Towards transparent telepresence

It is proposed that the concept of transparent telepresence can be closely approached through high fidelity technological mediation. It is argued that the matching of the system capabilities to those of the human user will yield a strong sense of immersion and presence at a remote site. Some applications of such a system are noted. The concept is explained and critical system elements are described together with an overview of some of the necessary system specifications

Thinking Tracks for Integrated Systems Design

The paper investigates systems thinking and systems engineering. After a short literature review, the paper presents, as a means for systems thinking, twelve thinking tracks. The tracks can be used as creativity starter, checklist, and as means to investigate effects of design decisions taken early in the process. Tracks include thinking about time, risk and safety, and different types of life-cycles. The thinking tracks are based on literature, teaching experience and practice as a system designer. By using the tracks a more complete picture of the system under design, the issue to be solved, the context, stakeholders and the rest of the world is created

The evolution of morality and the end of economic man

1871 saw the publication of two major treatises in economics, with self-seeking economic man at their center. In the same year Darwin published The Descent of Man, which emphasized sympathy and cooperation as well as self-interest, and contained a powerful argument that morality has evolved in humans by natural selection. Essentially this stance is supported by modern research. This paper considers the nature of morality and how it has evolved. It reconciles Darwin's notion that a developed morality requires language and deliberation (and is thus unique to humans), with his other view that moral feelings have a long-evolved and biologically-inherited basis. The social role of morality and its difference with altruism is illustrated by an agent-based simulation. The fact that humans combine both moral and selfish dispositions has major implications for the social sciences and obliges us to abandon the pre-eminent notion of selfish economic man. Economic policy must take account of our moral nature.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Dynamical Mean-Field Theory of Electron-Phonon Interactions in Correlated Systems: Application to Isotope Effects on Electronic Properties

We use a recently developed formalism (combining an adiabatic expansion and dynamical mean-field theory) to obtain expressions for isotope effects on electronic properties in correlated systems. As an example we calculate the isotope effect on electron effective mass for the Holstein model as a function of electron-phonon interaction strength and doping. Our systematic expansion generates diagrams neglected in previous studies, which turn out to give the dominant contributions. The isotope effect is small unless the system is near a lattice instability. We compare this to experiment.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; added discussion of isotope effect away from half fillin

Quantum tomography of mesoscopic superpositions of radiation states

We show the feasibility of a tomographic reconstruction of Schr\"{o}dinger cat states generated according to the scheme proposed by S. Song, C.M. Caves and B. Yurke [Phys. Rev. A 41, 5261 (1990)]. We present a technique that tolerates realistic values for quantum efficiency at photodetectors. The measurement can be achieved by a standard experimental setup.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.; 4 pages including 6 ps figure

Exploring Probation Supervision Compliance in the Netherlands

Security and Global Affair

Training of Data Services Professionals: Past, Present, And Future

published or submitted for publicatio

Reintegration of Pakistani Return Migrants from the Middle East in the Domestic Labour Market

This study aims, first, to assess unemployment levels among both return migrants and non-migrants and, second, to examine the reintegration pattern of returnees in the domestic labour market. The study has used three data sets: the 1980 PIDE/World Bank Survey of Return Migrant Households, the 1986 ILO/ARTEP Survey of Return Migrant Households, and the 1991 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey. The results show that unemployment rates are much higher among return migrants than among non-migrants. Although this difference has narrowed with the passage of time, even among those who returned to Pakistan at least 18 months prior to the surveys, more than 10 percent of workers are unemployed. The multivariate analysis further shows that returnees, irrespective of the period elapsed since their return, are more likely to be unemployed than non-migrants. With respect to the reintegration pattern of return migrants, the study reveals that the variables indicating their human capital such as occupation and premigration and during-migration work experience appear to have greater influence on their re-absorption than the variables related to economic positions such as savings. The possibility is that unemployed returnees can not save enough from their overseas earnings to become self-employed. Provision of credit for self-employment seems to be the right way to accommodate these workers. The study also shows that the majority of workers who are able to find employment on return are satisfied with their post-return jobs and income levels, suggesting their successful reintegration in the domestic labour market.

The emergence of property rights enforcement in early trade : A behavioral model without reputational effects

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThe present article focuses on the conditions that allow governments to increase property rights protection because they expect enough income from such action. We develop a behavioral explanation, according to which the answer lies in the growth in the importance, size and wealth of merchant guilds in the medieval era in Western Europe as well as a somewhat surprising effect of volatile price structures. We add to prior research by showing that even uncoordinated embargo pressures among multiple guilds could get medieval rulers to offer high levels of property rights protection. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe