More Natural Models of Electoral Control by Partition

"Control" studies attempts to set the outcome of elections through the addition, deletion, or partition of voters or candidates. The set of benchmark control types was largely set in the seminal 1992 paper by Bartholdi, Tovey, and Trick that introduced control, and there now is a large literature studying how many of the benchmark types various election systems are vulnerable to, i.e., have polynomial-time attack algorithms for. However, although the longstanding benchmark models of addition and deletion model relatively well the real-world settings that inspire them, the longstanding benchmark models of partition model settings that are arguably quite distant from those they seek to capture. In this paper, we introduce--and for some important cases analyze the complexity of--new partition models that seek to better capture many real-world partition settings. In particular, in many partition settings one wants the two parts of the partition to be of (almost) equal size, or is partitioning into more than two parts, or has groups of actors who must be placed in the same part of the partition. Our hope is that having these new partition types will allow studies of control attacks to include such models that more realistically capture many settings

The supply chain of violence

Every year, more people are killed defending the environment than are soldiers from the United Kingdom and Australia on overseas deployments in war zones combined. During the last 15 years, the number of both deaths of environmental defenders, and the countries where they occur, have increased. Recorded deaths have increased from two per week to four per week over this period. These deaths are primarily related to conflict over natural resources, across a range of sectors. Of 683 total deaths, >230 were related to mining and agribusiness between 2014 and 2017. We find that rule of law and corruption indices are closely linked to patterns of killings. Using spatial data, we investigate the drivers of these conflicts and violence and seek to identify who may be most at risk and why. We argue that businesses, investors and national governments at both ends of the chain of violence need to be more accountable

Nut production in Bertholletia excelsa across a logged forest mosaic: implications for multiple forest use

Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world’s most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1–2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when a buffer zone cannot be observed, low logging intensities should be implemented. The sustainability of this integrated management system will ultimately depend on a complex series of socioeconomic and ecological interactions. Yet we submit that our study provides an important initial step in understanding the compatibility of timber harvesting with a high value NTFP, potentially allowing for diversification of forest use strategies in Amazonian Perù

Selective Processing of Multiple Features in the Human Brain: Effects of Feature Type and Salience

Identifying targets in a stream of items at a given constant spatial location relies on selection of aspects such as color, shape, or texture. Such attended (target) features of a stimulus elicit a negative-going event-related brain potential (ERP), termed Selection Negativity (SN), which has been used as an index of selective feature processing. In two experiments, participants viewed a series of Gabor patches in which targets were defined as a specific combination of color, orientation, and shape. Distracters were composed of different combinations of color, orientation, and shape of the target stimulus. This design allows comparisons of items with and without specific target features. Consistent with previous ERP research, SN deflections extended between 160–300 ms. Data from the subsequent P3 component (300–450 ms post-stimulus) were also examined, and were regarded as an index of target processing. In Experiment A, predominant effects of target color on SN and P3 amplitudes were found, along with smaller ERP differences in response to variations of orientation and shape. Manipulating color to be less salient while enhancing the saliency of the orientation of the Gabor patch (Experiment B) led to delayed color selection and enhanced orientation selection. Topographical analyses suggested that the location of SN on the scalp reliably varies with the nature of the to-be-attended feature. No interference of non-target features on the SN was observed. These results suggest that target feature selection operates by means of electrocortical facilitation of feature-specific sensory processes, and that selective electrocortical facilitation is more effective when stimulus saliency is heightened

El aprovechamiento de madera en las concesiones castañeras (Bertholletia excelsa) en Madre de Dios, Perú: un análisis de su situación normativa.

El objetivo de este documento es evaluar la situación normativa del aprovechamiento de madera en las concesiones castañeras de Madre de Dios desde el año 2004, cuando se publicó la norma con carácter de complementariedad que permitió esta actividad y hasta la zafra concluída para el año 2010. Para este fin se analizaron las cifras oficiales de volúmenes extraídos de madera tanto en concesiones castañeras y en concesiones madereras dentro de las Administraciones Técnicas de Tahuamanu y Tambopata-Manu. Se sugiere que el carácter de complementariedad que actualmente permite extraer maderaen concesiones castañeras en Madre de Dios se ha desvirtuado y en consecuencia, el objetivo inicial del establecimiento de estas concesiones. Se sugiere además que la aplicación de límites numéricos uniformes a las concesiones castañeras para la extracción de madera no es la mejor forma de guiar el manejo de ambos productos. Finalmente, se propone la necesidad de evaluar opciones para un manejo integrado de la madera y la castaña, enfocado más en buenas prácticas de aprovechamiento y menos en aspectos normativos poco flexibles. Todo esto unido a la implementación de procesos de diálogo entre los diferentes actores involucrados en el uso de los recursos forestales de Madre de Dios

Dispensing apparatus for use in a cued food delivery task

Neurobiological models of obesity postulate that obese individuals have difficulty regulating food intake partly because they attribute excessive salience to stimuli signaling food availability. Typically, human studies that investigate the relationship between brain responses to food-related stimuli and obesity present food cues without subsequent delivery of food. However, in order to identify the brain correlates of cue reactivity, we must record brain responses to food-related cues signaling food availability. Therefore, we have developed a dispensing apparatus for use in a cued-food delivery task in which event-related potentials (ERPs) to food-related images predicting food delivery and images not predicting food delivery can be recorded. Here, we describe a method where:• The experimental apparatus dispenses an edible item (i.e., a chocolate candy) which may or may not be eaten, or a non-edible control item (e.g., a plastic bead). • Deposit boxes are available to store uneaten candies and the non-edible control items. • The dispensing mechanism is capable of recording the exact timestamp when each delivery event occurs (e.g., release from the dispenser, arrival in the receptacle, storage in the deposit box)