“First we eat and then we sell”: participatory guarantee systems for alternative sustainability certification of Bolivian agri-food products

Expectations and interest are high in participatory guarantee systems (PGS) as a context-specific alternative to third-party sustainability certification. Self-defined criteria, transparency, trust, and accessibility have made PGS an attractive alternative to exogenous certification in local markets in over 70 countries. There is also increasing interest in the possibilities for participatory certification in international trade for family farm-based products such as cocoa or coffee. Bolivia’s PGS was established in 2012. By 2017, the country ranked second (after India) in number of PGS farmers. Since 2019, however, its numbers are declining. Visiting six PGS initiatives, we interviewed 38 persons from production, processing, distribution, support networks, and policymaking on the current situation of PGS in Bolivia; its challenges; its prospects in local, national, and international trade; and the role of Bolivia’s governmental PGS support. While PGS certification in Bolivia faces challenges – including high fees, weak consumer demand, and insufficient links to broader value chains – it displays strong potential to make locally managed sustainability certification more accessible. We recommend that decision-makers ensure accessibility and help promote PGS with consumers. Importing countries could support PGS, in particular by incentivizing access of PGS-certified products to their national markets by recognizing them as organic via peer-to-peer certification

Continuous perception for deformable objects understanding

We present a robot vision approach to deformable object classification, with direct application to autonomous service robots. Our approach is based on the assumption that continuous perception provides robots with greater visual competence for deformable objects interpretation and classification. Our approach thus classifies the category of clothing items by continuously perceiving the dynamic interactions of the garment’s material and shape as it is being picked up. Our proposed solution consists of extracting continuously visual features of a RGB-D video sequence and fusing features by means of the Locality Constrained Group Sparse Representation (LGSR) algorithm. To evaluate the performance of our approach, we created a fully annotated database featuring 150 garment videos in random configurations. Experiments demonstrate that by continuously observing an object deform, our approach achieves a classification score of 66.7%, outperforming state-of-the-art approaches by a ∼ 27.3% increase

Geographical interdependence, international trade and economic dynamics: the Chinese and German solar energy industries

The trajectories of the German and Chinese photovoltaic industries differ significantly yet are strongly interdependent. Germany has seen a rapid growth in market demand and a strong increase in production, especially in the less developed eastern half of the country. Chinese growth has been export driven. These contrasting trajectories reflect the roles of market creation, investment and credit and the drivers of innovation and competitiveness. Consequent differences in competiveness have generated major trade disputes

A Rapid and Quantitative Assay to Estimate Gene Transfer into Retrovirally Transduced Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells Using a 96-Well Format PCR and Fluorescent Detection System Universal for MMLV-Based Proviruses

Overview summary The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of colonies of clonogenic cells growing in methylcellulose medium is a routine procedure to estimate the frequency of retroviral transduction into hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. This study describes a sensitive assay system that takes advantage of the standard 96-well format to expedite the processing of single methylcellulose colonies. Assay sensitivity is dependent on a PCR primer pair which amplifies a region of the ψ packaging sequence of all Moloney-based retroviruses tested. Using this primer pair, we present the optimized PCR conditions for the analysis of single colonies of clonogenic cells growing in methylcellulose medium as well as the conditions for a semiquantitative bulk PCR assay to estimate the transduction frequency immediately following the transduction protocol. This PCR primer pair, along with the capability for more rapid screening of hematopoietic stem/progenitor colonies, is especially useful for the laboratory that is screening a number of different retroviral constructions for their transduction efficiency.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63170/1/hum.1996.7.3-343.pd

Are solar neutrino oscillations robust?

The robustness of the large mixing angle (LMA) oscillation (OSC) interpretation of the solar neutrino data is considered in a more general framework where non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI) are present. Such interactions may be regarded as a generic feature of models of neutrino mass. The 766.3 ton-yr data sample of the KamLAND collaboration are included in the analysis, paying attention to the background from the reaction ^13C(\alpha,n) ^16O. Similarly, the latest solar neutrino fluxes from the SNO collaboration are included. In addition to the solution which holds in the absence of NSI (LMA-I) there is a 'dark-side' solution (LMA-D) with sin^2 theta_Sol = 0.70, essentially degenerate with the former, and another light-side solution (LMA-0) allowed only at 97% CL. More precise KamLAND reactor measurements will not resolve the ambiguity in the determination of the solar neutrino mixing angle theta_Sol, as they are expected to constrain mainly Delta m^2. We comment on the complementary role of atmospheric, laboratory (e.g. CHARM) and future solar neutrino experiments in lifting the degeneracy between the LMA-I and LMA-D solutions. In particular, we show how the LMA-D solution induced by the simplest NSI between neutrinos and down-type-quarks-only is in conflict with the combination of current atmospheric data and data of the CHARM experiment. We also mention that establishing the issue of robustness of the oscillation picture in the most general case will require further experiments, such as those involving low energy solar neutrinos.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; Final version to appear in JHE

Abstract Learning Frameworks for Synthesis

We develop abstract learning frameworks (ALFs) for synthesis that embody the principles of CEGIS (counter-example based inductive synthesis) strategies that have become widely applicable in recent years. Our framework defines a general abstract framework of iterative learning, based on a hypothesis space that captures the synthesized objects, a sample space that forms the space on which induction is performed, and a concept space that abstractly defines the semantics of the learning process. We show that a variety of synthesis algorithms in current literature can be embedded in this general framework. While studying these embeddings, we also generalize some of the synthesis problems these instances are of, resulting in new ways of looking at synthesis problems using learning. We also investigate convergence issues for the general framework, and exhibit three recipes for convergence in finite time. The first two recipes generalize current techniques for convergence used by existing synthesis engines. The third technique is a more involved technique of which we know of no existing instantiation, and we instantiate it to concrete synthesis problems

O papel do “Mineral Resources Expert Group” dos EuroGeoSurveys no contexto mineral Europeu

ABSTRACT: Europe shows an inevitably growing and accelerating consumption of mineral commodities and the high import dependence of strategic and critical raw materials has a serious impact on the sustainability of the EU manufacturing industry. The European Commission has long recognized the challenge of sustainable supply of mineral raw materials and steps are implemented to try to deal with this. In this context, EuroGeoSurveys and its Mineral Resources Expert Group (MREG) serve as one of the contact points for the Commission. The MREG is a group of earth scientists, experts in Economic Geology that act under the umbrella body of EuroGeoSurveys. The group acts upon requests and queries received by member states and the European Commission and provides the best available mineral expertise and information based on the knowledge of member Geological Surveys, for policy, communication, public awareness and education purposes at European level.RESUMO: A Europa mostra um inevitável e acelerado aumento de consumo de recursos minerais. A alta dependência das importações de matérias-primas estratégicas e críticas tem um forte impacto na sustentabilidade da indústria transformadora da UE. A produção de muitas matérias primas depende apenas de alguns países. O desafio do abastecimento sustentável tem sido reconhecido pela Comissão Europeia e foram implementadas etapas no sentido de tal ser assegurado. Neste contexto, o EuroGeoSurveys e o seu Grupo de Peritos em Recursos Minerais (MREG) servem como um dos pontos de contacto para a Comissão. O MREG dos EuroGeoSurveys é um grupo de Geocientistas, especialistas em Geologia Económica que trabalham sobre a tutela dos EuroGeoSurveys. O grupo atua com base em solicitações e consultas recebidas pelos Estados membros e pela Comissão Europeia e fornece os melhores conhecimentos e informações disponíveis com base no conhecimento geológico dos recursos minerais, nas esferas da política, e de comunicação, conscientização pública e educação a nível europeu.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolution of central pattern generators for the control of a five-link bipedal walking mechanism

Central pattern generators (CPGs), with a basis is neurophysiological studies, are a type of neural network for the generation of rhythmic motion. While CPGs are being increasingly used in robot control, most applications are hand-tuned for a specific task and it is acknowledged in the field that generic methods and design principles for creating individual networks for a given task are lacking. This study presents an approach where the connectivity and oscillatory parameters of a CPG network are determined by an evolutionary algorithm with fitness evaluations in a realistic simulation with accurate physics. We apply this technique to a five-link planar walking mechanism to demonstrate its feasibility and performance. In addition, to see whether results from simulation can be acceptably transferred to real robot hardware, the best evolved CPG network is also tested on a real mechanism. Our results also confirm that the biologically inspired CPG model is well suited for legged locomotion, since a diverse manifestation of networks have been observed to succeed in fitness simulations during evolution.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; substantial revision of content, organization, and quantitative result