A comparison between conceptual clustering and conventional clustering

Clustering is a process of partitioning a given set of patterns into meaningful groups. The clustering process can be viewed as consisting of the following three phases: (i) feature selection phase, (ii) classification phase, and (iii) description generation phase. Conventional clustering algorithms implicitly use knowledge about the clustering environment to a large extent in the feature selection phase. This reduces the need for the environmental knowledge in the remaining two phases, permitting the usage of simple numerical measure of similarity in the classification phase. Conceptual clustering algorithms proposed by Michalski and Stepp [IEEE Trans. PAMI, PAMI-5, 396–410 (1983)] and Stepp and Michalski [Artif. Intell., pp. 43–69 (1986)] make use of the knowledge about the clustering environment in the form of a set of predefined concepts to compute the conceptual cohesiveness during the classification phase. Michalski and Stepp [IEEE Trans. PAMI, PAMI-5, 396–410 (1983)] have argued that the results obtained with the conceptual clustering algorithms are superior to conventional methods of numerical classification. However, this claim was not supported by the experimental results obtained by Dale [IEEE Trans. PAMI, PAMI-7, 241–244 (1985)]. In this paper a theoretical framework, based on an intuitively appealing set of axioms, is developed to characterize the equivalence between the conceptual clustering and conventional clustering. In other words, it is shown that any classification obtained using conceptual clustering can also be obtained using conventional clustering and vice versa.

Reserved parking : marine reserves and small-scale fishing communities: a collection of articles from SAMUDRA report

As the earth’s resources continue to face increasing pressure from a variety of human and natural causes, protection of the environment and biodiversity is a matter of contemporary concern, The conservation of coastal and marine resources, in particular, has become a priority for countries around the world. In this context, marine protected areas (MPAs) are being widely promoted as one of the most effective tools for the conservation of coastal and marine resources. Most MPAs are located in coastal areas of great biodiversity, and hence their development has direct impacts on the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities, especially small-scale and traditional fishing communities. Typically, they are the ones who have to bear the costs of conservation practices–lost livelihood options, expulsion from traditional fishing grounds and living spaces, and violation of human/community rights, to name a few. The articles in this dossier, drawn chronologically from the pages of Samudra Report, the triannual publication of ICSF, draw attention to these issues. They show that conservation and livelihoods are closely intertwined, and that top-down, non-participatory models of conservation can be counter-productive. Despite being poor and powerless, fishing and coastal communities can be powerful allies in conservation efforts, given their longstanding dependence on natural resources and their traditional ecological knowledge systems. As the examples in this dossier reveal, it is possible for fishing communities to protect and conserve the environment, while continuing with sustainable fishing operations. Clearly, only an integrated approach to fisheries management and conservation will prove successful. This dossier will be useful for policymakers, social scientists, non-governmental organizations and others interested in fisheries, conservation, communities and livelihoods.

The front-end of eco-innovation for eco-innovative small and medium sized companies

This paper studies the Front End of Eco-Innovation (FEEI), the initial phase of the eco-innovation process. Incorporating environmental concerns at the front-end of innovation is important, as product parameters are still flexible. This paper investigates the FEEI for 42 small and medium sized eco-innovators in the Netherlands by using a survey. The results show that SMEs embrace informal, systematic, and open innovation approaches at the FEEI. Teams appear to be multidisciplinary, and creativity and environmental knowledge are essential. Experimentation played a significant role at the FEEI. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and implications for managers. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Sondagens mecânicas e prospecção geofísica na caracterização de fluidos

Esta dissertação aborda a utilização de métodos geofísicos de superfície e de profundidade na caracterização de fluidos, compreendendo várias abordagens distintas, consoante o tipo de temática em análise. Assim, o assunto proposto para a presente dissertação relaciona-se com a utilização conjunta de sondagens mecânicas e prospecção geofísica na caracterização de fluidos através da exploração de três temáticas distintas, designadamente a Hidrogeologia, a Geotermia e o Ambiente. O presente trabalho de dissertação baseado na experiência profissional da autora, é feito de acordo com o estabelecimento de uma linha condutora, fundamentada e estruturada, para uma visão global do modo como a interpretação integrada das sondagens mecânicas e dos métodos geofísicos dá um forte contributo para a melhoria do conhecimento de uma região, seja ele geológico, hidrogeológico ou ambiental. Os temas a abordar foram seleccionados não só pela sua indiscutível importância, devido ao interesse estratégico que actualmente suscitam, como também pelos diferentes modos de processar e interpretar a informação geofísica adquirida consoante os objectivos da mesma, de forma a salientar particularidades na respectiva interpretação e integração de dados.

Aboriginal Parental Involvement/Engagement for Student Success

An increasing body of knowledge links parental involvement with student success but few studies address Aboriginal parental involvement in urban settings. While some critics argue traditional Aboriginal knowledge is best delivered at home, Aboriginal children who share parents’ stories in the classroom benefit other children who draw connections to these stories. Moreover, Aboriginal learners need to function in mainstream Western society and in public school settings in which educators often have a difficult time engaging Aboriginal parents. Consequently, this research sought to explore the perceptions and sense of engagement of parents/caregivers in the Aboriginal Student Program (ASP) in a publicly funded secondary school in Ontario. The study was an extension of the researcher’s existing work and focused specifically on a sample of parents/caregivers taking part in an Aboriginal feast at an Ontario secondary school. Nine individuals accepted an invitation to participate in a Talking Circle and shared perceptions of their children’s educational experiences. Data were collected and coded, and findings indicated that parental involvement in children’s educational journeys contributed significantly to a sense of parental engagement in the school and in Aboriginal programs. Results also suggest that Eurocentric pedagogy can be modified in mainstream secondary schools to directly involve Aboriginal parents/caregivers. Although many participants’ stories revealed they experienced racism during their own schooling, study findings demonstrate that the parents/caregivers want to be involved in their children’s education nonetheless. This thesis discusses the data that were grounded in the participants’ voices that in turn led to several key recommendations.

La gestion des plantes médicinales chez les communautés autochtones Nahuas de la Huasteca Potosina, Mexique

Les plantes médicinales jouent un rôle central, tant pour la médicine traditionnelle de certaines cultures, que pour la satisfaction d’une demande commerciale, souvent lointaine. Face à la forte pression qui pèse actuellement sur les populations de plantes médicinales - due à l'augmentation de la surexploitation commerciale et à la perte d'habitats - il est crucial de trouver des options qui permettront une gestion durable de cette ressource tout en contribuant à maintenir le bien-être socioéconomique des communautés locales qui en dépendent. Ainsi il est important de comprendre les perceptions que les populations ont des plantes médicinales, de la façon de les exploiter et de les gérer. L’objectif, donc, de ce projet est de mieux comprendre les interactions existantes entre savoir traditionnel et gestion des plantes médicinales. La présente étude de cas constitue une étude géographique et ethnobotanique inductive/exploratoire. Nous dressons dans cette recherche le portrait des dynamiques utilisées par les communautés Nahuas de la Huasteca Potosina pour la gestion des plantes médicinales. L’information qui est présentée a été obtenue par une combinaison de données descriptives, historiques, qualitatives, quelques unes quantitatives, qui sont le produit d’une revue bibliographique et d’un travail de terrain. Notre recherche démontre un éventail de pratiques de gestion, d’intérêts, de valeurs ainsi que de représentations sociales des plantes médicinales au sein d’une même ethnie. Cette étude met en évidence l’importance des pratiques locales de gestion pour élaborer des recommandations dans le domaine de la gestion durable des plantes médicinales.

Análisis de los efectos generados por la decisión 391 sobre el régimen común de acceso a los recursos genéticos de la CAN, en el fenómeno de la biopiratería (1996-2010)

Después que muchos Estados se enriquecieran tanto intelectual como económicamente de la explotación o apropiación ilegal de la biodiversidad andina de la cual los miembros de la CAN eran país de origen, surge la necesidad de proteger la riqueza de la región, razón por la cual nace la Decisión 391 en 1996 sobre un Régimen Común de Acceso a Recursos genéticos. De esta manera los países miembros de la CAN se convirtieron en los primeros con un mecanismo de control para el acceso a los recursos genéticos y partición equitativa de los beneficios; buscando con ello sentar bases para la creación de conocimientos sobre el tema, el desarrollo de capacidades científicas y tecnológicas, y la promoción del uso sostenible de los recursos. Sin embargo por razones de carácter nacional la implementación del mismo no ha progresado, generando que los casos de biopiratería aumenten e incluso sean difíciles de prevenir. Siendo este un tema de gran relevancia para Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela, esta monografía examinará en las siguientes páginas la reglamentación nacional para comprender a mayor profundidad los defectos y/o cualidades de las decisiones tomadas por los Estados para la aplicación de la Decisión 391, y así mismo evidenciará las razones por las cuales la implementación de la Decisión no ha tenido éxito total sobre el control de la biopiratería, entre ellas la falta de reglamentación, la especificación de roles, la concientización ciudadana e incluso información al público en general.

Community Health Managers: A Pilot Pedagogic Experience in the University of Rosario

The “Grupo de Estudios en Sistemas Tradicionales de Salud” from the School of Medicine of Universidad del Rosario, in agreement with the “Instituto de Etnobiología”, has designed a training course for a new health agent (the community health manager) meant to consider in its curriculum the difficulties, deficiencies and successes of the Primary Health Care Program. In particular, we have attended OMS suggestions in terms of adequate training of local leaders who should look for self-responsibility and selfdetermination in health care coverage. This training proposal is meant to take into account diverse cultures and traditions in order to offer health care models able to consider cultural particularities, epidemiological profiles, and contextual possibilities, with an intercultural point of view. Hence, the training course’s objective is to offer working tools so that community leaders be able to value and promote traditional health knowledge and practices; seek for food security by means of recovery of traditional productive systems or adaptation of appropriate technologies; environment conservation; use of medicinal plants especially in self-care, and stimulation of community and institutional health promotion activities. Preliminary evaluation suggests that this new health agent will be able to set bridges between communities and health care offers available, always looking for healthy ways of life, culturally and environmentally friendly.

Género y pesca en el México indígena Implicaciones para la política ambiental

The gender, environment, and development approach proposes the study of women’s rights and obligations toward natural resources, as well as institutions and property relations that govern the access to such resources within specifi c socio-environmental contexts. From this viewpoint, this paper studies the fi shing activities of native women and men from Veracruz, Mexico, focusing on two processes: the gender construction of the fi shing arts and the gender socialization in fi shing activities. This paper shows that both processes make women specialize in certain water resources, which are important to securing feeding to their communities. An environmental policy with a gender perspective will be able to visualize woman roles in food provisioning, and to strengthen their control over the resources they currently manage, based on the environmental knowledge women have about them.

Evaluación de la gestión de residuos derivados del proceso de impresión en Datapoint de Colombia S.A.S, y propuesta de mejora

Este trabajo se centra en el análisis de las actividades desarrolladas en torno a los servicios de procesos de impresión que ofrece la organización DATAPOINT de Colombia SAS para identificar los puntos críticos en la gestión de los residuos de impresión y las decisiones tomadas por parte de los involucrados durante todo el proceso (proveedores, clientes y la empresa), con el fin de revisar medidas y estrategias que permitan fortalecer la gestión integral de residuos de impresión a partir de una revisión y comparación de las mejores prácticas planteadas por los actores del sector. También se efectuaron recomendaciones con acciones de mejora que se podrían desarrollar con el fin de mitigar el impacto ambiental generado por estos residuos. Con la finalidad de cumplir con lo planteado se realizó inicialmente un estudio sobre la organización, sus clientes y proveedores para entender de manera integral la cadena de valor en torno a los tóner y su gestión inversa, (explicar) al igual que el entorno normativo tanto de manera nacional como internacional. Posteriormente, se identificaron los puntos de mejora comparando lo planteado por el proveedor versus lo ejecutado por los involucrados en el proceso, labor se realizó en campo con los clientes para entender la situación actual, sus necesidades y en que basan la toma de decisiones relacionada con el manejo de los residuos de impresión. Finalmente se listaran una serie de acciones de mejora y recomendaciones las cuales pueden ser incorporadas a los procesos críticos de DATAPOINT.

Contested H2O: science, policy and politics in water resources management in Chile

This paper critically explores the politics that mediate the use of environmental science assessments as the basis of resource management policy. Drawing on recent literature in the political ecology tradition that has emphasised the politicised nature of the production and use of scientific knowledge in environmental management, the paper analyses a hydrological assessment in a small river basin in Chile, undertaken in response to concerns over the possible overexploitation of groundwater resources. The case study illustrates the limitations of an approach based predominantly on hydrogeological modelling to ascertain the effects of increased groundwater abstraction. In particular, it identifies the subjective ways in which the assessment was interpreted and used by the state water resources agency to underpin water allocation decisions in accordance with its own interests, and the role that a desocialised assessment played in reproducing unequal patterns of resource use and configuring uneven waterscapes. Nevertheless, as Chile’s ‘neoliberal’ political-economic framework privileges the role of science and technocracy, producing other forms of environmental knowledge to complement environmental science is likely to be contentious. In conclusion, the paper considers the potential of mobilising the concept of the hydrosocial cycle to further critically engage with environmental science.

Ongoing colonial legacy : contemporary education beliefs and practices in Papua New Guinea

In the late 1980ˇ¦s, a realisation that the western education system bequeathed to Papua New Guinea at the time of Independence had functioned to devalue and marginalise many of the traditional beliefs, knowledge and skills students brought with them to education, led to a period of significant education reform. The Reform was premised on the report of a Ministerial Review Committee called A Philosophy of Education. This report made recommendations about how education in Papua New Guinea could respond to the issues and challenges this nation faced as it sought to chart a course to serve the needs of its citizens on its own terms. The issues associated with managing and implementing institutionalised educational change premised on importing western values and practices are a central theme of this thesis. The impact of importing foreign curriculum and associated curriculum officers and consultants to assist with curriculum change and development in the former Language and Literacy unit of the Curriculum Development Division, is considered in three related sections of this report: „P a critical review of the imported educational system and related practices and related issues since Independence „P narrative report of the experience of two colleagues in western education „P evidential research based on curriculum Reform in the Language and Literacy Unit. How Papua New Guinea has sought to come to terms with the issues and challenges that arose in response to a practice of importing western curriculum both at the time of Independence and currently through the Reform, are explored throughout the thesis. The findings issues reveal much about the capacity of individuals and institutions to respond to a post-colonial world particularly associated with an ongoing colonial legacy in the principle researcherˇ¦s work context. The thesis argues that the challenges Papua New Guinea curriculum officers face today, as they manage and implement changes associated with another imported curriculum are caught up in existing power relations. These power relations function to stifle creative thinking at a time when it is most needed. Further, these power relations are not well understood by the curriculum officers and remained hidden and unquestioned throughout the research project. The thesis also argues that in the researcherˇ¦s work context, techniques of surveillance were brought to bear and functioned to curtail critical thinking about how the reformed curriculum could be sensitive and respectful of those beliefs and traditions that had sustained life in Papua New Guinea for thousands of years. Consequently, many outmoded beliefs and practices associated with an uncritical and ongoing acceptance of the superiority of western imports have been retained, thereby effectively denying the collective voices of Paua New Guineans in the current curriculum Reform.

Are adolescents from a forest community well-informed about forest management?

The indigenous community of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro in Mexico has been engaged in a successful Community Forest Enterprise employing sustainable management practices since 1981. These environmental practices do not seem to be reflected in the educational programmes developed at school. In this study, the environmental knowledge and interest of 102 students at high-school (15 to 18 years old) towards forestry management were analysed. The association between their knowledge and interests in environmental issues was also estimated. These analyses examine their interest in forest management as potential employment and the effect of the educational system on environmental learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. Results showed that environmental concepts were poorly understood despite their inclusion in the curriculum. Adolescents did not envisage working in the forest in the future because they showed no interest in forest activities. Educational implications and strategies to encourage adolescents to become involved in community forest management are crucial for conservation.

Western consumers' understanding of carbon offsets and its relationship to behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine Western consumers’ levels of general environmental knowledge and specific knowledge related to carbon offsets and the relationships between specific types of environmental knowledge and consumers’ related behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach – The study surveyed consumers from Australia (n ¼ 345) and the USA (n ¼ 340) who were sourced through national online panels. The analysis looks at differences between knowledge and behaviors, both across the samples as well as whether there are differences between consumers with high and low levels of environmental and carbon offset knowledge, and whether demographics impact on knowledge levels.

Findings – The results found that consumers had higher levels of general knowledge than carbon offset knowledge and the two types of knowledge were not related. ANOVA results considering country differences and demographic factors found that general knowledge was affected by education, age and gender, with carbon knowledge being affected by education. Environmental behavior was affected by age and gender as well, and no demographic factors influenced carbon-related behavior. Respondent’s location (i.e. USA or Australia) did not influence knowledge or behaviors, but interacted with education in regard to carbon knowledge and behavior.

Social implications – This research suggests that consumers are not acting on their carbon knowledge, which may be due to the debate surrounding carbon issues and/or because the information is based on complex scientific foundations, which the average consumer may have difficulty grasping, regardless of country.

Originality/value – This is one of the first pieces of academic research to explore consumers’ understanding of carbon-related information and how this knowledge impacts behavior. It also proposes a measure for evaluating carbon offset knowledge, which could be used to broaden environmental knowledge assessments.