Rebeliões de extinção

The article analyses how different environmentalist groups confront issues regarding climate justice and racial inequalities in the wake of climate emergency and the emergence of the Anthropocene, by presenting artworks that mobilize related matters.O presente artigo analisa como diferentes grupos ambientalistas encaram questões de justiça climática e desigualdades raciais em face da emergência climática e da emergência do Antropoceno, apresentando produções artísticas que mobilizam questões afins

Linear-Accelerator Program

Contains reports on one research project

Fast ML estimation of dynamic bifactor models : an application to European inflation

Generalizamos el algoritmo EM espectral para modelos factoriales dinámicos de Fiorentini, Galesi y Sentana (2014) a modelos bifactoriales con factores tanto globales como regionales. Aprovechamos la raleza de las matrices de coefi cientes de manera que se puedan estimar dichos modelos por máxima verosimilitud con numerosas series de múltiples regiones. También obtenemos expresiones sencillas para los gradientes espectrales y la matriz de información, lo que nos permite utilizar el algoritmo del gradiente cerca del óptimo. Exploramos la capacidad de un modelo con un factor global y tres regionales para capturar la dinámica de la infl ación en 25 países europeos durante 1999-2014We generalise the spectral EM algorithm for dynamic factor models in Fiorentini, Galesi and Sentana (2014) to bifactor models with pervasive global factors complemented by regional ones. We exploit the sparsity of the loading matrices so that researchers can estimate those models by maximum likelihood with numerous series from multiple regions. We also derive convenient expressions for the spectral scores and information matrix, which allows us to switch to the scoring algorithm near the optimum. We explore the ability of a model with one global factor and three regional factors to capture infl ation dynamics across 25 European countries in the period 1999-201

Modern Electronic Techniques Applied to Physics and Engineering

Contains reports on two research projects

Exposing the Contradictory Claims, Myths and Illusions of the “Secrets of Business Success and Company Longevity†Genre

Over the last three decades, several management consultants, academics and business practitioners have laid claim to identifying “the secrets†of business success and company longevity. However, a systematic analysis of 24 studies in this genre revealed fundamental disagreements over the elements these authors claim are the primary drivers of business performance and longevity, and demonstrates that they share eight methodological and analytical flaws. Furthermore, many of the claims they made about “the secrets†of business success have not stood the test of time. The paper explains why business practitioners will find little in these studies to help their companies become more successful now and in the future, and also speculates why several of these studies became international best-sellers during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. It concludes by suggesting some new avenues for future research in this domain, and highlights the practical implications of these findings for business practitioners

Modern Electronic Techniques Applied to Physics and Engineering

Contains reports on three research projects

The Rise of the Resilient Local Authority?

The term resilience is increasingly being utilised within the study of public policy to depict how individuals, communities and organisations can adapt, cope, and ‘bounce back’ when faced with external shocks such as climate change, economic recession and cuts in public expenditure. In focussing on the local dimensions of the resilience debate, this article argues that the term can provide useful insights into how the challenges facing local authorities in the UK can be reformulated and reinterpreted. The article also distinguishes between resilience as ‘recovery’ and resilience as ‘transformation’, with the latter's focus on ‘bouncing forward’ from external shocks seen as offering a more radical framework within which the opportunities for local innovation and creativity can be assessed and explained. While also acknowledging some of the weaknesses of the resilience debate, the dangers of conceptual ‘stretching’, and the extent of local vulnerabilities, the article highlights a range of examples where local authorities – and crucially, local communities – have enhanced their adaptive capacity, within existing powers and responsibilities. From this viewpoint, some of the barriers to the development of resilient local government are not insurmountable, and can be overcome by ‘digging deep’ to draw upon existing resources and capabilities, promoting a strategic approach to risk, exhibiting greater ambition and imagination, and creating space for local communities to develop their own resilience

Neuro-feedback intervention efficacy for treating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study explored practitioners perceptions of a neuro-feedback intervention in treating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder’s (ASD). Informants were a convenience sample of ten South African neuro-feedback practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). The data on their views on neuro-feedback treatment efficacy, with children with ASD, were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis of the data suggest practitioners to perceive neuro-feedback treatment to enhance the social, mood, behaviour, academic life, and family functioning of children with ASD. Additionally, the practitioners perceived neuro-feedback treatment to assist in reducing anxiety among children with ASD