All-Optical Reinforcement Learning in Solitonic X-Junctions

L'etologia ha dimostrato che gruppi di animali o colonie possono eseguire calcoli complessi distribuendo semplici processi decisionali ai membri del gruppo. Ad esempio, le colonie di formiche possono ottimizzare le traiettorie verso il cibo eseguendo sia un rinforzo (o una cancellazione) delle tracce di feromone sia spostarsi da una traiettoria ad un'altra con feromone più forte. Questa procedura delle formiche possono essere implementati in un hardware fotonico per riprodurre l'elaborazione del segnale stigmergico. Presentiamo qui innovative giunzioni a X completamente integrate realizzate utilizzando guide d'onda solitoniche in grado di fornire entrambi i processi decisionali delle formiche. Le giunzioni a X proposte possono passare da comportamenti simmetrici (50/50) ad asimmetrici (80/20) utilizzando feedback ottici, cancellando i canali di uscita inutilizzati o rinforzando quelli usati.Ethology has shown that animal groups or colonies can perform complex calculation distributing simple decision-making processes to the group members. For example ant colonies can optimize the trajectories towards the food by performing both a reinforcement (or a cancellation) of the pheromone traces and a switch from one path to another with stronger pheromone. Such ant's processes can be implemented in a photonic hardware to reproduce stigmergic signal processing. We present innovative, completely integrated X-junctions realized using solitonic waveguides which can provide both ant's decision-making processes. The proposed X-junctions can switch from symmetric (50/50) to asymmetric behaviors (80/20) using optical feedbacks, vanishing unused output channels or reinforcing the used ones

EDAD 6940

Power and Politics provides an overview of the theoretical approaches to the connection between power and politics as applied to k-16 education at both the macro and micro levels. Through readings and discussions, we will explore the ways in which power, politics, and policy influence key issues in the k-12 and higher education contexts at the federal, state, and local levels. A major focus of this course will be the intersection of race, class and gender with power and politics in educational leadership. In addition, the course will examine policies in k-16+ education, the elements of the policy-making process, and strategies for policy analysi

Oral History Transcript - Elvira de la Garza

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/spanishlandgrantsoralhistories/1031/thumbnail.jp

Climate tolerances and trait choices shape continental patterns of urban tree biodiversity

Aim: We propose and test a climate tolerance and trait choice hypothesis of urban macroecological variation in which strong filtering associated with low winter temperatures restricts urban biodiversity while weak filtering associated with warmer temperatures and irrigation allows dispersal of species from a global source pool, thereby increasing urban biodiversity. Location: Twenty cities across the USA and Canada. Methods: We examined variation in tree community taxonomic diversity, origins and production of an aesthetic ecosystem service trait in a cross-section of urban field surveys. We correlated urban tree community composition indicators with a key climate restriction, namely mean minimum winter temperature, and evaluated alternative possible drivers: precipitation, summer maximum temperature, population size and the percentage of adults with a college education. Results: Species accumulation curves differed substantially among cities, with observed richness varying from 22 to 122 species. Similarities in tree communities decreased exponentially with increases in climatic differences. Ordination of tree communities showed strong separation among cities with component axes correlated with minimum winter temperature and annual precipitation. Variation among urban tree communities in richness, origins and the provisioning of an aesthetic ecosystem service were all correlated with minimum winter temperature. Main conclusions: The urban climate tolerance and trait choice hypothesis provides a coherent mechanism to explain the large variation among urban tree communities resulting from an interacting environment, species and human decisions. Reconciling the feedbacks between human decision making and biophysical limitations provides a foundation for an urban ecological theory that can better understand and predict the dynamics of other linked biotic communities, associated ecosystem dynamics and resulting services provided to urban residents

Sol–Gel Microcapsulation in Silica-Based Particles: A Comparative Study

We compare the two main sol-gel/emulsion methods to prepare silica-based microparticles doped with actives. Moreover, we analyze the morphpology of the resulting particles varying also the nature of the organosilane, and the pH of the sol-gel process. Benzoyl peroxide was used as molecular dopant

AGROALIMENTARE E SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE: ENERGIA, EFFICIENZA ENERGETICA, AMBIENTE E CIBO

Nell’ultimo decennio, il sistema agroalimentare nazionale nella sua accezione più ampia di agricoltura e industria alimentare, ha assunto una configurazione fortemente sistemica, aperta al contributo di diverse discipline e tecnologie. Tale evoluzione ha consentito al sistema agricolo di raggiungere posizioni ragguardevoli se consideriamo che nel complesso l’agroalimentare rappresenta per l’economia italiana un valore di 250 miliardi €, pari a circa 16% del PIL. Il mondo agricolo, nel suo complesso, costituisce ormai uno snodo fondamentale per attività che riguardano: l’energia, l’ambiente, il cibo, il territorio, il benessere dei cittadini, il sistema economico aree urbane-aree rurali. Il lavoro è focalizzato sul ruolo strategico dell’agroalimentare per gli obiettivi del Pacchetto Europeo 20-20-20 nonché per lo sviluppo economico sostenibile del sistema Paese.Agriculture and economic sustainable development: energy, energy efficiency, environment and food This article briefly examines the evolution of the agricultural sector in Italy and outlines the concept of the agro-food system that includes the agriculture and the food industry activities. The Italian agro-food system has reached a global annual value of 250 billions €, which corresponds to about 16% of the added gross value. The agricultural system is also analyzed in respect to the objectives of the European Package 20-20-20. This article outlines the impact of the agro-food system in terms of energy, energy efficiency, use of renewable resources related to the food production. The impact of the large retail groups and the key role of the agro-food system are also analyzed in respect to the development of a sustainable economy

The specter of Black labor: African American workers in Illinois before the Great Migration, 1847 to 1910

The Specter of Black Labor is interested in examining the actions, reactions and opinions of Afro-Illinoisans during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in relation to their own position as laborers. While previous studies on Black workers in Illinois focus heavily on African Americans and their relationship to the larger labor movement of this period, the goal in this project is to view these workers primarily through the lens of the African American experience. By deemphasizing the role of white workers and the labor movement in general, this project seeks to unearth previously muffled voices within the relatively small Black communities throughout Illinois during the largely understudied period prior to the Great Migration. By utilizing a racial formation theoretical framework, this project seeks to provide a foundation for a critical examination of race as it acquires different meanings, depending on specific historic circumstances. The contention here is that the process of racializing labor during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries affected not only the type of labor Black people could procure, it also systematically eliminated them from the larger labor movement and virtually forced them into “anti-labor” roles such as strikebreaking. As the labor movement gained significant momentum throughout Illinois, Black workers faced with the decision to be a part of the labor movement was not easy—while other workers contended with nineteenth century labor issues such as unionization, better working conditions and the eight hour work day, Black workers were also entangled within a struggle for citizenship, voting rights, and the right to work and live where they chose. Thus, like other workers, Afro-Illinoisans struggled to adjust to the modernization of the late nineteenth century workplace. Yet they were also compelled to adjust to a system of racialization within a workplace that castigated them as stereotypically ineffectual workers that would somehow degrade the labor of European American workers. This process resulted in frequent conflicts with European American workers who, in their effort to secure their own tenuous position as laborers within the political economy, competed against Black workers for even the lowliest occupations. The devastating consequence of this racialization process in the workplace by the end of the turn of the twentieth century led to the idea that Afro-Illinoisans were anti-union and unsympathetic to the plight of the rights of all workers

Responsibility While Protecting: Implementation and the Future of Responsibility to Protect

Ten years after the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, the international community is still faced with challenges of ensuring that genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing are never again committed. In light of RtoP’s 10th anniversary and ongoing situations of mass atrocities around the world, the Columbia University Global Policy Initiative (CGPI) and the International Relations Research Center at the University of São Paulo (NUPRI) organized a two-day conference in April 2015 on Responsibility while Protecting: Implementation Mechanisms and the Future of the Responsibility to Protect. The conference brought together key academic, UN, and governmental voices. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN, and Dr. Jennifer Welsh, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect, presented keynote speeches. Topics under consideration included the Brazilian concept of Responsibility while Protecting (RwP), what happened to RtoP after the 2011 Libya intervention, how RwP has changed RtoP, how we can improve effective implementation of RtoP, and finally what the future of RtoP and atrocity prevention holds. The conference’s three panels and two keynote speeches are detailed in the report as well as recommendations to improve understanding and implementation of atrocity prevention and response