5,765 research outputs found
Cultural Factors in Complex Decision Making
Get PDFComplex decision-making is conceptualised as the process of problem solving in meaningful and important, but complex, dynamic and partially opaque situations. This process is open to a number of cultural influences, among them educational practices, environmental predictability, and power distance. Two empirical studies that explore into the cultural relativity of this type of decision making use interactive computer simulations of complex problems as research instruments. There are a number of behavioural differences between participants from India and Germany which can be explained within a culture-theoretical framework and give reason for the plea to include cultural factors in theories on human decision making
Feeding level and individual metabolic rate affect delta C-13 and delta N-15 values in carp: implications for food web studies
No full textStable isotope analyses are often used to calculate relative contributions of multiple food sources in an animal's diet. One prerequisite for a precise calculation is the determination of the diet-tissue fractionation factor. Isotopic ratios in animals are not only affected by the composition of the diet, but also by the amount of food consumed. Previous findings regarding the latter point are controversial. As stable isotope analyses have often been used to investigate aquatic food webs, an experiment with carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) was carried out to test the influence of the feeding level and individual metabolic rate on delta(13)C and delta(15)N values of the whole body. After an initial phase, 49 carp were assigned randomly to four groups and fed the same diet at different levels for 8 weeks. For 15 fish, the energy budget was determined by indirect calorimetry. Feed and individual fish were analysed for their proximate composition, gross energy content and delta(13)C and delta(15)N values. delta(13)C and delta(15)N values differed significantly at different feeding levels. While delta(13)C values of the lipids and delta(15)N values decreased with increasing feeding rate, delta(13)C values of the lipid-free matter showed a non-linear pattern. Data obtained from fish held in the respirometric system revealed a relationship between delta(13)C values and the percentage retention of metabolizable energy. Our results show that reconstructing the diets of fish from the isotopic ratios when the feeding level and individual metabolic rates are unknown would introduce an error into the data used for back-calculation of up to 1parts per thousand for both delta(13)C and delta(15)N values and may have substantial effects on the results of calculated diets. As other workers have pointed out, the development and application of stable isotopes to nutritional ecology studies is a field in its infancy and gives rise to erroneous, misleading results without nutritional, physiological and ecological knowledge
Stefan Morawski’s Critique of Postmodernism
No full textThe matter under consideration is Stefan Morawski’s criticism of postmodernism. The author presents Morawski’s main arguments against postmodernism and analyzes their accuracy for the Richard Rorty’s and Francois Lyotard’s theories. In addition to this the author considers the impact of the art on the possibility of integration consumer society
Ep. #044 - Stefan Helmreich
No full textThis recording and transcript form part of a collection of podcasts conducted by the Cultures of Energy at Rice University. Cultures of Energy brings writers, artists and scholars together to talk, think and feel their way into the Anthropocene. We cover serious issues like climate change, species extinction and energy transition. But we also try to confront seemingly huge and insurmountable problems with insight, creativity and laughter.On this week’s podcast, Dominic and Cymene continue to process election aftermath and offer thoughts on how to escape the dungeon. Then (14:20) things get wavy when Stefan Helmreich from MIT—author of Alien Ocean (U California Press, 2009) and Sounding the Limits of Life (Princeton U Press, 2016)—joins the conversation and we talk about his recent work on waves and water. We start with the submarine trip that got him interested in the sound of fieldwork underwater and these strange entities known as “waves.” He then introduces us to the world of wave science and explains how it can be viewed as anthropology by other means given its constant attention to social concerns like coastal infrastructure, shipping, recreation, and insurance. Stefan discusses why the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the waterline—rising sea level, changing sea surface, and wavy dynamics that modulate sea level. He also explains that even though current models of wave action are based on northern ocean data, it looks increasingly likely that the future will belong to southern ocean dynamics. We visit the largest tsunami simulation basin in the world, learn what “rogue waves” are, and come to understand how, with the coming of wave energy, waves are being reimagined not as enemies but rather as allies whose labor can be harnessed in the struggle against climate change. Stefan offers some reflections on “blue humanities,” the shipwreckocene and Haraway’s Chthulucene. Finally, we turn toward his current research in the Netherlands with its long and complex relationship to water. And, yes, Cymene asks him about surfing and his answer is the best. Listen on
Macroeconomic imbalances and comparative advantages in the Euro Area
No full textThe emergence of macroeconomic imbalances among EU member states is often seen as a major underlying factor of the recent European debt crisis. In order to identify and tackle these imbalances, the European authorities established, in 2011, a new surveillance tool incorporating rules to prevent future imbalances and labelled the Excessive Imbalance Procedure (EIP).
Stefan Collignon argues that the premises of the Excessive Imbalance Procedure are in fact wrong, and its implementation therefore misguided, in that they take for granted the policy framework of the nation state whereas the Euro Area economy is, in reality, integrated into a single market with a single currency, such that so-called ‘foreign’ debt is, effectively, debt to other residents in the Euro Area.
The author demonstrates, furthermore, that strict adherence to the EIP could, in conjunction with other new economic governance instruments, entail devastating consequences for peripheral countries in the European Union.
Following his observation that current indicators used by the Commission fail to provide a correct or accurate assessment of imbalances in the Euro Area, the author devises a new ‘Competitive Index’, calculated as the difference between actual and equilibrium unit labour costs, which he recommends as an alternative and better indicator in the context of the Alert Mechanism Reports to be issued by the European Commission in the future
Solution of vector Stefan problems with cross-diffusion
No full textA general model for the dissolution of particles in multi-component alloys is proposed and analyzed. The model is based on diffusion equations with cross-terms for the several species, combined with a Stefan condition as the equation of motion of the interface between the particle and diffusant phase. To facilitate the analysis we use a diagonalization argument or Jordan factorization for the diffusion matrix. Self-similar solutions with the Boltzmann transformation are derived to get insight into qualitative behavior of the solution and for comparison with numerical solutions. Several numerical schemes for the solution of the Stefan problem are proposed and compared. It turns out that diagonalization is usefull for numerical purposes too. However, for the case of position dependent diffusion coefficients or a non diagonalizable diffusion matrix, one has to use a different scheme. Here, we analyze stability and workload of several time integrations.Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
On Stefan Żółkiewski
No full textThe author writes about Professor Stefan Żółkiewski’s theoretical concepts and three decades of scholarship, beginning with the 1960s and including lectures at the University of Warsaw’s Department of Polish Philology, directing work in the Department of Social Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, initiating interdisciplinary studies of contemporary culture, editing journal ‘Kultura i Społeczeństwo’, and popularizing semiotics. The author writes about Professor Żółkiewski’s connection with the Institute of Literary Research, of which he was the founder and first director, and about the establishment of the Workshop on Research into Literary Culture and the creation of a new discipline—knowledge of literary culture. The author remembers Professor Żółkiewski as her mentor and friend
EFFECT OF LERAK (SAPINDUS RARAK) EXTRACT IN HIGH ROUGHAGE DIET ON RUMEN MICROBIAL PROTEIN SYNTHESIS AND PERFORMANCE OF SHEEP
Get PDFSecondary compounds containing plant extract as feed additive may improve the performance of livestock consuming high roughage diet. An in vivo trial was conducted to investigate the effect of Sapindus rarak extract (SRE) on ruminal fermentation products, microbial protein synthesis, and growth performance of sheep. Sheep (male, 28 heads) fed high roughage diet were arranged in a completely randomized design with four treatments: addition of SRE to the diet at 0, 4, 8 and 12 g head-1 day-1. The experiment was conducted for 105 days with 2 weeks adaptation period. At the end of the experiment, total faeces was collected for 1 week and rumen liquor was taken. Variables measured were ruminal fermentation products, microbial protein synthesis, daily intake, digestibility, N retention, body weight, and average daily gain. Protozoal numbers were significantly decreased with increasing SRE dose. The ruminal NH3 concentration tended to reduce by SRE addition (P = 0.06). SRE significantly increased propionate and efficiency of microbial protein synthesis from 6.4 to 10.5 g N kg-1 DOMR. SRE significantly improved average daily gain of sheep during the first 70 days of experiment without affecting intake and digestibility. SRE did not alter carcass percentage but tended to lower pancreas and liver weights (P<0.1). In conclusion, SRE has a significant role in partially defaunated rumen microflora, hence, increased microbial protein synthesis and propionate production in the rumen. Addition of SRE is useful to increase daily gain of sheep fed high roughage diet in 70 days of feeding
The labor foundation as a strategy against technological unemployment
Get PDFAuthor Stefan Paul Miejski, B.A.Abstract in englischer SpracheMasterarbeit Universität Linz 201
- …
