Pursuing Green Growth: Some Conflicts and Necessary Conditions for a Pragmatic Environmental Policy

This paper focusses narrowly on three areas of public policy concerning the environment deemed necessary for sustainable economic growth. It has relevance to Asian nations as they continue to demand for higher growth and at the same time keeping environmental degradation in check. The three areas are: (1) the issue of siting environmentally unfriendly but nationally required facilities, otherwise known as the NIMBY syndrome, (2) the waste generation problem, and (3) the need to price green goods. In addition to the above three areas for public policy, the paper also discusses a number of pragmatic principles for use in environmental management. Such things as cost-benefit analysis and project appraisal; the pursuit of clean and advanced technologies and inherent conflicts; exploring market solutions; understanding multiple stakeholders; and last but not least the need to establish data baselines for environmental quantity and quality.

Migration pattern of silver eel (Anguilla anguilla, L.) in an obstructed river system.

The downstream migration of European silver eels in the River Frémur was examined to determine the potential effects of the numerous migration barriers that exist on waterways in western France. The Frémur has a 14 m high dam which creates a 3 · 106 m3 water supply reservoir, 6 km from tidal limit. Based on 8-year records (1996–2004) of migrant silver eels captured in a Wolf trap located about 1 km below the dam, the influence of this dam on the migration was examined. These records indicate that 91% of silver eels were captured when the dam was overtopped (i.e. when the water reservoir was full). The timings of the overflow periods varied greatly between years mainly because they are function of the duration of the filling period which in turn is dependent on the level of summer water abstraction and annual hydrological conditions. Consequently, migration periods occurred at variable dates (between November and April) which is late in comparison with nonobstructed European river systems (generally between August and December). During overflow periods the migration of silver eels increased markedly during rain events (increasing river flow). This indicates that flow flushes, are essential so that settled silver eels can orientate themselves and pass over the dam. The hypothesis of a ‘dam effect’ that could stop temporarily or permanently some of silver eels in the reservoir is discussed. Finally, the influence of the migration delays on the condition of silver eels is considered

Propagated infra-slow intrinsic brain activity reorganizes across wake and slow wave sleep

Propagation of slow intrinsic brain activity has been widely observed in electrophysiogical studies of slow wave sleep (SWS). However, in human resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI), intrinsic activity has been understood predominantly in terms of zero-lag temporal synchrony (functional connectivity) within systems known as resting state networks (RSNs). Prior rs-fMRI studies have found that RSNs are generally preserved across wake and sleep. Here, we use a recently developed analysis technique to study propagation of infra-slow intrinsic blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals in normal adults during wake and SWS. This analysis reveals marked changes in propagation patterns in SWS vs. wake. Broadly, ordered propagation is preserved within traditionally defined RSNs but lost between RSNs. Additionally, propagation between cerebral cortex and subcortical structures reverses directions, and intra-cortical propagation becomes reorganized, especially in visual and sensorimotor cortices. These findings show that propagated rs-fMRI activity informs theoretical accounts of the neural functions of sleep

Líbano: um dos maiores receptores de refugiados do mundo

II Semana Acadêmica de Relações Internacionais foi realizada de 05 a 09 denovembro de 2017, na Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA)O artigo tem por objetivo analisar quais fatores fizeram do Líbano, um dos maiores receptores de refugiados do mundo, nos últimos dois séculos. Para isso, analisou-se três grandes ondas de refúgio, a armênica, a palestina e a síria. Defende-se que o Líbano é um importante destino de refúgio por alguns fatores determinantes, sua localização estratégica, estar situado em uma região "caótica" que convive com muitos conflitos armados, sua grande diversidade religiosa, a falta de políticas de imigração rigorosas para adentrar o país e seu sistema político interno que ampara a participação de grupos minoritários na vida política do paí