Note – Someone is Watching: The Need for Enhanced Data Protection

The computer revolution has created a world where communication is cheap and instantaneous, and where vast amounts of information and consumer goods are just a click away. It also has created a world where the electronic gadgets we use every day create a trail of information that is being collected, examined, sold, and—far too often—stolen. Individuals have little to no control over the use and sale of this personal, private information, and the law has failed to keep pace. Some privacy advocates have suggested that traditional privacy torts should be used by the courts to stop the worst of these privacy invasions. However, these torts, developed more than fifty years ago, are ill-suited to the task. In addition, many states and the federal government have passed laws and regulations to protect the most sensitive of private information from prying eyes. But these laws have proven to be inadequate in a rapidly changing world of iPhones, Netflix, and Internet searches. What is needed is a national standard that will protect the privacy of individuals without stifling innovation. A ban on the dissemination of private information, along with more stringent laws meant to prevent identity theft, will go a long way to achieving these twin goals

Winter Sub-Freezing Periods and Significant Thaws in the Boreal Forest Region of Central North America

Winter daily maximum temperatures were examined for 56 sites in northern portions on Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota over the period 1960-88. The longest sub-freezing period of winter averaged 20-30 days in the southern portion of the region, 30-40 days around Lake Superior, and 90-100 days in extreme northwestern Ontario. These are twice as long as sub-freezing periods at similar latitudes in eastern Canada. The sub-freezing period is shortened by about one week along the shores of the Great Lakes. There is annual spatial correlation of the longest sub-freezing period, indicating regional synoptic-scale control. The late 1970s had the longest sub-freezing periods but no significant linear trend was found in lengths of sub-freezing periods. The average date of the first significant thaw (>10 C) ranged from early March in the south to late April in the north and delayed 1- 2 weeks along the shores of the Great Lakes.Key words: winter, freezing temperature, boreal forest, Canada, Great LakesDe 1960 à 1988, on a mené une étude sur les températures quotidiennes maximales en hiver à 56 emplacements situés dans des régions septentrionales de l'Ontario, du Michigan, du Wisconsin et du Minnesota. La plus longue période de gel hivernal persistant durait en moyenne de 20 à 30 jours dans la partie méridionale de la région, de 30 à 40 jours autour du lac Supérieur, et de 90 à 100 jours dans la partie la plus au nord-ouest de l'Ontario. Ces durées sont deux fois plus longues que les périodes de gel persistant aux mêmes latitudes dans l'est du Canada. La période de gel persistant est réduite d'environ 1 semaine le long des rives des Grands Lacs. Il existe une corrélation spatiale annuelle de la période de gel persistant la plus longue, ce qui indique un contrôle régional à échelle synoptique. La fin des années 1970 comptait les périodes de gel persistant les plus longues, mais on n'a pas trouvé de tendance linéaire significative dans la durée des périodes de gel persistant. La date moyenne du premier dégel notable (>10 °C) allait de début mars dans le Sud à fin avril dans le Nord et était repoussée de 1 à 2 semaines le long des rives des Grands Lacs.Mots clés : hiver, température inférieure à O’C, forêt boréale, Canada. Grands Lac

Die Verschuldung der afrikanischen Länder

Zwar ist die Auslandsschuld der afrikanischen Länder wesentlich geringer als diejenige Lateinamerikas, doch ist sie in den letzten zehn Jahren rasch angestiegen, und der Schuldendienst stellt heute für viele Länder eine schwere Belastung dar. Der Verfasser zählt die endogenen und exogenen Ursachen dieser Lage auf und legt die möglichen Mittel zu ihrer Behebung dar. Unter diesen haben die Umschuldungen und die Verstärkung der öffentlichen Entwicklungshilfe im Zusammenhang mit Afrika eine besonders wichtige Funktion. Im letzten Teil des Artikels wird die Rolle beschrieben, welche die Schweiz bei der Suche nach Lösungen des Schuldenproblems spielen kann, sowie die verschiedenen Instrumente, die der Regierung in diesem Bereich zur Verfügung stehe

L’endettement africain

Zwar ist die Auslandsschuld der afrikanischen Länder wesentlich geringer als diejenige Lateinamerikas, doch ist sie in den letzten zehn Jahren rasch angestiegen, und der Schuldendienst stellt heute für viele Länder eine schwere Belastung dar. Der Verfasser zählt die endogenen und exogenen Ursachen dieser Lage auf und legt die möglichen Mittel zu ihrer Behebung dar. Unter diesen haben die Umschuldungen und die Verstärkung der öffentlichen Entwicklungshilfe im Zusammenhang mit Afrika eine besonders wichtige Funktion. Im letzten Teil des Artikels wird die Rolle beschrieben, welche die Schweiz bei der Suche nach Lösungen des Schuldenproblems spielen kann, sowie die verschiedenen Instrumente, die der Regierung in diesem Bereich zur Verfügung stehe

Coexistence of diploid and triploid hybrid water frogs: population differences persist in the apparent absence of differential survival

Background: The role of differential selection in determining the geographic distribution of genotypes in hybrid systems has long been discussed, but not settled. The present study aims to asses the importance of selection in structuring all-hybrid Pelophylax esculentus populations. These populations, in which the parental species (P. lessonae with genotype LL and P. ridibundus with genotype RR) are absent, have pond-specific proportions of diploid (LR) and triploid (LLR and LRR) genotypes. Results: With data from 12 Swedish ponds, we first show that in spite of significant changes in genotype proportions over time, the most extreme ponds retained their differences over a six year study period. The uneven distribution of genotypes among ponds could be a consequence of differential selection varying among ponds (selection hypothesis), or, alternatively, of different gamete production patterns among ponds (gamete pattern hypothesis). The selection hypothesis was tested in adults by a six year mark-recapture study in all 12 ponds. As the relative survival and proportion of LLR, LR and LRR did not correlate within ponds, this study provided no evidence for the selection hypothesis in adults. Then, both hypotheses were tested simultaneously in juvenile stages (eggs, tadpoles, metamorphs and one year old froglets) in three of the ponds. A gradual approach to adult genotype proportions through successive stages would support the selection hypotheses, whereas the presence of adult genotype proportions already at the egg stage would support the gamete pattern hypothesis. The result was a weak preference for the gamete pattern hypothesis. Conclusions: These results thus suggest that selection is of little importance for shaping genotype distributions of all-hybrid populations of P. esculentus, but further studies are needed for confirmation. Moreover, the study provided valuable data on genotype-specific body lengths, adult survival and sex ratios

Network dynamics of ongoing social relationships

Many recent large-scale studies of interaction networks have focused on networks of accumulated contacts. In this paper we explore social networks of ongoing relationships with an emphasis on dynamical aspects. We find a distribution of response times (times between consecutive contacts of different direction between two actors) that has a power-law shape over a large range. We also argue that the distribution of relationship duration (the time between the first and last contacts between actors) is exponentially decaying. Methods to reanalyze the data to compensate for the finite sampling time are proposed. We find that the degree distribution for networks of ongoing contacts fits better to a power-law than the degree distribution of the network of accumulated contacts do. We see that the clustering and assortative mixing coefficients are of the same order for networks of ongoing and accumulated contacts, and that the structural fluctuations of the former are rather large.Comment: to appear in Europhys. Let