The Difference between Optimal and Germane Communities

Networks often exhibit community structure and there are many algorithms that have been proposed to detect the communities. Different sets of communities have different characteristics. Community finding algorithms that are designed to optimize a single statistic tend to detect communities with a narrow set of characteristics. In this paper, we present evidence for the differences in community characteristics. In addition, we present two new community finding algorithms that allow analysts to find community sets that are not only high quality but also germane to the characteristics that are desired

The digital age project: strategies that enable older social housing residents to use the internet

Provides insights into the factors affecting technology adoption for older and disadvantaged people, and provides training and interface guidelines and a potential model for other public housing communities to become more digitally aware. Research Aims The experience of social housing communities in countries like the United Kingdom suggests that while access to digital infrastructure and equipment is important, access alone does not equate to digital inclusion. The aim of this research was two-fold, namely to: Understand the impact of access to and use of the internet, within a community of potentially vulnerable consumers; and, Determine the strategies that may assist people living in public housing communities to become more digitally aware and enable them to take advantage of online services such as health, government, news, shopping and methods of online communication. The research also sought to determine what benefits may flow from information technology skills to perceptions of social connectedness, self-efficacy, resilience, health and well-being. Given that people with low levels of computer literacy typically face greater risk of cognitive overload in attempting to learn new technologies, the principles and guidelines from Cognitive Load Theory were applied to training materials and activities to minimise cognitive load and thereby facilitate learning. The research was designed with a view to providing important insights into the factors affecting technology adoption for older and disadvantaged people, as well as providing training and interface guidelines and a potential model for other public housing communities to become more digitally aware

Virtual Population Units: A New Institutional Approach to Fisheries Management

This paper describes an alternative, rights-based approach to the economic problems of fisheries management and governance. The approach is based on the concept of a Virtual Population (VP), which provides an alternative way to define use rights in a fishery management system. Included is a comparison of harvest rates under the VP regime, “sole-owner,†and open-access regimes. In comparison, a VP solution is more efficient than open access and can approach that of a sole owner. More importantly, in our opinion, the approach contains a higher degree of local control over issues such as concentration of ownership and, unlike some community-based systems, provides an explicit, decentralized incentive for conservation. It also contains a built-in incentive mechanism for end-of-year conservation that is absent from individual transferable quotas (ITQs).Virtual populations, virtual population units, ITQs, marginal valuation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q220, Q590, C720, D830,

Physiological and Agronomic Responses of Four Rice Varieties to Drought in the Rainforest.

The present investigation tested the hypothesis that there would be variation in physiological responses to water deficit among rice varieties from different production ecologies, with contrasting tolerance to water deficit under repeated cycle of soil moisture deficit, at reproductive growth stage. A screen house and a field trial were conducted at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan and Ikenne (Latitude 6° 52' N, Longitude 3° 43' E) respectively. Both experiments had rice varieties ('IR 64', 'WAB 56-104', 'IR 77298-1-2-B-10' and 'NERICA 4') and stress status (stress and control) as treatment factor's, arranged in a randomised complete block design with three replicates. In both trials, the physiological mechanism that underpins varietal differences with repeated cycles of water deficit at the reproductive growth stage was more balanced water status, improved foliar characters, efficient photosynthetic capacity and higher grain yield in comparatively drought tolerant upland rice varieties ('NERICA 4' and 'WAB 56-104'), as opposed with the results for the drought susceptible cultivar 'IR 64'. A converse pattern was observed on water stressed rice, despite fewer cycles of water deficit on the field. The results could have suggested that the initiation of water deficit is the rate limiting step rather than its intensity at the reproductive growth stage

Intellectual property in a knowledge-based economy : Patents to include vs. patents to exclude.

The traditional perception of patents puts the emphasis on their importance to exclude imitators and to restore incentives to invent. This view is far too restrictive and at variance with many empirical and theoretical works. We show that these contradictions can be overcome by shifting from a traditional economic framework to a knowledge-based one. Such a move allows a renewed economic perception of patents, making them into essential instruments which serve not only to exclude potential infringers but also to “include” all the different stakeholders in the innovation process. Within this new approach the main role of the patent system is therefore to ensure the coordination among heterogeneous actors and to structure innovation activities. We illustrate our view by presenting the four polar cases of pharmaceuticals, electronics, software and biotechnologies.Intellectual property rights, incentives, coordination, R&D collaboration, collective invention.

In-Service Physical Educators\u27 Multicultural Attitudes in Nebraska Schools Affected by The New Latino Diaspora

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between in-service physical educators in communities affected by the New Latino Diaspora in Nebraska and the following variables: (a) gender, (b) educators ethnicity or race, (c) percentage change of Latino population in a community, (d) percentage Latino students in a school district, (e) teacher certification held and, (f) educators\u27 place of residence. In addition, this study seeks to discern: (a) whether or not significant relationships exist between the indicated variable and multicultural attitudes; (b) provide a demographic description of physical educators in selected communities. A sample size of 122 in-service physical educators was identified. Out of the 122 identified physical educators, 102 responded. This resulted in a return rate of 84%. Despite this return rate, assuming a power of 80% as acceptable, all variables and their levels did not attain power to meet this level of acceptance. The male to female ratio in the sample of the physical educators was approximately 3:2. All but one of the participants was of white ethnicity. At the time of the survey, more than half of the vii sample population held professional certificates (57.80%); nearly one- third held standard certificates (35.30%); 5% held initial level certificates and 2% reported that they did not hold a physical education certificate. The Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE) was used to collect information related to participants\u27 multicultural attitudes and five additional questions were used to collect demographic data. This study used the analytical survey method to collect data. Research questions were examined using parametric statistics in order to identify whether significant relationships existed. The statistical analyses included T-tests, ANOVAs, F-tests and appropriate Post-Hoc tests. Examination of the research questions identified only one significant relationship. A post-hoc test confirmed that non physical education certificate holders had significantly different multicultural attitudes compared to the multicultural attitudes of the physical education certificate holders. Findings of the study suggest that providing physical educators and physical educator candidates with opportunities to develop a more multicultural responsive approach to teaching.\u2

Protracted speciation revitalizes the neutral theory of biodiversity.

Understanding the maintenance and origin of biodiversity is a formidable task, yet many ubiquitous ecological patterns are predicted by a surprisingly simple and widely studied neutral model that ignores functional differences between species. However, this model assumes that new species arise instantaneously as singletons and consequently makes unrealistic predictions about species lifetimes, speciation rates and number of rare species. Here, we resolve these anomalies - without compromising any of the original models existing achievements and retaining computational and analytical tractability - by modelling speciation as a gradual, protracted, process rather than an instantaneous event. Our model also makes new predictions about the diversity of incipient species and rare species in the metacommunity. We show that it is both necessary and straightforward to incorporate protracted speciation in future studies of neutral models, and argue that non-neutral models should also model speciation as a gradual process rather than an instantaneous one

The Economics of US Civil War Conscription

The US government had limited power during the Civil War, including an inability to tax income. Similar to conscription plans considered in the War of 1812, Civil War conscription was not intended to compel service, but was a second-best plan to shift the tax burden to state and local governments. The time allowed communities to provide volunteers after a federal call for enlistments, along with substitution and the payment of a fee to avoid service (commutation), meant few were actually drafted---about 2% of all who served. Commutation could have lowered social cost, but appears to have been a binding ceiling on the price of a substitute.