Efficiency and Inefficiency in the Ranking in Competitions: the Case of the Queen Elisabeth Music Contest

The Queen Elisabeth Contest is one of the most prestigious competitions in classical music. For both the artists who participate and for the public, it is important that the ranking of the finalists be affected as little as possible by exogenous factors relating to the organisation of the competition. Still, it is impossible to control for all contingencies. Thus, the ranking can be expected to deviate from that obtained in a hypothetical full-information assessment process. As such, the ranking may be unfair to the candidates and inefficient in providing information to the consumer. Deviations from the full-information ideal may result from self-selection of candidates, from positive information at the margin, and from differences in circumstances. Analysing data on all piano and violin versions of the Contest over the period 1956–1999, we find strong evidence of biases in the rankingprocess. Confirming previous research, we find that musicians who perform later in the final week or later on a given day in this week (on average) obtain a better classification. Further, in the piano competitions women obtain lower rankings and, prior to 1990, finalists from the Soviet Union obtained higherrankings than average. The jury appreciates innovation in the sense that musicians who perform a more recently composed concerto obtain a higher rank. Finally – especiallyfor violin – the candidate's decision to perform a popular concerto leadsto a lower ranking.     

档案学与信息技术

信息技术（Information Technologies)影响了档案管理的观念和；方法。并要求它们要适应IT的发展，许多信息技术专家认为，档案学的方法，原则甚至概念都过时了，作者在本文中，则论证档案学能帮助我们回答IT给档案管理带来的问题，强调了档案工作者与信息技术或电子归档专家的合作。     

CURRENT AND FUTURE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ PREPAREDNESS TO WORK WITH LGBT STUDENTS: ROLE OF EDUCATION AND GAY‐STRAIGHT ALLIANCES

This study sought to assess current and future school psychologists’ attitudes toward and preparedness to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in schools. Two‐hundred seventy‐nine school psychologists (n = 162, 58%) and school psychology graduate students (n = 117, 42%) were included in the study. Participants completed measures of attitudes toward LGBT students, preparedness to address the needs of LGBT youth, and social desirability. For both school psychologists and graduate students, increased education was associated with improved attitudes and increased preparedness to treat LGBT youth. For school psychologists, presence of a gay‐straight alliance was associated with increased knowledge about LGBT youth, as well as higher ratings of preparedness to treat LGBT youth; the same associations did not hold true for the graduate students. These findings have implications for the training and practice of school psychologists in addressing the needs of LGBT youth in schools.     

Improving cognitive and physical function through 12-weeks of resistance training in older adults: Randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

We performed a randomized, controlled trial to analyse the effects of resistance training (RT) on cognitive and physical function among older adults. Fifty participants (mean age 67 years, ~60% woman) were randomly assigned to an RT program or a control group. Participants allocated to RT performed three sets of 10-15RM in nine exercises, three times per week, for 12-weeks. Control group did not perform any exercise. Variables included cognitive (global and executive function) and physical function (gait, mobility and strength) outcomes. At completion of the intervention, RT was shown to have significantly mitigated the drop in selective attention and conflict resolution performance (Stroop test: -494.6; 95%CI: -883.1; ?106.1) and promoted a significant improvement in working memory (digit span forward: -0.6; 95%CI: ?1.0; ?0.1 and forward minus backward: -0.9; 95% CI: ?1.6; ?0.2) and verbal fluency (animal naming: +1.4, 95%CI 0.3, 2.5). No significant between-group differences were observed for other cognitive outcomes. Regarding physical function, at completion of the intervention, the RT group demonstrated improved fast-pace gait performance (?0.3; 95% CI: ?0.6; ?0.0) and 1-RM (+21.4 kg; 95%CI: 16.6; 26.2). No significant between-group differences were observed for other mobility-related outcomes. In conclusion, RT improves cognitive and physical function of older adults.     

The impacts of fundraising periods and geographic distance on financing music production via crowdfunding in Brazil

We conduct an analysis of 1835 pledges to 10 music production projects hosted on the largest Brazilian crowdfunding platform, namely the Catarse Web site, and we assess the relation between the fundraising accumulation period, the donor–entrepreneur distance and the propensity of donors to back projects. Our results suggest a significantly negative association between distance and the value of capital pledged to projects, which is consistent with the notion that the entrepreneur’s network of close contacts might play a central role in funding. Furthermore, our results contradict the idea that crowdfunding reduces the inhibiting effect of donor–entrepreneur distance. In addition, the results show that a long project exposure is associated with higher values of pledges. These results suggest practical implications for the study of crowdfunding as a financing platform. This study contributes to the literature on the use of crowdfunding as an alternative funding source in a major emerging market.