Environmental regulation in Indonesia

Since the early 1980s environmental regulation has received high priority in Indonesian policy making. Given Indonesia's dependence upon foreign donors for its economic program, external pressures inevitably played a significant role in stimulating this development. But internally generated factors were also of considerable importance. Mounting evidence of the economic and social costs of environmental degradation, the rise of a middle class, and the connection between environmental questions and other hotly contested political issues such as conflicts over land tenure and resources, the rights of workers, farmers and indigenous minorities, the demand for democratisation and greater press freedom all played a part in, moving the environment to centre stage

Five day mission plan to investigate the geology of the Marius Hills region of the moon

Five-day mission plan to investigate geology of Marius Hills region of moo

Evaluating Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training with Counselors-in-Training: Enhancing Sensitivity, Awareness, and Intervention Skills with Suicidal and Non-Suicidal Clients

Suicide is a serious mental health concern, it is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, the second leading cause of death for young adults (10-34), and the fourth leading cause for persons aged 35 to 54 years (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015). Counselors-in-training (CIT) often encounter clients with suicidal ideation, and they often report feeling, and are found to be, under-prepared to respond effectively (Barrio Minton et al., 2011; Erikson & Abel, 2013). One potential approach to helping augment the skills of counselors-in-training is extending suicide intervention training beyond their formal course work. Applied Suicide Intervention Skills training (ASIST) is a 14- hour, 2-day standardized and manualized training designed to train people in the helping professions to identify and effectively intervene with people considering suicide (LivingWorks, 2013). ASIST has been recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), branches of the US Military, the Center for Disease Control (Rodgers, 2010), and the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), as an effective training for suicide prevention. However, ASIST has yet to be rigorously evaluated as a systematic means of enhancing CIT preparedness to deal effectively with suicidal clients in a fieldwork setting. It is clear that further research is warranted to evaluate the ability of ASIST to increase the skills of CIT. This study evaluated the use of ASIST by CIT with both suicidal and non-suicidal clients and examined how ASIST may offer a standardized and measurable means of enhancing CITs sensitivity, awareness, and intervention skills in responding to persons-at-risk, for both suicide and other significant mental health issues. This is the first study to evaluate the utilization and generalizability of ASIST by CIT in practice and over time

Gene regulatory networks: a coarse-grained, equation-free approach to multiscale computation

We present computer-assisted methods for analyzing stochastic models of gene regulatory networks. The main idea that underlies this equation-free analysis is the design and execution of appropriately-initialized short bursts of stochastic simulations; the results of these are processed to estimate coarse-grained quantities of interest, such as mesoscopic transport coefficients. In particular, using a simple model of a genetic toggle switch, we illustrate the computation of an effective free energy and of a state-dependent effective diffusion coefficient that characterize an unavailable effective Fokker-Planck equation. Additionally we illustrate the linking of equation-free techniques with continuation methods for performing a form of stochastic "bifurcation analysis"; estimation of mean switching times in the case of a bistable switch is also implemented in this equation-free context. The accuracy of our methods is tested by direct comparison with long-time stochastic simulations. This type of equation-free analysis appears to be a promising approach to computing features of the long-time, coarse-grained behavior of certain classes of complex stochastic models of gene regulatory networks, circumventing the need for long Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 33 pages, submitted to The Journal of Chemical Physic

Using the Optimal Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve to Design a Predictive Genetic Test, Exemplified with Type 2 Diabetes

Current extensive genetic research into common complex diseases, especially with the completion of genome-wide association studies, is bringing to light many novel genetic risk loci. These new discoveries, along with previously known genetic risk variants, offer an important opportunity for researchers to improve health care. We describe a method of quick evaluation of these new findings for potential clinical practice by designing a new predictive genetic test, estimating its classification accuracy, and determining the sample size required for the verification of this accuracy. The proposed predictive test is asymptotically more powerful than tests built on any other existing method and can be extended to scenarios where loci are linked or interact. We illustrate the approach for the case of type 2 diabetes. We incorporate recently discovered risk factors into the proposed test and find a potentially better predictive genetic test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of the proposed test is estimated to be higher (AUC = 0.671) than for the existing test (AUC = 0.580)

Skeptic

Humans encounter existential questions of understanding whether we control our realities in this world or actually submit to illusions not of our making. It takes knowledge to understand even a little of one’s reality, but we hardly have a grip on it because time does not stand still. It is difficult for me to explain my own feelings and life experiences, because these are not tangible items, but I have learned to try and comprehend my realities through imagery and literature. Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Dream Within A Dream”, resonates with my own life by touching upon the idea that nothing in reality is concrete. Our lives and experiences feel like dreams and sometimes it can be difficult to decipher between reality and illusion. The collection’s jewel-toned colors, silhouettes and fabric details reflect the dramatic imagery in the poem such as, I stand amid the roar- Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand- Grains of the golden sand ( Poe, 2012, p. 768 ). The poem’s exaggerative and abstract analogies inspire the asymmetric shapes, hand embroidery, fabric choices, tailored seams and structure of all the looks of the collection, with this entry as one of the most successful ones

A quantitative linkage score for an association study following a linkage analysis

BACKGROUND: Currently, a commonly used strategy for mapping complex quantitative traits is to use a genome-wide linkage analysis to narrow suspected genes to regions on a scale of centiMorgans (cM), followed by an association analysis to fine map the genetic variation in regions showing linkage. Two important questions arise in the design and the resulting inference at the association stage of this sequential procedure: (1) how should we design an efficient association study given the information provided by the previous linkage study? and (2) can an association in a linkage region explain, in part, the detected linkage signal? RESULTS: We derive a quantitative linkage score (QLS) based on Haseman-Elston regression (Haseman and Elston 1972) and make use of this score to address both questions. In designing an association study, the selection of a subsample from the linkage study sample can be guided by the linkage information summarized in the QLS. When heterogeneity exists, we show that selection based on the QLS can increase the proportion of sample individuals from the subpopulation affected by a disease allele and therefore greatly improves the power of the association study. For the resulting inference, we frame as a hypothesis test the question of whether a linkage signal in a region can be in part explained by a marker allele. A simple one sided paired t-statistic is defined by comparing the two sets of QLSs obtained with/without modeling a marker association: a significant difference indicates that the marker can at least partly account for the detected linkage. We also show that this statistic can be used to detect a spurious association. CONCLUSION: All our results suggest that a careful examination of QLSs should be helpful for understanding the results of both association and linkage studies

Zenithal bistability in a nematic liquid crystal device with a monostable surface condition

The ground-state director configurations in a grating-aligned, zenithally bistable nematic device are calculated in two dimensions using a Q tensor approach. The director profiles generated are well described by a one-dimensional variation of the director across the width of the device, with the distorted region near the grating replaced by an effective surface anchoring energy. This work shows that device bistability can in fact be achieved by using a monostable surface term in the one-dimensional model. This implies that is should be possible to construct a device showing zenithal bistability without the need for a micropatterned surface