An Emergentist Account of Collective Cognition in Collaborative Problem Solving

As a first step toward an emergentist theory of collective cognition in collaborative problem solving, we present a proto-theoretical account of how one might conceive and model the intersubjective processes that organize collective cognition into one or another--convergent, divergent, or tensive--cognitive regime. To explore the sufficiency of our emergentist proposal we instantiate a minimalist model of intersubjective convergence and simulate the tuning of collective cognition using data from an empirical study of small-group, collaborative problem solving. Using the results of this empirical simulation, we test a number of preliminary hypotheses with regard to patterns of interaction, how those patterns affect a cognitive regime, and how that cognitive regime affects the efficacy of a problem-solving group

Public health and the sustainability of cities: Sydney airport's noise pollution and community wellbeing

The development of international airports is a driving force behind globalisation. But growth in air traffic is also a threat to sustainable community health in the vicinity of airports. Airports are an increasingly important dimension to the economic sustainability of cities but the health and wellbeing of its citizens must also be considered in the process of development assessment and impact mitigation

Pneumoconiosis of Coal-Miners in Scotland

Abstract Not Provided

The development of professional management in the public sector of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1925 : the case of the ordnance factories

This thesis is an exploration into the development and professionalism of management in the Ordnance Factories from 1855 to 1925. Writing in 1969, Ashworth commented that: "Naval historians have usually been concerned much more with warfare, politics, the careers of great leaders than with the business side of the service. The technical characteristics of warships and their annament have received much attention, but the economic question (apart from the simple demand for money), which have been inseparably linked with technical advance, has attracted less study. Yet there are several ways in which the provision and running of a large and growing navy must have a peculiar significance and interest for the economic historian." (Ashworth, 1969: 491) This is also similar to the development of the Anny from 1855. Recent historians have focused on the Ministry of Munitions as the catalyst for management change within government departments. In particular Loft (1986, 1988, 1994) and Marriner (1980) have explored the change in government accounting procedures within the Ministry of Munitions due to the proliferation of professional accountants into the wartime government as temporary civil servants. There is a notion in history that the pre-I915 War Office was regarded as an inefficient organisation whereas the temporary and monolithic Ministry of Munitions is heralded as the organisation of change, having the services of "the men of push and go" (Lloyd- George, 1938; Adams, 1978). The refonns of the Ordnance Factories from 1862 were mainly accounting driven and the catalyst for these changes were probably due to the logistical failures of the British Anny in the Crimean War. The refonns themselves were undertaken by civil servants although there was a nucleus of military talent, the concept of the soldier technologist was never as influential as the American experience. However, the Ordnance Factories did evolve into a factory system in the post-Crimean era, whereas the contemporary engineering industry was still dominated by the myth of the craft skill, subcontracting and a workshop ethos. By 1915 the Ordnance Factories reflected a high degree of professionalism within its management ethos which probably was better than that experienced by the contemporary private sector

Photochemistry

Photochemistry refers to the processes by which energy is transferred from electromagnetic radiation (in practice mainly ultraviolet and visible light) into chemical activity in gases, solid particles, and living matter. Photochemical processes partly control the initial conditions for the formation of stars and planets, they may leave traces of the early chemical evolution of planetary systems in the abundances of isotopes, they regulate the input of stellar energy into atmospheres of planets, and they play important roles in the chemistry of living organisms on Earth

Detection of Interstellar C_2 and C_3 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We report the detection of absorption from interstellar C_2 and C_3 toward the moderately reddened star Sk 143, located in the near 'wing' region of the SMC, in optical spectra obtained with the ESO VLT/UVES. These detections of C_2 (rotational levels J=0-8) and C_3 (J=0-12) absorption in the SMC are the first beyond our Galaxy. The total abundances of C_2 and C_3 (relative to H_2) are similar to those found in diffuse Galactic molecular clouds -- as previously found for CH and CN -- despite the significantly lower average metallicity of the SMC. Analysis of the rotational excitation of C_2 yields an estimated kinetic temperature T_k ~ 25 K and a moderately high total hydrogen density n_H ~ 870 cm^-3 -- compared to the T_01 ~ 45 K and n_H ~ 85-300 cm^-3 obtained from H_2. The populations of the lower rotational levels of C_3 are consistent with an excitation temperature of about 34 K.Comment: accepted to MNRAS; 10 pages, 6 figure

Conference Summary

By any measure, IAU Symposium 280 has been an outstanding success: more than 400 participants represented at least 30 countries with 74 presentations and more than 300 posters. Beyond these numbers, it is evident that the cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry is flourishing with excellent prospects for growth in the future. We have enjoyed the excitement of new, unexpected results from the Herschel Space Observatory and eagerly await new opportunities and facilities that will arise in the coming months and years