17,038 research outputs found
Browsing mega-trends: IR 4.0
Thirty glorious years had to end; we oiled up in crisis. Next, there was a Consensus. We got flattened; end of history. Then, the world became somehow bumpy again in a split between Davos and Porto Alegre; the super-structure appeared not so consensual after all. In the meantime, we became financialised and value-chained. The end of the end of history ended up with Terror and then, sure enough, we had to be de-financialised to bail out finance. Keynes the Great Return did not event, we got humbled in Austerity in an even greater split between the 1 and the 99% awaiting that something will eventually trickle down. All of that, we are being told, will soon be behind us: a 4.0 great dawn is coming. There has been indeed a fair deal of effervescence about the 'Future of Work' lately. The first objective of this exposé is thus to have a look at what is in store by browsing reports and statements from a range of international agencies and stakeholders (e.g. OECD, WEF, ILO, ITUC, etc.) including critical labour studies in an attempt to identify the narratives, prospects and concerns that dominate the scene. The second objective is to raise some methodological questions. Essentially, if we assume that Globalisation was the last mega-trend, can we transfer – by means of revolution – insights from our understanding of globalisation to our undertaking of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, if any
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https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3890/thumbnail.jp
Children struggling to make sense of fractions: an analysis of their argumentation
We used Toulmin's scheme for analysis of argumentation to analyse the interaction between three Grade 5 learners solving a common fractions problem. This analysis identified several issues, e.g. the ability of young children to participate in discourse characterised by argumentation, the complexity of the mathematical constructs that children have to deal with, and the nature of their discourse when they grapple with such complexities. The analysis showed that the process was driven by the classroom mathematical culture and the social and socio-mathematical norms, keeping the learners from closing their argumentation prematurely.
South African Journal of Education Vol.24(1) 2004: 88-9
From Design to Production Control Through the Integration of Engineering Data Management and Workflow Management Systems
At a time when many companies are under pressure to reduce "times-to-market"
the management of product information from the early stages of design through
assembly to manufacture and production has become increasingly important.
Similarly in the construction of high energy physics devices the collection of
(often evolving) engineering data is central to the subsequent physics
analysis. Traditionally in industry design engineers have employed Engineering
Data Management Systems (also called Product Data Management Systems) to
coordinate and control access to documented versions of product designs.
However, these systems provide control only at the collaborative design level
and are seldom used beyond design. Workflow management systems, on the other
hand, are employed in industry to coordinate and support the more complex and
repeatable work processes of the production environment. Commercial workflow
products cannot support the highly dynamic activities found both in the design
stages of product development and in rapidly evolving workflow definitions. The
integration of Product Data Management with Workflow Management can provide
support for product development from initial CAD/CAM collaborative design
through to the support and optimisation of production workflow activities. This
paper investigates this integration and proposes a philosophy for the support
of product data throughout the full development and production lifecycle and
demonstrates its usefulness in the construction of CMS detectors.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
The Complex Structure of the Multi-Phase Galactic Wind in a Starburst Merger
Neutral outflows have been detected in many ultraluminous infrared galaxies
(ULIRGs) via the Na I D absorption-line doublet.
For the first time, we have mapped and analyzed the 2-D kinematics of a cool
neutral outflow in a ULIRG, F10565+2448, using the integral field unit (IFU) on
Gemini North to observe the Na I D feature. At the same time we have mapped the
ionized outflow with the [NII] and H emission lines. We find a systemic
rotation curve that is consistent with the rotation of the molecular disk
determined from previous CO observations. The absorption lines show evidence of
a nuclear outflow with a radial extent of at least 3 kpc, consistent with
previous observations. The strength of the Na I D lines have a strong,
spatially resolved correlation with reddening, suggesting that dust is present
in the outflow. Surprisingly, the outflow velocities of the neutral gas show a
strong asymmetry in the form of a major-axis gradient that is opposite in sign
to disk rotation. This is inconsistent with entrained material rotating along
with the galaxy or with a tilted minor-axis outflow. We hypothesize that this
unusual behavior is due to an asymmetry in the distribution of the ambient gas.
We also see evidence of asymmetric ionized outflow in the emission-line
velocity map, which appear to be decoupled from the neutral outflow. Our
results strengthen the hypothesis that ULIRG outflows differ in morphology from
those in more quiescent disk galaxies.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Payments for Ecosystem Services: Legal and Institutional Frameworks
Analysis and engagement with partners working on ecosystem services transactions, policies and laws over the past 10 years have demonstrated a clear need to better understand the legal and institutional frameworks that have the potential to promote or hinder the development of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes, as well as the complex legal considerations that affect ecosystem services projects. In response, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre and The Katoomba Group have worked on a joint initiative to analyze the legal and institutional frameworks of water-related PES schemes and projects in four Andean countries: South America (Northeastern)-Brazil; Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. It has resulted in this report. Country-based analysts with experience in ecosystem services transactions have developed country and project assessments to define existing and recommend future regulatory and institutional frameworks that enable equitable and long-lasting ecosystem services transactions. Partners from North America (Central America)-Costa Rica; North America-Mexico; Ecuador and the North America-United States provided feedback on the assessments. The country assessments yielded lessons which were used to develop a set of recommendations on legal frameworks, property rights, enabling institutions, PES contracts, and governance issues supporting the future development of PES schemes
Verbal labels selectively bias brain responses to high-energy foods.
The influence of external factors on food preferences and choices is poorly understood. Knowing which and how food-external cues impact the sensory processing and cognitive valuation of food would provide a strong benefit toward a more integrative understanding of food intake behavior and potential means of interfering with deviant eating patterns to avoid detrimental health consequences for individuals in the long run. We investigated whether written labels with positive and negative (as opposed to 'neutral') valence differentially modulate the spatio-temporal brain dynamics in response to the subsequent viewing of high- and low-energetic food images. Electrical neuroimaging analyses were applied to visual evoked potentials (VEPs) from 20 normal-weight participants. VEPs and source estimations in response to high- and low- energy foods were differentially affected by the valence of preceding word labels over the ~260-300 ms post-stimulus period. These effects were only observed when high-energy foods were preceded by labels with positive valence. Neural sources in occipital as well as posterior, frontal, insular and cingulate regions were down-regulated. These findings favor cognitive-affective influences especially on the visual responses to high-energetic food cues, potentially indicating decreases in cognitive control and goal-adaptive behavior. Inverse correlations between insular activity and effectiveness in food classification further indicate that this down-regulation directly impacts food-related behavior
Characterization of hexabundles: Initial results
New multi-core imaging fibre bundles -- hexabundles -- being developed at the
University of Sydney will provide simultaneous integral field spectroscopy for
hundreds of celestial sources across a wide angular field. These are a natural
progression from the use of single fibres in existing galaxy surveys.
Hexabundles will allow us to address fundamental questions in astronomy without
the biases introduced by a fixed entrance aperture. We have begun to consider
instrument concepts that exploit hundreds of hexabundles over the widest
possible field of view. To this end, we have compared the performance of a
61-core fully-fused hexabundle and 5 lightly-fused bundles with 7 cores each.
All fibres in the bundles have 100 micron cores. In the fully-fused bundle, the
cores are distorted from a circular shape in order to achieve a higher fill
fraction. The lightly-fused bundles have circular cores and five different
cladding thicknesses which affect the fill fraction. We compare the optical
performance of all 6 bundles and find that the advantage of smaller
interstitial holes (higher fill fraction) is outweighed by the increase in
modal coupling, cross-talk and the poor optical performance caused by the
deformation of the fibre cores. Uniformly high throughput and low cross-talk
are essential for imaging faint astronomical targets with sufficient resolution
to disentangle the dynamical structure. Devices already under development will
have between 100 and 200 lightly-fused cores, although larger formats are
feasible. The light-weight packaging of hexabundles is sufficiently flexible to
allow existing robotic positioners to make use of them.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. See also a complimentary paper on
the development of hexabundles - Bland-Hawthorn et al. 2011, Optics Express,
vol. 19, p. 2649
(http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-19-3-2649
Assessing the disease burden of Yi people by years of life lost in Shilin county of Yunnan province, China
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Years of Life Lost (YLL) is one of the methods used to estimate the duration of time lost due to premature death. While previous studies of disease burden have been reported using YLL, there have been no studies investigating YLL of Yi people in rural China. Yunnan Province ranks first in terms of Yi people in China. This paper uses YLL to estimate the disease burden of Yi people in Shilin county of Yunnan Province. This study aims to address the differentials about YLL between Yi people and Han people for providing useful information for health planning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We applied the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) method created by WHO. YLL rate per 1,000 were calculated from medical death certificates in 2003 in Shilin Yi Nationality Autonomous County (Shilin county).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The male had greater YLL rate per 1,000 than did the female almost in each age group. It demonstrated a higher premature mortality burden due to injuries in Shilin county. Among the top non-communicable diseases, respiratory diseases are the most common mortality burden. Yi people are still suffering from maternal conditions, with two times the burden rates of Han people. For Yi people, while malignant neoplasm was one of the least burden of disease for male, it was the greatest for female, which is the opposite to Han people.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Strategies of economic development should be reviewed to enhance the prevention and treatment of injuries, maternal conditions and respiratory diseases for Yi people.</p
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