OPTIMAL DESIGN FOR EARLY‐GENERATION PLANT‐BREEDING TRIALS WITH UNREPLICATED OR PARTIALLY REPLICATED TEST LINES

Some subtle difficulties in optimal design are highlighted by the example of unreplicated field trials laid out on plots with spatial errors defined by uniformity trials. There is a dual problem of the arrangement of control plots and maximizing the number of test‐line entries. A simulation study is conducted by randomizing the allocation of genotypes to the plots of four uniformity trials in accordance with the rules defining a number of competing designs. Results are summarized in terms of the ‘SE ratio’, which reflects the improvement in precision of a given design relative to a completely random design on the same plots. The definition of the SE ratio overcomes problems induced by differential shrinkage and consequent precision of test and control lines. A general result applying to all designs shows a curvilinear improvement in SE ratio with increasing error degrees of freedom of the design. The actual arrangement of check plots is of less importance than their increasing number, which contributes to increasing error degrees of freedom. Overall measures, including expected genetic gain, are used to illustrate the choice of a balance between the total number of test‐line entries and the error degrees of freedom.     

Money management and views of civil partnership in same‐sex couples: results from a UK survey of non‐heterosexuals

Recent legislation in the UK has extended many of the legal and financial rights and responsibilities of heterosexual marriage to same‐sex couples who register their partnerships. Prior to the Civil Partnership Act (2004) however, little was known about financial arrangements in same‐sex couples, nor the extent to which these mirrored those of married or cohabiting heterosexuals. This paper reports the findings from the first large‐scale survey in the UK to investigate finances and civil partnership beliefs in a convenience sample of non‐heterosexuals: 510 individuals, of whom 386 were currently in a same‐sex relationship, participated in the survey. Our findings showed less merging of finances (such as in pooling, allowance, and whole wage systems) than is typical in heterosexual married couples. The results of a series of multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that rating CP as more important, and having both names on the mortgage, significantly reduced the odds of independent (ie, separate) management of finances. Participants were almost unanimous in their endorsement of CP as a form of legal recognition, with a large majority saying that they would also consider it for themselves.     

Asymptotics for an Adaptive Trimmed Likelihood Location Estimator

An asymptotic normality result is given for an adaptive trimmed likelihood estimator of location, which parallels the asymptotic normality result for the adaptive trimmed mean. The new result comes out of studying the adaptive trimmed likelihood estimator modelled parametrically by a normal family but then examining the behavior when the underlying distribution is in fact some F different from normal. The asymptotic variance of the adaptive estimator is equal to the asymptotic variance of the trimmed likelihood estimator at the optimal trimming proportion for the distribution F, subject to that trimming proportion being positive and F being suitably smooth.     

Situational Analyses: Grounded Theory Mapping After the Postmodern Turn

To better address differences and complexities of social life articulated through the postmodern turn, grounded theory is being regenerated and updated. Based on Strauss's ecological frameworks in his social worlds and arenas theory, I offer situational maps and analyses as innovative supplements to the basic social process analyses characteristic of traditional grounded theory. There are three kinds of analytic maps: maps of situations including all the key human and nonhuman elements, maps of social worlds and arenas, and maps of positionality along salient analytic axes. This article introduces all three kinds of maps and explicates one—situational maps—as a means of coherently elucidating and analyzing some of the complexities and instabilities of social life.     

The Role of Leader Influence Tactics and Safety Climate in Engaging Employees'' Safety Participation

This study examines the effect of leader influence tactics on employee safety participation in a U.K.-based manufacturing organization, examining the role of safety climate as a mediator. Structural equation modeling showed that leader influence tactics associated with a transformational leadership style had significant relationships with safety participation that were partially mediated by the safety climate (consultation) or fully mediated by the safety climate (inspirational appeals). In addition, leader influence tactics associated with a transactional leadership style had significant relationships with safety participation: rational persuasion (partially mediated by safety climate) and coalition tactics (direct effect). Thus, leaders may encourage safety participation using a combination of influence tactics, based on rational arguments, involvement in decision making, and generating enthusiasm for safety. The influence of building trust in managers is discussed as an underlying mechanism in this relationship. Practical implications are highlighted, including the design of leadership development programs, which may be particularly suited to high-reliability organizations.     

The professionalisation of financial advice in Britain

This paper reviews the impact of increasing state regulation of financial advice and its effect in requiring much higher levels of competence and probity, so stimulating professionalisation, though in doing so, pre‐empting the traditional role of established professional bodies in securing competence and probity. Is it still possible at the end of the twentieth century for new professions to emerge? If so, is a new model of the professions in prospect?     

The School Experiences of Same-Sex Attracted Students in the 14- to 19-Year-Old Secondary Sector in England: Within and Beyond the Safety and Tolerance Framework

SUMMARY

This article examines the social and political context within which lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth find themselves and, in doing so, a number of key issues are identified which have profound implications for the functions and responsibilities of schools in the United Kingdom. This article also considers how one secondary school and one Sixth Form College in south-east England are facilitating the gradual visibility of LGB students within a framework of safety and tolerance. In addition, attention is focussed on homophobic victimization identified by students and their experiences when disclosing sexual identity. Methods of data collection are outlined including focus groups with adolescent LGB identifying students, and a questionnaire survey distributed to 116 students (both heterosexual and LGB). Methodological issues are considered together with the difficulties of accessing same-sex attracted respondents and the ethical considerations which emerge as a consequence. Implications for policy and practice within the 14- to 19-year-old secondary sector and the possibility of moving beyond the framework of safety and tolerance are examined.     

Uncorrelated residuals and an exact test for two variance components in experimental design

The error contrasts from an experimental design can be constructed from uncorrelated residuals normally associated with the linear model. In this paper uncorrelated residuals are defined for the linear model that has a design matrix which is less than full rank, typical of many experimental design representations. It transpires in this setting, that for certain choices of uncorrelated residuals, corresponding to recursive type residuals, there is a natural partition of information when two variance components are known to be present. Under an assumtion of normality of errors this leads to construction of appropriate F-tests for testing heteroscedasticity. The test, which can be optimal, is applied to two well known data sets to illustrate its usefullness.     

Physicians can benefit from a patient-focused hospital

To maintain leadership in their markets, a few innovative hospitals, in the late 1980s, developed a revolutionary concept of health care delivery--patient-focused care. Results from pilot projects have shown a considerable increase in patient satisfaction and increased physician productivity. The patient-focused care model boasts faster turnaround times, increased bedside care by caregivers (especially nurses), and an overall increase in the quality of care provided by the staff.     

United Kingdom labour emigration and capital exports 1816-1991

"This paper is concerned primarily with examining the nature of linkages between capital and labour emigration from the U.K. We also consider whether the primary impulses for emigration were push or pull influences--the main intent is to look at the relation between the flows rather than the determinants of either. The nature of the capital-labour link is examined qualitatively using historical argument and quantitatively using statistical tests and causality analysis. The starting time for analysis is the end of the Napoleonic Wars when useful data became available." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)