"It's Not Too Aggressive": Key Features of Social Branding Anti-Tobacco Interventions for High-Risk Young Adults.

Purpose. Peer crowd-targeted campaigns are a novel approach to engage high-risk young adults in tobacco use prevention and cessation. We elicited the perspectives of young adult key informants to understand how and why two social branding interventions were effective: (1) "COMMUNE," designed for "Hipsters" as a movement of artists and musicians against Big Tobacco, and (2) "HAVOC," designed for "Partiers" as an exclusive, smoke-free clubbing experience. Design. Qualitative study (27 semistructured qualitative phone interviews). Setting. Intervention events held in bars in multiple U.S. cities. Participants: Twenty-seven key informants involved in COMMUNE or HAVOC as organizers (e.g., musicians, event coordinators) or event attendees. Measures. We conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews. Participants described intervention events and features that worked or did not work well. Analysis. We used an inductive-deductive approach to thematically code interview transcripts, integrating concepts from intervention design literature and emergent themes. Results: Participants emphasized the importance of fun, interactive, social environments that encouraged a sense of belonging. Anti-tobacco messaging was subtle and nonjudgmental and resonated with their interests, values, and aesthetics. Young adults who represented the intervention were admired and influential among peers, and intervention promotional materials encouraged brand recognition and social status. Conclusion. Anti-tobacco interventions for high-risk young adults should encourage fun experiences; resonate with their interests, values, and aesthetics; and use subtle, nonjudgmental messaging

On the design of optimal input signals in system identification

The problem of designing optimal inputs in the identification of linear systems with unknown random parameters is considered using a Bayesian approach. The information matrix, which is positive definite for the class of systems analyzed, gives a measure of performance for the system inputs. The computation of the optimal closed-loop input mappings is shown to be a nontrivial exercise in adaptive control. Deterministic optimal inputs are shown to be easily computable. Numerical examples are given. A Kalman filter is used to estimate the parameters. A necessary condition for the Kalman filter not to diverge when applying linear feedback is also given

Comment on "Topological stability of the half-vortices in spinor exciton-polariton condensates"

We show that recent paper by Flayac et al. [Phys. Rev. B 81, 045318 (2010) and arXiv:0911.1650] is misleading. We demonstrate the existence of static half-quantum vortices in exciton-polariton condensates and calculate the warping of their polarization texture produced by TE-TM splitting of polariton band.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. More material was added (in particular, on the current flow)

Metabolismos rurales : hacia una teoría económico-ecológica de la apropiación de la naturaleza

Poco menos de la mitad de la población humana (2,600 millones en 2004 de acuerdo a la FAO) está involucrada en el metabolismo rural, definido éste como el conjunto de actos por medio de los cuales la sociedad se apropia bienes y servicios de la naturaleza. No obstante lo anterior, el fenómeno de apropiación corrientemente identificado como "uso", "aprovechamiento", "usufructo", "explotación" o "manejo" de los "recursos naturales", "ecosistemas", "ambientes", "paisajes", permanece aún sin ser analizado en toda su complejidad como un proceso que es esencialmente ecológico y económico. El presente ensayo propone y desarrolla una interpretación del fenómeno de apropiación de la naturaleza con base en el concepto de metabolismo social. Este abordaje permite una doble comprensión del proceso del intercambio material: ecológica y económica, y facilita la indagación de su génesis, su historicidad y su dinámica. A partir de éste abordaje, se propone un marco conceptual para el análisis económico y ecológico del fenómeno de apropiación que permite la construcción de una metodología interdisciplinaria y multi-escalar y de un modelo que integra flujos monetarios, de trabajo, materia, energía, bienes y servicios, y que los ubica dentro de espacios naturales y sociales bien definidos y concretos. La revisión de los principales factores y variables que afectan el equilibrio dinámico del proceso de apropiación, sugieren el desarrollo de una teoría económico-ecológica dirigida a entender las dinámicas, los patrones y los conflictos de las áreas rurales.Almost half of the human population (2,600 millions in 2004 according to the FAO statistics) is involved in the rural metabolism, here defined as the ensemble of actions through which human societies carry out the appropriation of nature's elements, functions and services. Despite the above, the phenomenon of appropriation of nature actually defined as "use", "exploitation", or "management" of "natural resources", "ecosystems", "environments" or "landscapes" remains with no analysis about its complexity as an ecological and economic process. This paper proposes and develops an interpretation of the phenomenon of human appropriation of nature based on the concept of societal metabolism. The adopted approach allows a double comprehension of the phenomenon (ecological and economic), and provide the survey of its genesis, history and dynamics. Derived of the adopted approach a conceptual framework is developed, which induce a interdisciplinary and multi-scale methodology that allows the integration of flows of labor, money, materials, energy, goods and services. The obtained model identifies the flows within well-defined and concrete social and natural spaces. A brief review of the factors affecting the dynamic equilibrium of the process of appropriation of nature, suggest the construction of an ecological-economic theory, which can be useful in the understanding of rural dynamics, patterns and conflicts