Controlled conflict resolution for replicated document

International audienceCollaborative working is increasingly popular, but it presents challenges due to the need for high responsiveness and disconnected work support. To address these challenges the data is optimistically replicated at the edges of the network, i.e. personal computers or mobile devices. This replication requires a merge mechanism that preserves the consistency and structure of the shared data subject to concurrent modifications. In this paper, we propose a generic design to ensure eventual consistency (every replica will eventually view the same data) and to maintain the specific constraints of the replicated data. Our layered design provides to the application engineer the complete control over system scalability and behavior of the replicated data in face of concurrent modifications. We show that our design allows replication of complex data types with acceptable performances

The Environment and Civil War: Exploring the Relationship Between the Environmental Performance Index and Incidence of Internal Armed Conflict

The state of the environment is receiving increasing attention. Environmental quality’s possible relationship to violent conflict attracts both popular and academic interest. Prior research has found support for the idea that environmental scarcity is related to higher occurrences of civil war. There have been few comprehensive quantitative studies regarding this relationship. This study tests a more general argument that higher environmental quality can lead to fewer occurrences of internal armed conflict. The study utilizes an environmental performance index found in the Quality of Government Standard Dataset to test its hypothesis. The study finds that the higher the environmental performance index of a state, the lower the annual incidence of internal armed conflict. The relationship found in this study should inspire further research on the relationship between environmental quality and civil war. Further attention to this subject may encourage increased priority toward environmental policy to prevent the incidence of civil war

Bringing Global Sourcing into the Classroom: Experiential Learning via Software Development Project

Global sourcing of software development has imposed new skill requirements on Information Technology (IT) personnel. In the U.S., this has resulted in a paradigm shift from technical to softer skills such as communications and virtual team management. Higher education institutions must, consequently, initiate innovative curriculum transformations to better prepare students for these emerging workforce needs. This paper describes one such venture between Marquette University (MU), U.S.A. and Management Development Institute (MDI), India, wherein IT students at MU collaborated with Management Information Systems (MIS) students at MDI on an offshore software development project. The class environment replicated an offshore client/vendor relationship in a fully virtual setting while integrating communications and virtual team management with traditional IT project management principles. Course measures indicated that students benefited from this project, gained first-hand experience in the process of software offshoring, and learned skills critical for conduct of global business. For faculty considering such initiatives, we describe the design and administration of this class over two semesters, lessons learned from our engagement, and factors critical to success of such initiatives and those detrimental to their sustenance

The Armenian road to democracy - Dimensions of a tortuous process. CEPS Working Document No. 267, May 2007

Focusing on the internal and geo-political dimensions of Armenia’s road to democracy, this paper considers the decision-making structure, the role of leadership, the development of political parties and various changes in Armenian civil society. We aim to shed light on the role of the EU in the democratisation process by looking at the relationship between Brussels and Yerevan, at the instruments and strategies in operation, such as the European Neighbourhood Policy, and at the wider international context in which these changes are taking place

Annual Report: 2009

I submit herewith the annual report from the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, for the period ending December 31, 2009. This is done in accordance with an act of Congress, approved March 2, 1887, entitled, “An act to establish agricultural experiment stations, in connection with the agricultural college established in the several states under the provisions of an act approved July 2, 1862, and under the acts supplementary thereto,” and also of the act of the Alaska Territorial Legislature, approved March 12, 1935, accepting the provisions of the act of Congress. The research reports are organized according to our strategic plan, which focuses on high-latitude soils, high-latitude agriculture, natural resources use and allocation, ecosystems management, and geographic information. These areas cross department and unit lines, linking them and unifying the research. We have also included in our financial statement information on the special grants we receive. These special grants allow us to provide research and outreach that is targeted toward economic development in Alaska. Research conducted by our graduate and undergraduate students plays an important role in these grants and the impact they make on Alaska.Financial statement -- Grants -- Students -- Research Reports: Partners, Facilities, and Programs; Geography; High-Latitude Agriculture; High-Latitude Soils; Management of Ecosystems; Natural Resources Use and Allocation; Index to Reports -- Publications -- Facult

REsCape: an Agent-Based Framework for Modeling Resources, Ethnicity, and Conflict

This research note provides a general introduction to REsCape: an agent-based computational framework for studying the relationship between natural resources, ethnicity, and civil war. By permitting the user to specify: (i) different resource profiles ranging from a purely agrarian economy to one based on the artisanal or industrial extraction of alluvial or kimberlite diamonds; (ii) different patterns of ethnic domination, ethnic polarization, and varying degrees of ethnic salience; as well as (iii) specific modes of play for key agents, the framework can be used to assess the effects of key variables — whether taken in isolation or in various combinations — on the onset and duration of civil war. Our objective is to make REsCape available as an open source toolkit in the future, one that can be used, modified, and refined by students and scholars of civil war.Agent-Based Model, Ethnicity, Salience, Polarization, Domination, Civil War, Greed, Natural Resources

Cultural Influences on the Neural Correlate of Moral Decision Making Processes

This study compares the neural substrate of moral decision making processes between Korean and American participants. By comparison with Americans, Korean participants showed increased activity in the right putamen associated with socio-intuitive processes and right superior frontal gyrus associated with cognitive control processes under a moral-personal condition, and in the right postcentral sulcus associated with mental calculation in familiar contexts under a moral-impersonal condition. On the other hand, American participants showed a significantly higher degree of activity in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) associated with conflict resolution under the moral-personal condition, and in the right medial frontal gyrus (MFG) associated with simple cognitive branching in non-familiar contexts under the moral-impersonal condition when a more lenient threshold was applied, than Korean participants. These findings support the ideas of the interactions between the cultural background, education, and brain development, proposed in the field of cultural psychology and educational psychology. The study introduces educational implications relevant to moral psychologists and educators