Aboriginal affairs: Monologue or dialogue?

On January 26 2002, the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the first Aboriginal tent embassy was celebrated. In 1972 the tent embassy emerged from the Black Power movement as a manifestation of the call for recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty and the right to self-determination. These claims have been raised continually by some prominent Aboriginal activists, but the main answer given by the government has been the creation of Aboriginal policies and sections for Aboriginal people within the Australian political system. The government, by different means, has brought Aboriginal activists within the system and has diverted attention from their aspirations. What I would like to point out in this article is that the government has answered claims for a dialogue with an imposed monologue. I would also like to stress that some activists have found ways to take advantage of the circumstances imposed upon them and have developed a dialogue from within governmental institutions. I d o not pretend to give a full description of the different means used by Aboriginal people to gain recognition of their rights; I aim only to give an account of some strategies utilised by Indigenous Australians in their fight against political marginalisation

Proving the performance of a new revenue management system

Revenue management (RM) is a complicated business process that can best be described as control of sales (using prices, restrictions, or capacity), usually using software as a tool to aid decisions. RM software can play a mere informative role, supplying analysts with formatted and summarized data who use it to make control decisions (setting a price or allocating capacity for a price point), or, play a deeper role, automating the decisions process completely, at the other extreme. The RM models and algorithms in the academic literature by and large concentrate on the latter, completely automated, level of functionality. A firm considering using a new RM model or RM system needs to evaluate its performance. Academic papers justify the performance of their models using simulations, where customer booking requests are simulated according to some process and model, and the revenue perfor- mance of the algorithm compared to an alternate set of algorithms. Such simulations, while an accepted part of the academic literature, and indeed providing research insight, often lack credibility with management. Even methodologically, they are usually awed, as the simula- tions only test \within-model" performance, and say nothing as to the appropriateness of the model in the first place. Even simulations that test against alternate models or competition are limited by their inherent necessity on fixing some model as the universe for their testing. These problems are exacerbated with RM models that attempt to model customer purchase behav- ior or competition, as the right models for competitive actions or customer purchases remain somewhat of a mystery, or at least with no consensus on their validity. How then to validate a model? Putting it another way, we want to show that a particular model or algorithm is the cause of a certain improvement to the RM process compared to the existing process. We take care to emphasize that we want to prove the said model as the cause of performance, and to compare against a (incumbent) process rather than against an alternate model. In this paper we describe a \live" testing experiment that we conducted at Iberia Airlines on a set of flights. A set of competing algorithms control a set of flights during adjacent weeks, and their behavior and results are observed over a relatively long period of time (9 months). In parallel, a group of control flights were managed using the traditional mix of manual and algorithmic control (incumbent system). Such \sandbox" testing, while common at many large internet search and e-commerce companies is relatively rare in the revenue management area. Sandbox testing has an undisputable model of customer behavior but the experimental design and analysis of results is less clear. In this paper we describe the philosophy behind the experiment, the organizational challenges, the design and setup of the experiment, and outline the analysis of the results. This paper is a complement to a (more technical) related paper that describes the econometrics and statistical analysis of the results.Revenue management, airlines, sandbox testing,econometric analysis.

Sample Preparation Techniques for Conventional and High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy of the Central Nervous System. The Cerebellum as a Model

In the present paper some basic sample preparation techniques for scanning electron microscopy of nervous tissue are described. These basic preparative methods include conventional scanning electron microscopy or slicing technique, ethanol-cryofracturing technique, freeze-fracture method using either liquid nitrogen (slow freezing) or Freon 22 cooled by liquid nitrogen (fast freezing), improved freeze-fracture method with delicate specimen preparation and chromium coating, ultrasonic microdissection, and creative tearing technique. Some basic principles, advantages and limitations are critically considered. In addition, some specific applications in neurobiological research are reported. Emphasis is placed upon understanding the sources and nature of artifacts that are likely to be produced in each preparatory step. Examples are given of the results obtained with the different types of nerve tissue preparation, using the cerebellar cortex as a model of the central nervous system. According to the author\u27s experience, the slicing technique is recommended for studying cytoarchitectonic arrangement of gray centers, the ethanol-cryofracturing technique for tracing short intracortical circuits, and the freeze-fracture methods for analysis of nerve cell cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments. An attempt is made to explain results obtained in relation with nerve cell biology

Prioritizing Primary Prevention Strategies For Cardiovascular Disease At The Clinic Population Level

Cardiovascular Disease remains the number one cause of mortality in the United States with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) being a major component. Lifestyle interventions remain the first line treatment for the prevention of ASCVD, and clinic- based interventions effectively improve rates of healthy lifestyle choices. However, these programs require additional resources and there is currently no guidance for clinic directors to understand what lifestyle intervention(s) have the highest value for their unique population. We propose a novel application of the 10-year ASCVD risk calculator to a clinic patient cohort, thereby acting as a tool for providers and administrators to develop lifestyle intervention programs that will have the greatest risk reduction for their clinic population. We first defined the ASCVD 10-year risk for patient cohorts from four different primary care clinics in New Haven, CT by normalizing and aggregating individual patient 10- year ASCVD risk scores. We then calculated changes to this normalized aggregate risk by modeling the effects of evidence-based interventions found in Cochrane Reviews of different efficacy to each of four modifiable risk factors used in the 10-year ASCVD risk calculator. The four different modifiable risk factors include systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and smoking status. A resulting change in each cohort’s normalized aggregate risk was calculated. The clinic cohorts had different levels of modeled risk reduction from the same interventions. The magnitude of reduction was dependent on baseline normalized aggregate risk and prevalence of risk factor(s) targeted in the interventions. The three clinics where the baseline normalized aggregate risk was above 100 events per 1,000, patients had a greater risk reduction from an organizational intervention aimed at improving the quality of treatment for hypertensive patients compared to all other evidence-based interventions found in Cochrane Reviews. In the clinic that had a lower baseline normalized aggregate risk, the highest yield intervention was dietary advice by providers. Our data demonstrate that the highest yield lifestyle intervention for any clinic may vary depending on the makeup of the populations and its risk factors. The tool created in this study can be used by clinic providers and administrators to estimate the effects of various interventions on the ASCVD risk of their clinic cohort. The models generated by this tool can be used to guide strategy and prioritize clinic resources based on the extrapolated effects of evidence based interventions to specific clinic populations. Furthermore, it may also guide interventions planned to address needs identified by community health assessments. Because the tool predicts outcomes for specific patient populations it has the potential to foster the application of evidence-based practices to population health management

Deubiquitinases: Novel Therapeutic Targets in Immune Surveillance?

Inflammation is a protective response of the organism to tissue injury or infection. It occurs when the immune system recognizes Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) or Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern (DAMPs) through the activation of Pattern Recognition Receptors. This initiates a variety of signalling events that conclude in the upregulation of proinflammatory molecules, which initiate an appropriate immune response. This response is tightly regulated since any aberrant activation of immune responses would have severe pathological consequences such as sepsis or chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Accumulative evidence shows that the ubiquitin system, and in particular ubiquitin-specific isopeptidases also known as deubiquitinases (DUBs), plays crucial roles in the control of these immune pathways. In this review we will give an up-to-date overview on the role of DUBs in the NF-κB pathway and inflammasome activation, two intrinsically related events triggered by activation of the membrane TLRs as well as the cytosolic NOD and NLR receptors. Modulation of DUB activity by small molecules has been proposed as a way to control dysregulation or overactivation of these key players of the inflammatory response. We will also discuss the advances and challenges of a potential use of DUBs as therapeutic targets in inflammatory pathologies

New estimates of total factor productivity, technical and efficiency changes for the global agricultural economy

Aim of study: The accuracy of international and intertemporal comparisons of total factor productivity (TFP) growth requires the use of indicators that satisfy transitive and multiplicative properties, such as the Färe-Primont index (FPI). This paper compares the evolution of TFP in global agriculture.Area of study: Worldwide.Material and methods: The evolution of TFP in global agriculture was measured by the traditional Malmquist index (MI) and by the FPI, with alternative measurements of input capital.Main results: We found a significantly lower TFP growth with the FPI. New estimates of TFP growth for 1961-2015 show that output oriented scale-mix efficiency drives TFP growth, with an important technological change between 1996 and 2000 and another in 2014. Regional comparisons reveal heterogeneous trends in efficiency, linked to institutional reforms and agricultural R&D.Research highlights: More realistic figures and global comparisons of agricultural productivity provide a better understanding to implement better policies. Available measures of capital stock do not yield significant differences in TFP estimations, but the precise identification and estimation of the heterogeneous drivers and burdens is fundamental for boosting agricultural productivity and its benefits on global food security

Ultrastructural Alterations of Golgi Apparatus in the Nerve Cells of Cerebral Cortex in Human Hydrocephalus. A Qualitative Study Using Cortical Biopsies

Cortical biopsies of 17 patients with clinical diagnosis of hydrocephalus and associated pathology were examined in the transmission electron microscope. Moderately and severely edematous neurons showed relevant structural changes of the Golgi apparatus consisting of either discrete or marked dilation, fragmentation, and partial disappearance of Golgi stacked cisternae. In Arnold-Chiari malformation small Golgi complexes of vesicular type and atrophic changes were observed in severely edematous neurons. The microtubules appeared intact, suggesting differential response between Golgi complex and microtubules. Atrophic changes of the Golgi complex coexisted with degenerated presynaptic endings

The Sociogram: The Analysis Of Interpersonal Relationships In Higher Education

The environmental and professional conditions are doing at universitys education an imposition of a teaching-learning process and its assessment. Nowadays, a new function is demanded to the universitys teacher, not just as a facilitator of his/her students learning but also as a group dynamiter, team-works. At High Education, more and more frequently, it begins to get power to the necessity for answering to training apart from providing concepts to its professionals, to contribute with the instrumental and attitudinal resources which qualify them professionally to develop the tasks. According to the new use of didactic and organisational proposals at the High Education, High is essential that departs from concepts such as work through projects, interpersonal relationships, creativity it is placed in points of view of the university teachers quality development. The hole structural change we have fulfilled with the Europeans Space of High Education (EEES) will not mean nothing if people continue doing the same as they used to do before in terms of pedagogic language.What would we like to share in this communication? The main aim of this communication is to present the sociogram as other resource to use at High Education, to analyse competence among university groups, to make team-works distinguishing between relationships established by friendship and by other interests the students have. Furthermore, the pedagogical implications for the teacher not only by the results that they have obtained but also because of the structure and grade of cohesion in the class-group, its dynamic and function as a university group in order to orientate and give us the possibility to act in an individual way with each of the students

Acabar con virreyes: La fragmentación del superior gobierno en el último tercio del siglo XVIII

Este articulo se propone examinar unos de los más importantes cambios políticos ocurridos en la historia de las Indias después de su organización inicial. Bajo el gobierno del secretario de Indias José de Gálvez (1776-1787) tres nuevas audiencias, un virreinato, una comandancia general y dos capitanías generales modificaron el marco jurisdiccional de las Indias. La existencia de nuevas jurisdicciones fue el resultado de la convergencia entre los proyectos de actores locales, una nueva coyuntura política y las orientaciones personales del nuevo secretario de Estado.