), in which plant water potential was allowed to decrease from –0.5 to –1.2 MPa, reduced plant growth and fruit yield, size and count, and caused blossom-end rot. Deficit-irrigated fruit had higher color intensity, lower water content, and higher concentration of sucrose, glucose, and fructose than well-watered (control) fruit. Fruit concentrations of Ca, Mg, and K were the same for both treatments on a dry weight basis, but they were higher in DI fruit than in control fruit on a fresh weight basis. Fruit gas exchange was measured for two 30-day-apart harvests. For both harvests, DI fruit produced higher quantities of CO2 and ethylene than control fruit. Ethylene and CO2 production peaks coincided for the first harvest in both treatments. In the second harvest, the CO2 production peak preceded that of ethylene. Despite yield reduction, DI enhanced fruit desirability in terms of higher concentration of soluble sugars and higher color intensity.

Postharvest Attributes of `Virosa' Tomato Fruit Produced in an Enriched Carbon Dioxide Environment

The effect of preharvest CO2 enrichment (1000 μl·liter–1) on postharvest quality of tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. `Virosa') was studied with an emphasis on soluble sugars, ripening, and mineral composition. High-CO2 fruit had higher concentrations of sucrose, glucose, fructose, and total soluble solids than ambient-CO2 fruit. High-CO2 fruit also ripened more slowly and was characterized by lower respiration and ethylene production rates than ambient-CO2 fruit. Concentrations of N, P, and K were lower in the high-CO2 fruit than in the ambient-CO2 fruit, whereas those of S, Ca, and Mg were the same for both treatments. Preharvest CO2 enrichment of `Virosa' tomato enhances fruit desirability in terms of slower postharvest ripening and higher concentrations of soluble sugars and total soluble solids.

Bence-albee after 25 years: A new superior α-factor correction procedure for the quantitative analysis of oxides and silicates

One of the most cited papers in the geological sciences has been that of Albee and Bence on the use of empirical " α -factors" to correct quantitative electron microprobe data. During the past 25 years this method has remained the most commonly used correction for geological samples, despite the facts that few investigators have actually determined empirical α-factors, but instead employ tables of calculated α-factors using one of the conventional "ZAF" correction programs; a number of investigators have shown that the assumption that an α-factor is constant in binary systems where there are large matrix corrections is incorrect (e.g, 2-3); and the procedure’s desirability in terms of program size and computational speed is much less important today because of developments in computing capabilities. The question thus exists whether it is time to honorably retire the Bence-Albee procedure and turn to more modern, robust correction methods. This paper proposes that, although it is perhaps time to retire the original Bence-Albee procedure, it should be replaced by a similar method based on compositiondependent polynomial α-factor expressions.

Frey On Why Animals Cannot Have Simple Desires

In his Interests and Rights: The Case Against Animals, 1 R. G. Frey advances a number of arguments which, he thinks, show that animals 'cannot have desires' (e.g., p. ioi). Some of these arguments turn on Frey's analyses of desires in terms of beliefs and beliefs in terms of thinking that certain sentences are true (pp. 53 ff.). Other arguments against the possibility of animals having desires are marshalled independently of these analyses. My present interest is limited to these latter arguments. Frey acknowledges that a critic of his view that animals cannot have desires will protest that, at the very most, the arguments that turn on his analysis of desire and belief show that animals cannot have some kinds of desires, not that they cannot have any. 'Specifically', Frey writes (p. ioi), 'this critic is likely to have in mind that, however many kinds of desires there are, there is a class of desires-let us call them desireswhich do not involve the intervention of belief . . .'. Thus, for example, Fido may, on the critic's view, simply desire a bone, and the attribution of this desire to Fido need not imply that Fido has any beliefs about anything. Now, it is, I think, doubtful that anybody, including Frey's patient critic, believes this of Fido, since it is unclear what it could mean to say that Fido desires a particular bone but that he does not believe anything whatsoever about the object he selects by way of fulfilling his desire. That is, it is unclear how one could make sense of the attribution of desires to some individual, A, while denying that A believes that what A selects to fulfil A's desire is what A desires (e.g., is a bone). But let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that this is possible. We are to imagine Frey's critic saying that Fido simply desires the bone. Frey, since he believes that animals cannot have desires, must believe that Fido cannot simply desire this. Why? Those who attribute simple desires to animals, Frey believes, are faced with a dilemma. Assuming that Fido is said to desire a bone, the question arises: 'Is (Fido) aware that it has this simple desire? It either is not so aware or it is' (p. I04). In either case, Frey believes, the attribution of simple desires to Fido in particular, and to animals in general, is impaled by a horn of the dilemma he poses. Let us first consider Frey's argument against those who would attribute simple desires to Fido but who would deny that Fido is aware that he has this desire. Here is Frey's principal argument against this view.

Influences related to time allocation of R & D supervisors

Four basic areas of possible influence have been investigated and found to bear some relationship to an engineering supervisor's allocation of time: the individual himself, in terms of his personal job interests and desires; his perception of his superior's desires in terms of time allocation; a set of role and task requirements manifest in his perception of how he ought to spend his time; and several structural characteristics of the organization. A clearer understanding of how an engineering supervisor allocates his time, in light of these pressures, would seem to be important if progress is to be made toward the more efficient utilization of engineering and scientific personnel.

FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS

ABSTRACTThe primary purpose of this study was to determine student traits that faculty associate with desirability, separate and apart from those reflected by the traditional academic achievement indices.Ratings of students on 80 variables, including a student desirability variable, were obtained, together with high school and college grade averages and SAT scores. The resulting 84 × 84 correlation matrix was factored by the diagonal method, using precise communality estimates from a separate factor analysis. In this case, the procedure permits partialling out the variance in desirability and the other variables which is attributable to academic performance, and definition of residual desirability in terms of relationship of the residual of the other variables to desirability apart from academic performance. The diagonal factoring method was also used to examine the content, including academic performance, of general desirability, and to define desirability separate and apart from SAT and academic performance.Ratings of intellectual ability and values, motivation, and creativity, as well as actual grade point average, were found to be related to general desirability ratings. Desirability apart from grades, however, appears to consist of such traits as likableness, ethicality, open‐mindedness, altruism, maturity, and self‐insight, although ratings of intellectual ability and values have components related to grades and to desirability apart from grades. Ability as measured by the SAT, though reasonably related to performance, appears to have negative relationship to desirability apart from grades.

Relationship of body image to social desirability.

Recent research has suggested that the social desirability factor may be considered both as a response set, which exerts a contaminating influence on personality tests (Edwards, 1957), and as a measure of pathology. With respect to the latter, Tolor and Boitano (1960) found that increased severity of psycho-pathology tends to be associated with a decreased ability to make socially acceptable choices on a check list consisting of an equal number of socially approved and socially disapproved items. Moreover, Fordyce (1956) pointed out that the “psychotic factor” resembles a definition of social undesirability. The present study represented an attempt to focus attention on the possible meaning of differences in social desirability in terms of differences in degree of ego-strengths of subjects. The purpose, therefore, was to determine the relationship between one aspect of ego strength, namely, the body image as reflected in the figure drawings, and the social desirability variable, as measured by a check list.

The Efficient Use of Space to Conserve Time and Energy

What should the dentist do to begin applying some of the proven benefits of efficient operating layouts and procedures to his own practice? He must first of all analyze his own goals and desires in terms of what will bring him happiness in dentistry; next, find out what are the problems facing him in realizing these goals; then act by solving his problems by a logical or scientific method of approach (Table 1). To work without the annoyances and frustrations that arise from inefficient or disorganized routines is a pleasure that can only be realized by those willing to “pay the price” of thorough self-analysis, and then act to achieve their goal.