Global slowing of network oscillations in mouse neocortex by diazepam

SCHEFFZUK, C. , KUKUSHKA, V. , VYSSOTSKI, A. L. , DRAGUHN, A. , TORT, A. B. L. , BRANKACK, J. . Global slowing of network oscillations in mouse neocortex by diazepam. Neuropharmacology , v. 65, p. 123-133, 2013.

Differential Evolution: A Tool for Global Optimization

This report describes a tool for global optimization that implements the Differential Evolution optimization algorithm as a new Excel add-in. The tool takes a step beyond Excel’s Solver add-in, because Solver often returns a local minimum, that is, a minimum that is less than or equal to nearby points, while Differential Evolution solves for the global minimum, which includes all feasible points. Despite complex underlying mathematics, the tool is relatively easy to use, and can be applied to practical optimization problems, such as establishing pricing and awards in a hotel loyalty program. The report demonstrates an example of how to develop an optimum approach to that problem.

What happens at the gap between knowledge and practice? Spaces of encounter and misencounter between environmental scientists and local people

Researchers studying processes of global environmental change are increasingly interested in their work having impacts that go beyond academia to influence policy and management. Recent scholarship in the conservation sciences has pointed to the existence of a research-action gap and has proposed various solutions for overcoming it. However, most of these studies have been limited to the spaces of dissemination, where the science has already been done and is then to be passed over to users of the information. Much less attention has been paid to encounters that occur between scientists and nonscientists during the practice of doing scientific research, especially in situations that include everyday roles of labor and styles of communication (i.e., fieldwork). This paper builds on theories of contact that have examined encounters and relations between different groups and cultures in diverse settings. I use quantitative and qualitative evidence from Madidi National Park, Bolivia, including an analysis of past research in the protected area, as well as interviews (N = 137) and workshops and focus groups (N = 12) with local inhabitants, scientists, and park guards. The study demonstrates the significance of currently unacknowledged or undervalued components of the research-action gap, such as power, respect, and recognition, to develop a relational and reciprocal notion of impact. I explain why, within such spaces of encounter or misencounter between scientists and local people, knowledge can be exchanged or hidden away, worldviews can be expanded or further entrenched, and scientific research can be welcomed or rejected.

From local scenarios to national maps: a participatory framework for envisioning the future of Tanzania

Tackling societal and environmental challenges requires new approaches that connect top-down global oversight with bottom-up subnational knowledge. We present a novel framework for participatory development of spatially explicit scenarios at national scale that model socioeconomic and environmental dynamics by reconciling local stakeholder perspectives and national spatial data. We illustrate results generated by this approach and evaluate its potential to contribute to a greater understanding of the relationship between development pathways and sustainability. Using the lens of land use and land cover changes, and engaging 240 stakeholders representing subnational (seven forest management zones) and the national level, we applied the framework to assess alternative development strategies in the Tanzania mainland to the year 2025, under either a business as usual or a green development scenario. In the business as usual scenario, no productivity gain is expected, cultivated land expands by ~ 2% per year (up to 88,808 km²), with large impacts on woodlands and wetlands. Despite legal protection, encroachment of natural forest occurs along reserve borders. Additional wood demand leads to degradation, i.e., loss of tree cover and biomass, up to 80,426 km² of wooded land. The alternative green economy scenario envisages decreasing degradation and deforestation with increasing productivity (+10%) and implementation of payment for ecosystem service schemes. In this scenario, cropland expands by 44,132 km² and the additional degradation is limited to 35,778 km². This scenario development framework captures perspectives and knowledge across a diverse range of stakeholders and regions. Although further effort is required to extend its applicability, improve users’ equity, and reduce costs the resulting spatial outputs can be used to inform national level planning and policy implementation associated with sustainable development, especially the REDD+ climate mitigation strategy.

Modélisation du comportement des bétons fibrés à ultra-hautes performances par la micromécanique : Effet de l'orientation des fibres à l'échelle de la structure

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte d’une optimisation industrielle et économique des éléments de structure en BFUP permettant d’en garantir la ductilité au niveau structural, tout en ajustant la quantité de fibres et en optimisant le mode de fabrication. Le modèle développé décrit explicitement la participation du renfort fibré en traction au niveau local, en enchaînant une phase de comportement écrouissante suivie d’une phase adoucissante. La loi de comportement est fonction de la densité, de l’orientation des fibres vis-à-vis des directions principales de traction, de leur élancement et d’autres paramètres matériaux usuels liés aux fibres, à la matrice cimentaire et à leur interaction. L’orientation des fibres est prise en compte à partir d’une loi de probabilité normale à une ou deux variables permettant de reproduire n’importe quelle orientation obtenue à partir d’un calcul représentatif de la mise en oeuvre du BFUP frais ou renseignée par analyse expérimentale sur prototype. Enfin, le modèle reproduit la fissuration des BFUP sur le principe des modèles de fissures diffuses et tournantes. La loi de comportement est intégrée au sein d’un logiciel de calcul de structure par éléments finis, permettant de l’utiliser comme un outil prédictif de la fiabilité et de la ductilité globale d’éléments en BFUP. Deux campagnes expérimentales ont été effectuées, une à l’Université Laval de Québec et l’autre à l’Ifsttar, Marne-la-Vallée. La première permet de valider la capacité du modèle reproduire le comportement global sous des sollicitations typiques de traction et de flexion dans des éléments structurels simples pour lesquels l’orientation préférentielle des fibres a été renseignée par tomographie. La seconde campagne expérimentale démontre les capacités du modèle dans une démarche d’optimisation, pour la fabrication de plaques nervurées relativement complexes et présentant un intérêt industriel potentiel pour lesquels différentes modalités de fabrication et des BFUP plus ou moins fibrés ont été envisagés. Le contrôle de la répartition et de l’orientation des fibres a été réalisé à partir d’essais mécaniques sur prélèvements. Les prévisions du modèle ont été confrontées au comportement structurel global et à la ductilité mis en évidence expérimentalement. Le modèle a ainsi pu être qualifié vis-à-vis des méthodes analytiques usuelles de l’ingénierie, en prenant en compte la variabilité statistique. Des pistes d’amélioration et de complément de développement ont été identifiées.

Global Trade Governance and ASEAN: Studies of Trade-Related Aspects of Labor, Environment and Culture in Southeast Asia

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Global slowing of network oscillations in mouse neocortex by diazepam

SCHEFFZUK, C. , KUKUSHKA, V. , VYSSOTSKI, A. L. , DRAGUHN, A. , TORT, A. B. L. , BRANKACK, J. . Global slowing of network oscillations in mouse neocortex by diazepam. Neuropharmacology , v. 65, p. 123-133, 2013.

Adaptability, Transformation and Complex Changes in Namibia and Tanzania: Resilience and Innovation System Development in Local Communities

This thesis is a research about the recent complex spatial changes in Namibia and Tanzania and local communities’ capacity to cope with, adapt to and transform the unpredictability engaged to these processes. I scrutinise the concept of resilience and its potential application to explaining the development of local communities in Southern Africa when facing various social, economic and environmental changes. My research is based on three distinct but overlapping research questions: what are the main spatial changes and their impact on the study areas in Namibia and Tanzania? What are the adaptation, transformation and resilience processes of the studied local communities in Namibia and Tanzania? How are innovation systems developed, and what is their impact on the resilience of the studied local communities in Namibia and Tanzania? I use four ethnographic case studies concerning environmental change, global tourism and innovation system development in Namibia and Tanzania, as well as mixed-methodological approaches, to study these issues. The results of my empirical investigation demonstrate that the spatial changes in the localities within Namibia and Tanzania are unique, loose assemblages, a result of the complex, multisided, relational and evolutional development of human and non-human elements that do not necessarily have linear causalities. Several changes co-exist and are interconnected though uncertain and unstructured and, together with the multiple stressors related to poverty, have made communities more vulnerable to different changes. The communities’ adaptation and transformation measures have been mostly reactive, based on contingency and post hoc learning. Despite various anticipation techniques, coping measures, adaptive learning and self-organisation processes occurring in the localities, the local communities are constrained by their uneven power relationships within the larger assemblages. Thus, communities’ own opportunities to increase their resilience are limited without changing the relations in these multiform entities. Therefore, larger cooperation models are needed, like an innovation system, based on the interactions of different actors to foster cooperation, which require collaboration among and input from a diverse set of stakeholders to combine different sources of knowledge, innovation and learning. Accordingly, both Namibia and Tanzania are developing an innovation system as their key policy to foster transformation towards knowledge-based societies. Finally, the development of an innovation system needs novel bottom-up approaches to increase the resilience of local communities and embed it into local communities. Therefore, innovation policies in Namibia have emphasised the role of indigenous knowledge, and Tanzania has established the Living Lab network.

Parque Cultural da Ilha de Santa Maria, Açores : um projeto de desenvolvimento local

Dissertação de Mestrado, Património, Museologia e Desenvolvimento, 27 de Setembro de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

Global oceanic precipitation: A joint view by TOPEX and the TOPEX microwave radiometer

The TOPEX/POSEIDON mission offers the first opportunity to observe rain cells over the ocean by a dual-frequency radar altimeter (TOPEX) and simultaneously observe their natural radiative properties by a three-frequency radiometer (TOPEX microwave radiometer (TMR)). This work is a feasibility study aimed at understanding the capability and potential of the active/passive TOPEX/TMR system for oceanic rainfall detection. On the basis of past experiences in rain flagging, a joint TOPEX/TMR rain probability index is proposed. This index integrates several advantages of the two sensors and provides a more reliable rain estimate than the radiometer alone. One year's TOPEX/TMR TMR data are used to test the performance of the index. The resulting rain frequency statistics show quantitative agreement with those obtained from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), while qualitative agreement is found for other regions of the world ocean. A recent finding that the latitudinal frequency of precipitation over the Southern Ocean increases steadily toward the Antarctic continent is confirmed by our result. Annual and seasonal precipitation maps are derived from the index. Notable features revealed include an overall similarity in rainfall pattern from the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans and a general phase reversal between the two hemispheres, as well as a number of regional anomalies in terms of rain intensity. Comparisons with simultaneous Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) multisatellite precipitation rate and COADS rain climatology suggest that systematic differences also exist. One example is that the maximum rainfall in the ITCZ of the Indian Ocean appears to be more intensive and concentrated in our result compared to that of the GPCP. Another example is that the annual precipitation produced by TOPEX/TMR is constantly higher than those from GPCP and COADS in the extratropical regions of the northern hemisphere, especially in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Analyses of the seasonal variations of prominent rainy and dry zones in the tropics and subtropics show various behaviors such as systematic migration, expansion and contraction, merging and breakup, and pure intensity variations, The seasonality of regional features is largely influenced by local atmospheric events such as monsoon, storm, or snow activities. The results of this study suggest that TOPEX and its follow-on may serve as a complementary sensor to the special sensor microwave/imager in observing global oceanic precipitation.

THERE GOES THE ELECTORAL NEIGHBORHOOD: LOCAL NETWORKS, ATTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE (UN) FAIRNESS OF ELECTIONS

During the last two decades there have been but a handful of recorded cases of electoral fraud in Latin America. However, survey research consistently shows that often citizens do not trust the integrity of the electoral process. This dissertation addresses the puzzle by explaining the mismatch between how elections are conducted and how the process is perceived. My theoretical contribution provides a double-folded argument. First, voters’ trust in their community members (“the local experience”) impacts their level of confidence in the electoral process. Since voters often find their peers working at polling stations, negative opinions about them translate into negative opinions about the election. Second, perceptions of unfairness of the system (“the global effect”) negatively impact the way people perceive the transparency of the electoral process. When the political system fails to account for social injustice, citizens lose faith in the mechanism designed to elect representatives -and ultimately a set of policies. The fact that certain groups are systematically disregarded by the system triggers the notion that the electoral process is flawed. This is motivated by either egotropic or sociotropic considerations. To test these hypotheses, I employ a survey conducted in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala during May/June 2014, which includes a population-based experiment. I show that Voters who trust their peers consistently have higher confidence in the electoral process. Whereas respondents who were primed about social unfairness (treatment) expressed less confidence in the quality of the election. Finally, I find that the local experience is predominant over the global effect. The treatment has a statistically significant effect only for respondents who trust their community. Attribution of responsibility for voters who are skeptics of their peers is clear and simple, leaving no room for a more diffuse mechanism, the unfairness of the political system. Finally, now I extend analysis to the Latin America region. Using data from LAPOP that comprises four waves of surveys in 22 countries, I confirm the influence of the “local experience” and the “global effect” as determinants of the level of confidence in the electoral process.

Escola Comunitária de S. Miguel de Machede: aprendendo a construir um futuro particular, num contexto global

A Escola Comunitária de S. Miguel de Machede é uma Escola! A afirmação parece uma redundância mas não é. Na realidade, desde Março de 1998 que na vila de S. Miguel de Machede (concelho de Évora), no seio de uma associação de desenvolvimento comunitário chamada SUÃO, existe uma preocupação fundamental: preservar e valorizar o património mais valioso e cada vez mais reduzido do Alentejo rural: as pessoas. Como é que se preserva e valoriza o património humano senão através da Educação? A Escola Comunitária de S. Miguel de Machede assenta num modelo de desenvolvimento curricular baseado no modelo PADéCA – Programa de Auxílio ao Desenvolvimento da Capacidade de Aprender e tem vindo a promover atividades educativas nas mais diversas áreas. Um dos seus projetos mais emblemáticos será talvez a Biblioteca Comunitária, através da qual, praticamente todas as cerca de 250 famílias de S. Miguel de Machede recebem, diária, gratuita e domiciliarmente um jornal diário, há mais de um ano, consecutivamente. No entanto, outras atividades têm preenchido os dias e as noites de muitos habitantes da nossa vila. Com o Grupo de Teatro, o Cante Alentejano e no meio das exposições do Museu Comunitário, vai-se fazendo o Jornal Comunitário. Nos intervalos de tudo isto assegura-se o funcionamento do Gabinete da Papelada. Porquê tudo isto? Fundamentalmente, para sermos felizes na nossa terra e para aprendermos. Aprendermos a viver uns com os outros; aprendermos coisas de outras terras e de outras gentes; aprendermos a aprender ao longo da nossa vida. Porque não há coisa que nos dê mais Felicidade que aprendermos com os nossos amigos e família coisas que nos dão prazer à vida.

Modelling global pyrogeography using data derived from satellite imagery

Doutoramento em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL

Evaluación de la estrategia un pueblo un producto, en el marco del desarrollo económico local en El Salvador.

En El Salvador a lo largo de los últimos diez años, se han tratado de implementar diversas medidas de política económica, las cuales pretenden apalear los principales problemas que aquejan al país; sin embargo es notorio observar que estas medidas no han sido suficientes para solucionarlos. Desde los años 90´s el crecimiento económico presentaba comportamientos oscilantes y en promedio muy bajos en comparación a otros países, ya que en ninguno de los últimos quince años, se ha logrado crecer a tasas per cápita superiores al 3%, lo cual es deficiente en comparación con el resto del mundo, en promedio el PIB per cápita promedio mundial es de (1.96%) y El Salvador tiene un promedio de crecimiento de apenas un (0.93%), otro aspecto importante de mencionar es la enorme brecha que existe en los niveles de ingresos, lo que muestra una alta desigualdad y puede observarse al comparar los índices de desarrollo humano de El Salvador con el resto del mundo, posicionándonos en el lugar N°103 en promedio, lo que nos lleva a pensar que hace falta mejorar el nivel de desarrollo en el país. Como un intento por apostarle al crecimiento económico, se diseña una estrategia enfocada a promover de forma sostenible el Desarrollo Económico Local, referida a un proceso de concertación de diversos actores, como los gobiernos locales, la sociedad civil organizada y el sector privado, con el propósito de mejorar la calidad de vida de la población, mediante la creación de más empleos y la dinamización de la economía de un territorio definido. Se trata de un proceso ampliamente participativo de todos los sectores, que promueve alianzas público-privadas en un territorio con el fin de estimular la actividad económica local. Exige el diseño de una visión en común y la implementación permanente de una estrategia de desarrollo, utilizando los recursos locales (desarrollo endógeno) y el desarrollo de ventajas competitivas en un contexto global. Además requiere crear y fortalecer la institucionalidad local de gestión, fortalecer las competencias en la población, la creación de un ambiente favorable de negocios para la atracción de inversiones y la creación de nuevas empresas, promoción de la competitividad de las empresas y la generación de ventaja competitiva regional. Es decir, se necesita la construcción de una visión y estrategia común del desarrollo territorial. Esta investigación se centró en la evaluación de la estrategia Un Pueblo Un Producto, como una técnica enfocada a promover y generar desarrollo económico local, a través de la promoción de las pequeñas y medianas empresas en mejorar la calidad de vida de los habitantes de las localidades propiciando el desarrollo de las capacidades que posibiliten dar mayor valor agregado a sus recursos, con el fin de promover su identidad, el respeto por la cultura local, el sentido de pertenencia y el sentimiento de orgullo. Este Movimiento al estar desarrollándose en más de 30 países, ha motivado la creación de una base de integración internacional, a través de la puesta de sus productos en los respectivos mercados; locales, regionales, nacionales e incluso internacionales, posibilitando de esta manera diversificar la oferta exportable, así como una amplia red de intercambio de información. Con la ayuda directa de CONAMYPE, institución encargada de la puesta en marcha y coordinación de la estrategia, se pudo iniciar la investigación, facilitando el acceso a la información y el cercamiento con los líderes en los diversos municipios en estudio. Se hizo un muestreo de selección al azar y avalado por CONAMYPE de tres municipios con diferentes rubros y actividades económicas; San Lorenzo con la producción de Jocote barón rojo, El Congo como un atractivo turístico y Concepción Quezaltepeque con la producción de hamacas. Con el objetivo de realizar una evaluación precisa de la estrategia se utilizaron varias herramientas estadísticas para la recolección de la información, las encuestas fueron pasadas a los habitantes de los municipios para conocer el impacto que ha tenido la estrategia en la localidad, y las entrevistas a los principales actores involucrados como el director de CONAMYPE, alcaldes, principales productores y empresarios, representantes de la estrategia en los municipios, entre otros. También se creó un índice de resultados obtenidos para analizar el comportamiento directo de la estrategia en cuatro pilares fundamentales, los cuales son: Dimensión humana, social, económica y ambiental. Los resultados de los índices calculados para las cuatro dimensiones, han permitido observar las fortalezas de la estrategia aunque aún hay deficiencias en el progreso económico del desarrollo económico local y pese a los esfuerzos que se han hecho por tratar de mejorar las condiciones de vida de los habitantes de los municipios, aún hay varios aspectos que deben mejorarse, no obstante lo anterior la implementación de la Estrategia UPUP ha mejorado el desarrollo económico local en los tres municipios que se realizó la investigación.

Local optimal scale in a hierarchical segmentation method for satellite image: an OBIA approach for the agricultural landscape

Overrecentdecades,remotesensinghasemergedasaneffectivetoolforimprov- ing agriculture productivity. In particular, many works have dealt with the problem of identifying characteristics or phenomena of crops and orchards on different scales using remote sensed images. Since the natural processes are scale dependent and most of them are hierarchically structured, the determination of optimal study scales is mandatory in understanding these processes and their interactions. The concept of multi-scale/multi- resolution inherent to OBIA methodologies allows the scale problem to be dealt with. But for that multi-scale and hierarchical segmentation algorithms are required. The question that remains unsolved is to determine the suitable scale segmentation that allows different objects and phenomena to be characterized in a single image. In this work, an adaptation of the Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) algorithm to perform a multi-scale hierarchi- cal segmentation of satellite images is proposed. The selection of the optimal multi-scale segmentation for different regions of the image is carried out by evaluating the intra- variability and inter-heterogeneity of the regions obtained on each scale with respect to the parent-regions defined by the coarsest scale. To achieve this goal, an objective function, that combines weighted variance and the global Moran index, has been used. Two different kinds of experiment have been carried out, generating the number of regions on each scale through linear and dyadic approaches. This methodology has allowed, on the one hand, the detection of objects on different scales and, on the other hand, to represent them all in a sin- gle image. Altogether, the procedure provides the user with a better comprehension of the land cover, the objects on it and the phenomena occurring.