Review of Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II by Ellin Bessner

Review of Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II by Ellin Bessne

On the frontiers of polynomial computations in tropical geometry

We study some basic algorithmic problems concerning the intersection of tropical hypersurfaces in general dimension: deciding whether this intersection is nonempty, whether it is a tropical variety, and whether it is connected, as well as counting the number of connected components. We characterize the borderline between tractable and hard computations by proving $\mathcal{NP}$-hardness and #$\mathcal{P}$-hardness results under various strong restrictions of the input data, as well as providing polynomial time algorithms for various other restrictions.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Journal of Symbolic Computatio

Legal advice bureaux and the legal profession : maintaining collegiate control : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University

Legal Advice Bureaux appear to minimise the traditional professional-client relationship in which the professional establishes his or her ascendancy over the client. The present study investigates whether Legal Advice Bureaux are, therefore, weakening the New Zealand legal profession's control over its occupational domain. It is based on T.J. Johnson's "radical" theory of the professions and rejects both "conventional" and "reactionary" explanations of professions and professionalism. Following this perspective, it is proposed that Legal Advice Bureaux and those who work in them are nevertheless engaged in establishing the legal profession's occupational dominance. An inquiry into the structure, processes and ideology of Legal Advice Bureaux and the personal and professional characteristics of those who work in them form the empirical core of the present study. The findings presented are based on the responses of 29 Legal Advice Bureaux supervisors and 273 lawyers from a stratified multi-stage varying probability sample of four urban areas in New Zealand. Response rates were 71.9% (N = 32) and 84.5% (N = 323) respectively. Data are presented in 50 in-text tables. Whilst finding some support for its propositions, the study concludes by raising some problems in Johnson's theory of the professions which remain to be solved

TOWARD FULL UNEMPLOYMENT

Labor and Human Capital,

Meeting the challenge of zero carbon homes : a multi-disciplinary review of the literature and assessment of key barriers and enablers

Within the built environment sector, there is an increasing pressure on professionals to consider the impact of development upon the environment. These pressures are rooted in sustainability, and particularly climate change. But what is meant by sustainability? It is a term whose meaning is often discussed, the most common definition taken from the Bruntland report as “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In the built environment, the sustainability issues within the environment, social and economic spheres are often expressed through design considerations of energy, water and waste. Given the Stern Report’s economic and political case for action with respect to climate change (Stern, 2006) and the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report’s confirmation of the urgency of the climate change issue and it’s root causes (IPCC, 2007), the need for action to mitigate the effects of climate change is currently high on the political agenda. Excess in carbon dioxide concentrations over the natural level have been attributed to anthropogenic sources, most particularly the burning of carbon-based fossil fuels. Over 40% of Europe’s energy and 40% of Europe’s carbon dioxide emissions arise from use of energy in buildings. Energy use in buildings is primarily for space heating, water heating, lighting and appliance use. Professionals in the built environment can therefore play a significant role in meeting targets for mitigating the effects of climate change. The UK Government recently published the Code for Sustainable Homes (DCLG, 2006). Within this is the objective of development of zero carbon domestic new build dwellings by 2016. It is the domestic zero carbon homes agenda which is the focus of this report. The report is the culmination of a research project, funded by Northumbria University, and conducted from February 2008 to July 2008, involving researchers from the Sustainable Cities Research Institute (within the School of the Built Environment) and academics, also from within the School. The aim of the project was to examine, in a systematic and holistic way, the critical issues, drivers and barriers to building and adapting houses to meet zero carbon targets. The project involved a wide range of subject specialisms within the built environment and took a multi-disciplinary approach. Practitioner contribution was enabled through a workshop. The focus of this work was to review the academic literature on the built environment sector and its capabilities to meet zero carbon housing targets. It was not possible to undertake a detailed review of energy efficiency or micro-generation technologies, the focus of the research was instead in four focussed areas: policy, behaviour, supply chain and technology.What follows is the key findings of the review work undertaken. Chapter One presents the findings of the policy and regulation review. In Chapter Two the review of behavioural aspects of energy use in buildings is presented. Chapter Three presents the findings of the review of supply chain issues. Chapter Four presents the findings of the technology review, which focuses on phase change materials. A summary of the key barriers and enablers, and areas for future research work, concludes this report in Chapter Five. Research is always a work in progress, and therefore comments on this document are most welcome, as are offers of collaboration towards solutions. The School of the Built Environment at Northumbria University strives to embed its research in practical applications and solutions to the need for a low carbon economy

Social exclusion and care for the elderly: Theoretical concepts and changing realities in European welfare states

How approaches in elderly care should be structured to counteract processes of social marginalisation in old age is in the focus of this discussion paper. On a theoretical basis the paper draws on concepts of social exclusion developed in international comparative welfare state research. For the analysis of processes of social exclusion in old age, the ageing process is defined on a wide basis ranging from genetic, social, cultural to environmental components. The term inclusive care describes characteristics of approaches in elderly care, which enable processes of social exclusion to be counteracted. Approaches in elderly care have been re-structured in most member countries of the European Union since the beginning of the 1990s. With the background of the defined characteristics of inclusive care modes of financing, access criteria and procedures, diversification and integration of service facilities and offers as well as the combination with informal care are investigated. The characteristics decisive for inclusive care are defined such as universal accessibility related to social rights, a diversified and integrated care system, a social model of care delivery and the acknowledgement, support and cooperation with informal carers. The findings prove the difficulties and obstacles encountered by certain EU-member countries to fulfil the criteria. Furthermore, according to their risk of experiencing processes of social exclusion, inequalities among different groups of elderly people have become apparent. -- Im Zentrum des Discussion Papers steht die Frage nach adäquaten Ansätzen in der Alten-betreuung zur Verhinderung von sozialer Marginalisierung älterer Menschen. Konzeptionell wird auf Ansätze der international vergleichenden Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung zur Debatte um soziale Ausgrenzung (social exclusion) zurückgegriffen, die auf die beiden Bereiche Altern und Betreuung älterer Menschen zugespitzt werden. Die Analyse sozialer Aus-grenzung erfordert eine Definition des Alterns-Prozesses, der neben genetischen insbesondere soziale, kulturelle und umweltbezogene Komponenten einschließt. Der Begriff Inclusive Care benennt Charakteristika der Altenbetreuung, die es ermöglichen, Prozessen sozialer Ausgrenzung im Alter entgegenzuwirken. Seit den 1990er Jahren wurden in den meisten Mitgliedsländern der Europäischen Union die Ansätze in der Altenbetreuung restrukturiert. Vor dem Hintergrund der Definition der Charakteristika von Inclusive Care werden Finanzierung, Zugangskriterien, Diversifikation und Integration von Dienstleistungen sowie die Verbindung zur informellen Pflege untersucht. Dabei erweisen sich ein universeller Zugang zu Dienstleistungen verbunden mit sozialen Rechten, ein ausdifferenziertes aber integriertes Versorgungssystem, ein soziales Modell der Versorgung und die Anerkennung, Unterstützung sowie die Kooperation mit informell Pflegenden als entscheidend. Die Ergebnisse zeigen aber auch die Schwierigkeiten in unterschiedlichen europäischen Ländern auf, die Anforderungen zu erfüllen. Deutlich werden zudem Ungleichheiten zwischen verschiedenen Gruppen älterer Menschen, die in unterschiedlicher Art und Weise und Ausmaß von dem Risiko sozialer Ausgrenzung bedroht sind.