Cost-benefit analysis model of badger (Meles meles) culling to reduce cattle herd tuberculosis breakdowns in Britain, with particular reference to badger perturbation

Bovine tuberculosis (TB)is an important economic disease. Badgers (Meles meles) are the wildlife source implicated in many cattle outbreaks of TB in Britain, and extensive badger control is a controversial option to reduce the disease. A badger and cattle population model was developed, simulating TB epidemiology; badger ecology, including postcull social perturbation; and TB-related farm management. An economic cost-benefit module was integrated into the model to assess whether badger control offers economic benefits. Model results strongly indicate that although, if perturbation were restricted, extensive badger culling could reduce rates in cattle, overall an economic loss would be more likely than a benefit. Perturbation of the badger population was a key factor determining success or failure of control. The model highlighted some important knowledge gaps regarding both the spatial and temporal characteristics of perturbation that warrant further research.

Should we be utopophobes about democracy in particular?

In his book Democratic Authority, David Estlund puts forward a case for democracy, which he labels epistemic proceduralism, that relies on democracy's ability to produce good – that is, substantively just – results. Alongside this case for democracy Estlund attacks what he labels ‘utopophobia’, an aversion to idealistic political theory. In this article I make two points. The first is a general point about what the correct level of ‘idealisation’ is in political theory. Various debates are emerging on this question and, to the extent that they are focused on ‘political theory’ as a whole, I argue, they are flawed. This is because there are different kinds of political concept, and they require different kinds of ideal. My second point is about democracy in particular. If we understand democracy as Estlund does, then we should see it as a problem-solving concept – the problem being that we need coercive institutions and rules, but we do not know what justice requires. As democracy is a response to a problem, we should not allow our theories of it, even at the ideal level, to be too idealised – they must be embedded in the nature of the problem they are to solve, and the beings that have it.

Joint multiple dictionary learning for tensor sparse coding

Traditional dictionary learning algorithms are used for finding a sparse representation on high dimensional data by transforming samples into a one-dimensional (1D) vector. This 1D model loses the inherent spatial structure property of data. An alternative solution is to employ Tensor Decomposition for dictionary learning on their original structural form —a tensor— by learning multiple dictionaries along each mode and the corresponding sparse representation in respect to the Kronecker product of these dictionaries. To learn tensor dictionaries along each mode, all the existing methods update each dictionary iteratively in an alternating manner. Because atoms from each mode dictionary jointly make contributions to the sparsity of tensor, existing works ignore atoms correlations between different mode dictionaries by treating each mode dictionary independently. In this paper, we propose a joint multiple dictionary learning method for tensor sparse coding, which explores atom correlations for sparse representation and updates multiple atoms from each mode dictionary simultaneously. In this algorithm, the Frequent-Pattern Tree (FP-tree) mining algorithm is employed to exploit frequent atom patterns in the sparse representation. Inspired by the idea of K-SVD, we develop a new dictionary update method that jointly updates elements in each pattern. Experimental results demonstrate our method outperforms other tensor based dictionary learning algorithms.

HOMOLOGIES OF FLORAL STRUCTURES IN VELLOZIACEAE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE CORONA

New data on floral morphology, development, and vasculature in two Brazilian genera of the monocot family Velloziaceae (Pandanales) are used to explore the homologies of their unusual floral structures, especially the corona of Barbacenia and the corona-like appendages and multiple stamens of some Vellozia species. All Velloziaceae have epigynous flowers. Some species of Vellozia are polyandrous, and stamen number can be variable within species. In Vellozia jolyi, there is a single stamen opposite each sepal and a stamen fascicle (of three secondary stamens) opposite each petal. Each stamen possesses a single vascular bundle, and these are united into a single aggregate bundle in proximal regions of the fascicle. Stamens mature centripetally within each fascicle. The coronal appendages of both genera are closely associated with the stamens, but they share some vasculature with the tepals and develop late in ontogeny. The coronal organs cannot readily be homologized with any of the typical floral organs, but they show partial homology with both tepals and stamens. They are most readily interpreted as a late elaboration of the region between the petals and stamens associated with epigyny and the hypanthium.

Os desafios éticos de uma universidade particular no oeste brasileiro, diante do novo cenário : nova legislação oficial vigente para as universidades comunitárias

As organizações têm duas metas dentro de suas estruturas éticas: obter vantagem competitiva e alcançar legitimidade empresarial. Portanto, adotam uma ampla gama de posturas para equilibrar o resultado econômico e a responsabilidade social empresarial. À medida que as organizações se orientam por uma cultura corporativa, reafirmam os valores e ideologias que distinguem determinados grupos dos outros. A interação com o fator cidadania, agrega valor na obtenção de uma sociedade voltada para o bem e a satisfação social. Todavia, as organizações enfrentam, algumas vezes, ameaças que desafiam a legitimidade de sua existência ou de suas ações. O interesse desta pesquisa é o de descrever e analisar os desafios éticos confrontados pela Universidade Católica Dom Bosco – UCDB/ MS, frente à nova legislação vigente para as Universidades Comunitárias. A pesquisa realizada caracteriza- se como estudo de caso. Os dados foram coletados em fontes primárias e secundárias; as informações foram analisadas qualitativamente, sendo criados distintos sistemas de categorização do conteúdo das informações. Os resultados revelam que os desafios éticos confrontados pela organização, atuam como catalisador de novas posturas e estratégias, e os valores compartilhados funcionam como fonte de inovação, visando a manutenção da responsabilidade social de sua ação comunitária.