Celestus bivittatus

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Ungaliophis, U. continentalis, U. panamensis

Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Building in an Evaluation Component for Active Labor Market Programs: A Practitioner's Guide

The guide outlines the main evaluation challenges associated with ALMP’s, and shows how to obtain rigorous impact estimates using two leading evaluation approaches. The most credible and straightforward evaluation method is a randomized design, in which a group of potential participants is randomly divided into a treatment and a control group. Random assignment ensures that the two groups would have had similar experiences in the post-program period in the absence of the program intervention. The observed post-program difference therefore yields a reliable estimate of the program impact. The second approach is a difference in differences design that compares the change in outcomes between the participant group and a selected comparison group from before to after the completion of the program. In general the outcomes of the comparison group may differ from the outcomes of the participant group, even in the absence of the program intervention. If the difference observed prior to the program would have persisted in the absence of the program, however, then the change in the outcome gap between the two groups yields a reliable estimate of the program impact. This guideline reviews the various steps in the design and implementation of ALMP’s, and in subsequent analysis of the program data, that will ensure a rigorous and informative impact evaluation using either of these two techniques.active labor market programs, policy evaluation, randomized trials, difference in difference, average treatment effect on the treated, development effectiveness

Evaluation of the 20,000 days campaign

The aim of Counties Manuaku District Health Board (CMDHB) 20,000 Days Campaign was to give back to the community 20,000 healthy and well days to avoid predicted growth in hospital bed days. After tracking the difference between projected demand and actual use, at the end of the Campaign on 1st July 2013, CMDHB reported that 23,060 bed days were given back to the people of Counties Manukau. This evaluation report explains how using the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series the Campaign was run with the expectation that small immediate changes to practical problems (in this case the work of 13 Collaborative teams), will accumulate into large effects (a reduction of 20,000 bed days against predicted bed days use by July 2013). The evaluation found the Campaign did save bed days, though attributing causality was always going to be difficult, and overall the Campaign was very successful in keeping the energy and motivation of participants

Drones and Data: A Limited Impact on Privacy

Concerns about drones and their impact on privacy are misplaced. Most of the scenarios discussed in the academic literature and policy commentary simply assume that drones operate in a unique way. These discussions of drones and privacy have left the antecedent question unexamined—precisely how do drones impact privacy? This Article is the first to clearly define the operational parameters of drones that impact privacy in a unique way. From this precise definition, we learn that drones operate in very few spaces that allow them to capture data inaccessible to other technologies. In short, how drones operate has a limited impact on privacy. Drones, however, are primarily data collection devices. By tracing the flow of data into and from a drone, it becomes clear that many parties potentially have access to drone-captured data. The privacy impact of drones, therefore, must be understood in the light of the third-party doctrine. Once a drone captures data about a person, that person has almost no recourse to prevent its sharing and distribution. Drones have also stirred the emotions of legislators. Hundreds of provisions in state and local laws purport to address the privacy concerns presented by drones and their data. This Article analyzes these laws and demonstrates that very few actually address the unique privacy impact of drones and their data flow. Furthermore, these laws interact with the third-party doctrine in a manner that mutes almost all privacy protections. Concerns about the privacy impact of drones, therefore, should focus on either limiting data capture by drones or changing the U.S. privacy doctrines

Chirp-based direct phase modulation of VCSELs for cost-effective transceivers

A 2.5Gb/s DPSK transmitter based on direct phase modulation of a VCSEL using its own chirp is proposed. The VCSEL, which wavelength is 1539.84nm, has been characterized both static and dynamically. The sensitivity of a single photodiode heterodyne receiver using the proposed 2.5Gb/sVCSEL transmitter is -39.5dBm. Thus, this transmitter is an extremely cost-effective solution for future access networks.Postprint (author's final draft

HORIZONTALIDAD, EXPRESIÓN Y SABERES COMPARTIDOS ENFOQUE PSICOSOCIAL EN PROCESOS DE ACOMPAÑAMIENTO A VÍCTIMAS DE VIOLENCIA POLÍTICA EN COLOMBIA.

The following article presents a deep discussion about the processes of psychosocial intervention with victims of political violence, in the light of their life stories in a context of research on the role of memory in the reconstruction of the social fabric. The category of the psychosocial emerged as a result of these life stories and discussion groups and allowed a critical look at the intervention processes that take place in Colombia, from the voice and the testimony of the participants. Finally, it also collects proposals from this same voice, that of the people, and forms of action involving a revision to the individualistic, pathological, vertical, technocratic, and bureaucratic models of the action, to propose comprehensive and systemic actions for the recovery of dignity and the subjective transformation from participation, dialogue of knowledge, playful and performative expression, and horizontal relationships, mutual support and construction of citizenship and subjectivity of rights. El siguiente artículo plantea una discusión profunda sobre los procesos de intervención psicosocial con víctimas de violencia política, a la luz de sus relatos de vida en un contexto de investigación sobre el papel de la memoria en la reconstrucción del tejido social. La categoría de lo psicosocial surgió como emergente de estos relatos de vida y grupos de discusión y posibilitó una mirada crítica a procesos de intervención que se realizan en Colombia, desde la voz y el testimonio de los y las participantes. Finalmente, recoge desde esta misma voz, la de la gente, propuestas y formas de acción que impliquen una revisión a los modelos individualistas, patologizantes, verticales, tecnócratas y burocráticos de la acción, para proponer acciones integrales y sistémicas de recuperación de la dignidad y transformación subjetiva desde la participación, diálogo de saberes, expresión lúdica y performativa, relaciones horizontales, apoyo mutuo y construcción de ciudadanía y subjetividad de derechos