Estimating Extent of Mortality Associated with the Douglas-Fir Beetle in the Central and Northern Rockies

Data collected from Douglas-fir stands infected by the Douglas-fir beetle in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah, were used to develop models to estimate amount of mortality in terms of basal area killed. Models were built using stepwise linear regression and regression tree approaches. Linear regression models using initial Douglas-fir basal area were built for all study sites but produce low precision estimates. Regression tree models using initial Douglas-fir basal area of stand density index or both were also build for all sites. Regression tree models provide a more realistic approach to estimate potential mortality by creating more homogenous mortality classes with reduced variance. The models developed provide land managers with a basis for determining the potential mortality should a Douglas-fir beetle outbreak develop

Modeling and generating moving trees from video

We present a probabilistic approach for the automatic production of tree models with convincing 3D appearance and motion. The only input is a video of a moving tree that provides us an initial dynamic tree model, which is used to generate new individual trees of the same type. Our approach combines global and local constraints to construct a dynamic 3D tree model from a 2D skeleton. Our modeling takes into account factors such as the shape of branches, the overall shape of the tree, and physically plausible motion. Furthermore, we provide a generative model that creates multiple trees in 3D, given a single example model. This means that users no longer have to make each tree individually, or specify rules to make new trees. Results with different species are presented and compared to both reference input data and state of the art alternatives

Complex Challenges and New Opportunities: Building the Framework for Boundary Review. An Assessment of PPS’s Organizational Readiness and Options for Citizen Engagement

On February 25, 2013, the PPS Board unanimously approved Resolution 4718, which directs staff “to develop and recommend a process for a comprehensive review of school boundaries district-wide and policies related to student assignment and transfer to better align with the Racial Educational Equity Policy and promote strong capture rates and academic programs at every grade level.” To deal with the student assignment and transfer policy issues, Superintendent Carole Smith charged the “Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer” (SACET) with recommending changes to student assignment and transfer policies to bring them into alignment with the district’s racial educational equity policy. As for the Districtwide Boundary Review component, in December 2013, Portland Public Schools entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Center for Public Service (CPS) at Portland State University (PSU) to assist the District with eventually achieving two important tasks: Devise and implement a process to engage a wide range of current and future PPS parents, students and staff, community organizations; and other key stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive District-wide Boundary Review and recommend new PPS school boundaries for adoption by the Portland School Board; Create a flexible and dynamic “Boundary Review Framework” on which the current and future boundary-setting processes will be based. CPS proposed a three-phase approach for the “PPS District-Wide Boundary Framework” project, which would include recommendations at the end of each Phase as to recommended next steps. As initially outlined from the vantage point of October 2013, the proposed approach would be as follows: Phase I (3 months): Initial Assessment and Framework Recommendations Phase II (7-8 months): Stakeholder and Community Engagement Phase III (4 months): Final Recommendations, Community Deliberations, and Decision Making This report concludes Phase I and includes the Findings and Recommendations from our Initial Assessment

Inclusive Masculinities in a Working-Class Sixth Form in Northeast England

This research examines the construction of masculinity among a group of working-class boys aged sixteen to nineteen in the northeast of England. Drawing on data collected from a six-week ethnography with boys in a religious (Christian) sixth form college, this study documents how only a small minority of these boys embodied the orthodox archetype of masculinity that has traditionally been associated with working-class youth. Instead, the great majority of participants adopted attitudes and behaviors that can be categorized as a set of inclusive masculinities: They espoused positive attitudes toward homosexuality, engaged in physical tactility and emotional intimacy, and used homosexually themed language without the intent to wound or marginalize other boys. These findings pose a considerable challenge to dominant narratives on working-class masculinities; narratives that must now be reconfigured to account for the proliferation of inclusive masculinities among working-class youth

The Challenge of Transparency and Validation in Health Economic Decision Modelling:A View from Mount Hood

Transparency in health economic decision modelling is important for engendering confidence in the models and in the reliability of model-based cost-effectiveness analyses. The Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge Network has taken a lead in promoting transparency through validation with biennial conferences in which diabetes modelling groups meet to compare simulated outcomes of pre-specified scenarios often based on the results of pivotal clinical trials. Model registration is a potential method for promoting transparency, while also reducing the duplication of effort. An important network initiative is the ongoing construction of a diabetes model registry (https://www.mthooddiabeteschallenge.com). Following the 2012 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Society of Medical Decision Making (ISPOR-SMDM) guidelines, we recommend that modelling groups provide technical and non-technical documentation sufficient to enable model reproduction, but not necessarily provide the model code. We also request that modelling groups upload documentation on the methods and outcomes of validation efforts, and run reference case simulations so that model outcomes can be compared. In this paper, we discuss conflicting definitions of transparency in health economic modelling, and describe the ongoing development of a registry of economic models for diabetes through the Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge Network, its objectives and potential further developments, and highlight the challenges in its construction and maintenance. The support of key stakeholders such as decision-making bodies and journals is key to ensuring the success of this and other registries. In the absence of public funding, the development of a network of modellers is of huge value in enhancing transparency, whether through registries or other means

‘I enjoyed it because … you could do whatever you wanted and be creative’: three principles for participatory research and pedagogy

The complexity of many children’s lives can result in their ideas being neither understood nor included in mainstream opportunities for learning, particularly children who are living with disadvantage. With a focus on developing ethical and inclusive principles for participatory research and pedagogy, this paper reports on a pilot project where we worked with young, hard-to-reach individuals across four sites in England to enable them to design and carry out research about their experiences and views of disadvantage. Here, we present snapshots of the young participants’ choices of research topics and methods, which reflected their own lives and interests, and led to powerful visualizations of the complexity of child and youth disadvantage. Reflecting back on the project, we discuss effective ways to initiate and sustain participatory research that can enable young researchers to be involved as active and empowered agents at every stage of the research process. We also consider the implications for developing participatory pedagogy, with researchers working alongside educators to create school cultures that foster belonging and genuinely support all students’ expertise and ways of knowing by looking beyond the school buildings and into their lives in the wider community

How do you say ‘hello’? Personality impressions from brief novel voices

On hearing a novel voice, listeners readily form personality impressions of that speaker. Accurate or not, these impressions are known to affect subsequent interactions; yet the underlying psychological and acoustical bases remain poorly understood. Furthermore, hitherto studies have focussed on extended speech as opposed to analysing the instantaneous impressions we obtain from first experience. In this paper, through a mass online rating experiment, 320 participants rated 64 sub-second vocal utterances of the word ‘hello’ on one of 10 personality traits. We show that: (1) personality judgements of brief utterances from unfamiliar speakers are consistent across listeners; (2) a two-dimensional ‘social voice space’ with axes mapping Valence (Trust, Likeability) and Dominance, each driven by differing combinations of vocal acoustics, adequately summarises ratings in both male and female voices; and (3) a positive combination of Valence and Dominance results in increased perceived male vocal Attractiveness, whereas perceived female vocal Attractiveness is largely controlled by increasing Valence. Results are discussed in relation to the rapid evaluation of personality and, in turn, the intent of others, as being driven by survival mechanisms via approach or avoidance behaviours. These findings provide empirical bases for predicting personality impressions from acoustical analyses of short utterances and for generating desired personality impressions in artificial voices

Infância, exclusão social e educação como utopia realizável

A infância, como construção social, tem sofrido, no decurso da 2ª modernidade, processos de reinstitucionalização que, em larga medida, põem em causa as representações e imagens das crianças, dominantes nos últimos 200 anos. A análise da (re)construção das identidades sociais e das subjectividades infantis constitui, desse modo, uma tarefa teórica da mais exigente actualidade. O que, entretanto, aqui se assinala é que este processo de reinstitucionalização da infância, apesar da construção de consensos globais sobre os direitos das crianças, tem vindo a aumentar os factores e as condições de exclusão das gerações mais jovens face aos direitos sociais e da cidadania. Neste artigo inventariam-se alguns dos principais indicadores de exclusão, considerando diversos espaços estruturais, e assinalam-se alguns dos pontos de ruptura por onde pode passar a construção de uma educação escolar centrada na afirmação activa dos direitos das crianças.Along the second modernity, childhood, as a social construction, has undergone reinstatement processes that question the representations and images of children that have prevailed over last two hundred years. An analysis of the (re) construction of the social identities and childhood subjectivity thus constitute a theoretical task of the most contemporary exigence. Nevertheless, even though a global consensus about children’s rights has been constructed, the increase of factors and conditions that exclude the youngest generations from social rights and citizenship, induced by this reinstatement process of childhood, is here emphasized. This paper lists some of the main indicators of exclusion, considering different structural spaces, and pinpoints some turning points through which the construction of a school education centered on the active affirmation of the children’s rights could be attained.CIFPEC/CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, UM (UI 644 e 317 da FCT