E-voting in Brazil - the risks to democracy

Literature has shown that countries with strong democratic traditions, such as the United States and Canada, are not yet using electronic voting systems intensively, due to the concern for and emphasis on security. It has revealed that there is no such thing as an error-free computer system, let alone an electronic voting system, and that existing technology does not offer the conditions necessary for a reliable, accurate and secure electronic voting system. In this context, then, what are the risks of e-voting to democracy? In what ways, if at all, can more fragile, less mature democracies be buttressed with e-voting systems? As a key component of e-democracy, it seems that e-voting technologies are to become more secure and increasingly reliable in the near future and will indeed be adopted in many countries. In what ways, if at all, will the introduction of such systems increase voter confidence in the political system, promote citizen engagement in political life, and nurture the evolution of democracy? If both e-voting and edemocracy are emerging based on popular demand - that is, as a demand-driven alternative to current processes, then there is no doubt that they are likely to enhance and improve the efficiency of traditional democracy. However, if e-voting technology is being introduced based on a supply-driven fashion - the technology exists therefore it should and must be implemented - then the implications for democracy should be considered. Brazil's introduction of e-voting offers a cautionary tale of supply-driven technological implication. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the introduction of e-voting in Brazil is highly risky to democracy due to the lack of emphasis on security and the lack of a sociallyinformed and socially driven approach to technological innovation. The Brazilian example illustrates the democratic implications of a market-driven approach. The lack of a technology strategy designed to promote and extend democratic principles is not surprising given the closed door, market-based negotiations that led to the adoption of e-voting in Brazil. The promise, and indeed, the imperative of a democratic, voter-centered approach as an alternative for the development of an electronic voting system, is explored in the paper

Evaluation of a Waistband for Attaching External Radiotransmitters to Anurans

Radiotelemetry provides fine-scale temporal and spatial information about an individual\u27s movements and habitat use; however, its use for monitoring amphibians has been restricted by transmitter mass and lack of suitable attachment techniques. We describe a novel waistband for attaching external radiotransmitters to anurans and evaluate the percentages of resulting abrasions, lacerations, and shed transmitters. We used radiotelemetry to monitor movements and habitat use of wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) in 2006 and 2011–2013 in Maine, USA; American toads (Anaxyrus americanus) in 2012 in North Carolina, USA; and, wood frogs, southern leopard frogs (L. sphenocephalus), and green frogs (L. clamitans) in 2012 in South Carolina, USA. We monitored 172 anurans for 1–365 days (56.4 ± 59.4) in a single year and 1–691 days (60.5 ± 94.1) across years. Our waistband resulted in an injury percentage comparable to 7 alternative anuran waistband attachment techniques; however, 12.5% fewer anurans shed their waistband when attached with our technique. Waistband retention facilitates longer monitoring periods and, thus, provides a greater quantity of data per radiotagged individual. © 2015 The Wildlife Society

Correlating lesion size and location to deficits after ischemic stroke: the influence of accounting for altered peri-necrotic tissue and incidental silent infarcts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Investigators frequently quantify and evaluate the location and size of stroke lesions to help uncover cerebral anatomical correlates of deficits observed after first-ever stroke. However, it is common to discover silent infarcts such as lacunes in patients identified clinically as 'first-ever' stroke, and it is unclear if including these incidental findings may impact lesion-based investigations of brain-behaviour relationships. There is also debate concerning how to best define the boundaries of necrotic stroke lesions that blend in an ill-defined way into surrounding tissue, as it is unclear whether including this altered peri-necrotic tissue region may influence studies of brain-behaviour relationships. Therefore, for patients with clinically overt stroke, we examined whether including altered peri-necrotic tissue and incidental silent strokes influenced either lesion volume correlations with a measure of sensorimotor impairment or the anatomical localization of this impairment established using subtraction lesion analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Chronic stroke lesions of 41 patients were manually traced from digital T1-MRI to sequentially include the: necrotic lesion core, altered peri-necrotic tissue, silent lesions in the same hemisphere as the index lesion, and silent lesions in the opposite hemisphere. Lesion volumes for each region were examined for correlation with motor impairment scores, and subtraction analysis was used to highlight anatomical lesion loci associated with this deficit.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For subtraction lesion analysis, including peri-necrotic tissue resulted in a larger region of more frequent damage being seen in the basal ganglia. For correlational analysis, only the volume of the lesion core was significantly associated with motor impairment scores (r = -0.35, <it>p </it>= 0.025). In a sub-analysis of patients with small subcortical index lesions, adding silent lesions in the opposite hemisphere to the volume of the index stroke strengthened the volume-impairment association.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Including peri-necrotic tissue strengthened lesion localization analysis, but the influence of peri-necrotic tissue and incidental lesions on lesion volume correlations with motor impairment was negligible barring a small index lesion. Overall, the potential influence of incidental lesions and peri-necrotic tissue on brain-behaviour relationships may depend on the characteristics of the index stroke and on whether one is examining the relationship between lesion volume and impairment or lesion location and impairment.</p

Predatory ability and abundance forecast the ecological impacts of two aquatic invasive species

Characterising interspecific interaction strengths, combined with population abundances of prey and their novel predators, is critical to develop predictive invasion ecology. This is especially true of aquatic invasive species, which can pose a significant threat to the structure and stability of the ecosystems to which they are introduced. Here, we investigated consumer-resource dynamics of two globally-established aquatic invasive species, European green crab (Carcinus maenas) and brown trout (Salmo trutta). We explored the mediating effect of prey density on predatory impact in these invaders relative to functionally analogous native rock crab (Cancer irroratus) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), respectively, feeding on shared prey (Mytilus sp. and Tenebrio molitor, respectively). We subsequently combined feeding rates with each predator's regional abundance to forecast relative ecological impacts. All predators demonstrated potentially destabilising Type II functional responses towards prey, with native rock crab and invasive brown trout exhibiting greater per capita impacts relative to their trophic analogues. Functional Response Ratios (attack rates divided by handling times) were higher for both invasive species, reflecting greater overall per capita effects compared to natives. Impact projections that incorporated predator abundances with per capita effects predicted severe impacts by European green crabs. However, brown trout, despite possessing higher per capita effects than Atlantic salmon, are projected to have low impact owing to currently low abundances in the sampled watershed. Should brown trout density increase sixfold, we predict it would exert higher impact than Atlantic salmon. Such impact-forecasting metrics and methods are thus vital tools to assist in the determination of current and future adverse impacts associated with aquatic invasive species

Madheras II: tecnología de la madera de seis especies nativas de rápido crecimiento con potencial para la reforestación comercial en Costa Rica (Documento I)

Informe final de Proyecto de Investigación. Código del proyecto: 5401-1401-1027En Costa Rica se han plantado con éxito varias especies forestales para la producción de madera. No obstante, aunque la industria maderera de Costa Rica se abastece principalmente de productos de plantaciones forestales, sin embargo aún no se conocen en su totalidad aspecto de su calidad y sus propiedades. De forma que este proyecto generó información técnica concerniente a las propiedades físicas, mecánicas, químicas y energéticas, así como el comportamiento en el aprovechamiento, aserrío, secado, preservado y trabajabilidad, de seis especies utilizadas en plantaciones forestales en el país: Cordia alliodora, Dipteryx panamensis, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Hieronyma alchorneoides, Samanea saman y Vochysia ferruginea. Esta información es presentada en forma de fichas técnicas, que contienen datos e información confiable que facilite la toma de decisiones de los consumidores de acuerdo a sus expectativas y necesidades.Several forest species have successfully planted in Costa Rica for timber production. Although sawmill is mainly supplied with products of forest plantations in Costa Rica, curiously domestic end-users perceive that wood from plantation are low quality woods and poor properties. So this project have the objective to determine physical, mechanical, chemical and energetic properties and behavior harvesting, sawmilling, dried, preserved and workability for six species used in forest plantations in Costa Rica: Cordia alliodora, Dipteryx panamensis, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Hieronyma alchorneoides, Samanea saman and Vochysia ferruginea. This information is presented as technical fact sheets, containing data and reliable information to facilitate decision-making by consumers according to their expectations and needs

The MUSCLES Extension for Atmospheric and Transmission Spectroscopy: UV and X-ray Host-star Observations for JWST ERS & GTO Targets

X-ray through infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are essential for understanding a star's effect on exoplanet atmospheric composition and evolution. We present a catalog of panchromatic SEDs, hosted on the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), for 11 exoplanet hosting stars which have guaranteed JWST observation time as part of the ERS or GTO programs but have no previous UV characterization. The stars in this survey range from spectral type F4-M6 (0.14-1.57 M$_\odot$), rotation periods of ~4-132 days, and ages of approximately 0.5-11.4 Gyr. The SEDs are composite spectra using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton, the Hubble Space Telescope, BT-Settl stellar atmosphere models, and scaled spectra of proxy stars of similar spectral type and activity. From our observations, we have measured a set of UV and X-ray fluxes as indicators of stellar activity level. We compare the chromospheric and coronal activity indicators of our exoplanet-hosting stars to the broader population of field stars and find that a majority of our targets have activity levels lower than the average population of cool stars in the solar neighborhood. This suggests that using SEDs of stars selected from exoplanet surveys to compute generic exoplanet atmosphere models may underestimate the typical host star's UV flux by an order of magnitude or more, and consequently, that the observed population of exoplanetary atmospheres receive lower high-energy flux levels than the typical planet in the solar neighborhood.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in A

Coronal X-Ray Emission from Nearby, Low-Mass, Exoplanet Host Stars Observed by the MUSCLES and Mega-MUSCLES HST Treasury Survey Projects

The high energy X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation fields of exoplanet host stars play a crucial role in controlling the atmospheric conditions and the potential habitability of exoplanets. Major surveys of the X-ray/UV emissions from late-type (K and M spectral type) exoplanet hosts have been conducted by the MUSCLES and Mega-MUSCLES Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury programs. These samples primarily consist of relatively old, ``inactive'', low mass stars. In this paper we present results from X-ray observations of the coronal emission from these stars obtained using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the XMM-Newton Observatory, and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The stars effectively sample the coronal activity of low-mass stars at a wide range of masses and ages. The vast majority (21 of 23) of the stars are detected and their X-ray luminosities measured. Short-term flaring variability is detected for most of the fully-convective (M $\leq$ 0.35 M$_{\odot}$) stars but not for the more massive M dwarfs during these observations. Despite this difference, the mean X-ray luminosities for these two sets of M dwarfs are similar with more massive (0.35 M$_{\odot}$ $\leq$ M $\leq$ 0.6 M$_{\odot}$) M dwarfs at $\sim$5 $\times$ 10$^{26}$ erg s$^{-1}$ compared to $\sim$2 $\times$ 10$^{26}$ erg s$^{-1}$ for fully-convective stars older than 1 Gyr. Younger, fully-convective M dwarfs have X-ray luminosities between 3 and 6 $\times$ 10$^{27}$ erg s$^{-1}$.The coronal X-ray spectra have been characterized and provide important information that is vital for the modeling of the stellar EUV spectra.Comment: 39 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa