Nitish Dutt

... Since the performance of the capitalist economies of Western democracies varies markedly over time ... revised models showed that life satisfaction had the expected positive impact (b - +.54 ... 14 Also, as anticipated, inflation and unemployment had signifi-cant negative effects, (b's ...

... Since the performance of the capitalist economies of Western democracies varies markedly over time ... revised models showed that life satisfaction had the expected positive impact (b - +.54 ... 14 Also, as anticipated, inflation and unemployment had signifi-cant negative effects, (b's ...

In their rejoinder to our critique, Abramson, Ellis, and Inglehart claim that the four-item Euro-Barometer battery provides a valid measure of the value orientations citizens in advanced industrial societies. We are not persuaded. Our analyses indicate that the battery is seriously flawed, and that the dynamics of response to it over the past two decades provide a classic illustration of what we have termed the "conversations in context" problem in survey research. There is no need to reiterate the details of our argument and supporting empirical evidence here. Rather, we will confine our attention to three larger methodological and theoretical points that may suggest a way forward for those interested in comparative studies of the nature and dynamics of values and related aspects of public political psychology. Point 1 concerns how the structure and content of a survey instrument can interact with the changing context in which the instrument is administered. We have argue...

Abstract Being the dominating green manufacturing technique to create external gears gear hobbing is of major industrial importance. The technology is characterized by a simultaneous superposition of kinematics and tool profile. Even though these tool profiles are standardized, in industries they are regularly being altered to fit the gear designer's demands regarding strength and contact ratio. Cutting gears with these modified and partly extreme tool profiles some geometries show critical wear behaviour. Despite existing experience-based knowledge, no systematic knowledge base is available. Therefore, this paper summarizes geometrical influences of the tool profile on the wear mechanisms. A variety of different tool profiles and gear geometries were tested within the fly cutting analogy test. The effects were also studied by means of FEM-simulation and interpenetration simulation. Finally, the wear phenomena were matched with load parameters.

Background: Caudal block, though commonly performed in pediatric patients has the disadvantage of short duration of action following single dose. Present study was conducted to compare the analgesic effect of caudal dexmedetomidine and fentanyl when added to ropivacine in paediatric patients undergoing lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries. Methods: 60 ASA physical status I/II patients, aged between 1-12 years, undergoing lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries under general anaesthesia and receiving caudal block for postoperative analgesia were randomly allocated to either group RD (receiving 1ml/kg of 0.2% ropivacaine along with dexmedetomidine 2 µg/kg) or group RF (receiving 1ml/kg of 0.2% ropivacaine along with fentanyl 2 µg/kg). Following administration of the study drugs in caudal block; hemodynamic variables, the total anaesthesia time, emergence time, emergence behaviour score, sedation score, FLACC score, duration of analgesia and side effects were recorded. Results: The mean duration of analgesia in the group RD was significantly longer as compared with group RF (714±149 min vs. 384±71.80 min, P

Abstract This article deals with a largely unexplored topic related to the economics of American support for the idea of regional cooperation in Southeast Asia in general and the Asian Development Bank in particular. The findings suggest that American involvement in ...

This paper examines the extent and sources of racial and ethnic disparities throughout the California criminal justice system from the perspective of cumulative disadvantage theory. Individual offender records from nine counties are analyzed to determine the extent and sources of differences between African-Americans, Latinos, and whites in sentencing outcomes. Disparities are present at nearly every point in the process, including arrests, charges, guilty pleas, jury trials, convictions, and sentences. Consistent with cumulative disadvantage theory, the gap between whites and blacks increases as inmates proceed further along in the criminal justice process. Latinos are also more likely to experience negative criminal justice outcomes than whites, but unlike the growing gap between blacks and whites, the gap between Latinos and whites remains constant throughout the criminal justice system, in line with the concept of continuous, rather than cumulative, disadvantage. Further analysis finds that the disparities are not entirely attributable to differences in legally relevant characteristics. Factors such as the type and number of current conviction charges, prior record, parole or probation status, and pretrial detention do explain some of the observed disparities in sentencing outcomes, but controlling for these variables, African-Americans and Latinos still tend to receive longer prison sentences than whites. This indicates that the observed disadvantages may be attributable, at least in part, to some degree of individual or institutional discrimination. The reduction or elimination racial and ethnic disparity is difficult because inequalities are pervasive throughout the criminal justice system. Participants in multiple agencies, organizations, and jurisdictions must therefore contribute to efforts to reduce the disparities that emerge throughout the justice system.

During the past two decades a four-item battery administered in biannual Euro-Barometer surveys has been used to measure changing value priorities in Western European countries. We provide evidence that the measure is seriously flawed. Pooled cross-sectional time series analyses for the 1976–86 period reveal that the Euro-Barometer postmaterialist-materialist value index and two of its components are very sensitive to short-term changes in economic conditions, and that the failure to include a statement about unemployment in the four-item values battery accounts for much of the apparent growth of postmaterialist values in several countries after 1980. The aggregate-level findings are buttressed by analyses of panel data from three countries.

This paper presents evidence from survey data related to the extent, nature and source of protest participation in India. We examine three models of such activity extensively employed in a western context – the alienation, resource and mobilization models. While we find some evidence for their general applicability, especially in regard to mobilization, many of the most central explanatory variables associated with these models – age, education, urban/rural residence, political trust, acceptance of the present political system, confidence in political institutions and to a lesser extent, gender, reveal associations with protest that are contrary to theoretical expectations. This suggests the necessity for modifying existing theories of unconventional political participation when and if employed in a non-western setting.