What is Autonomy?

A system is autonomous if it uses its own information to modify itself and its environment to enhance its survival, responding to both environmental and internal stimuli to modify its basic functions to increase its viability. Autonomy is the foundation of functionality, intentionality and meaning. Autonomous systems accommodate the unexpected through self-organizing processes, together with some constraints that maintain autonomy. Early versions of autonomy, such as autopoiesis and closure to efficient cause, made autonomous systems dynamically closed to information. This contrasts with recent work on open systems and information dynamics. On our account, autonomy is a matter of degree depending on the relative organization of the system and system environment interactions. A choice between third person openness and first person closure is not required

Density versus Quality in Health Care Provision: Using Household Data to Make Budgetary Choices in Ethiopia

Usage of health facilities in Ethiopia is among the lowest in the world; raising usage rates is probably critical for improving health outcomes. The government has diagnosed the principal problem as the lack of primary health facilities and is devoting a large share of the health budget to building more facilities. But household data suggest that usage of health facilities is sensitive not just to the distance to the nearest facility but also to the quality of health care provided. If the quality of weak facilities were raised to the quality currently provided by the majority of facilities in Ethiopia, usage would rise significantly. National data suggest that, given the current density and quality of service provision, additional expenditure on improving the quality of service delivery will be more cost effective than increasing the density of service provision. The budget allocation rule presented in the article can help local policymakers make decisions about how to allocate funds between improving the quality of care and decreasing the distance to the nearest health care facility.

Density versus quality in health care provision: Using household data to make budgetary choices in Ethiopia

Usage of health facilities in Ethiopia is among the lowest in the world; raising usage rates is probably critical for improving health outcomes. The government has diagnosed the principal problem as the lack of primary health facilities and is devoting a large share of the health budget to building more facilities. But household data suggest that usage of health facilities is sensitive not just to the distance to the nearest facility but also to the quality of health care provided. If the quality of weak facilities were raised to the quality currently provided by the majority of facilities in Ethiopia, usage would rise significantly. National data suggest that, given the current density and quality of service provision, additional expenditure on improving the quality of service delivery will be more cost effective than increasing the density of service provision. The budget allocation rule presented in the article can help local policymakers make decisions about how to allocate funds between improving the quality of care and decreasing the distance to the nearest health care facility.

The importance of ideas: an a priori critical juncture framework

This paper sets out an improved framework for examining critical junctures. This framework, while rigorous and broadly applicable and an advance on the frameworks currently employed, primarily seeks to incorporate an a priori element. Until now the frameworks utilized in examining critical junctures were entirely postdictive. Adding a predictive element to the concept will constitute a significant advance. The new framework, and its predictive element, termed the “differentiating factor,” is tested here in examining macro-economic crises and subsequent changes in macro-economic policy, in America and Sweden

The resilience of indigenous knowledge in small-scale African agriculture: key drivers

The successful use of indigenous knowledge (IK) in development practice in rural Africa over the last couple of decades has proved to be elusive and disappointing. Using empirical field data from northern Malawi, this study suggests that the two key drivers for farmers in this area are household food security and the maintenance of soil fertility. Indigenous ways of knowing underpin the agricultural system which has been developed, rather than the adoption of more modern, ‘scientific’ ways, to deliver against these drivers. Such IKs, however, are deeply embedded in the economic, social and cultural environments in which they operate

Training and Establishment Survival

We investigate the relationship between training and the likelihood of commercial survival over a 7-year period, using a survey of British establishments. We find that in stablishments of 200 or more employees, increased training of those in Professional, Sales, and Clerical and Secretarial occupations is associated with a greater chance of survival. In smaller establishments of less than 200 employees, increased training for Operatives and Assembly workers, Personal and Protective Service workers, and Craft and Technical workers is associated with better chances of survival. We interpret these findings as suggesting that training for these groups generated above-normal returns and indicates under-investment in training by such firms. There is no evidence to suggest under-investment in management training.training, survival, economic performance

Nucleosynthesis: Stellar and Solar Abundances and Atomic Data

Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the earliest generations of stars in the Galaxy -- the progenitors of the halo stars -- responsible for neutron-capture synthesis. Comparisons of abundance trends can be used to understand the chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the nature of heavy element nucleosynthesis. In addition age determinations, based upon long-lived radioactive nuclei abundances, can now be obtained. These stellar abundance determinations depend critically upon atomic data. Improved laboratory transition probabilities have been recently obtained for a number of elements. These new gf values have been used to greatly refine the abundances of neutron-capture elemental abundances in the solar photosphere and in very metal-poor Galactic halo stars. The newly determined stellar abundances are surprisingly consistent with a (relative) Solar System r-process pattern, and are also consistent with abundance predictions expected from such neutron-capture nucleosynthesis.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. To appear in the Proceedings of the NASA Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop in Las Vegas, NV (February 2006

Education, training and economic performance: Evidence from establishment survival data

We consider the links between training, the quality of labour and establishment performance, using a proxy for performance, commercial survival. We develop a model in which managers have varying beliefs about the efficacy of education and training, leading to potential variation in the optimal provision of education and training. Between 1998 and 2004, 16% of private sector establishments in Britain with at least 5 employees closed down. Our principal new findings are, first, that establishments which train at least some experienced employees in the largest occupational group are 13 percentage points more likely to survive; second, that establishments are more likely to survive if they employ more educated labour; third, however, among establishments that do train, the survival prospects are not altered by the duration of training per employee. We infer from these findings that government policy aimed at encouraging more employer-sponsored training without deploying regulation or subsidy should focus on employers that do not train at all

Does microbicide use in consumer products promote antimicrobial resistance? A critical review and recommendations for a cohesive approach to risk assessment

The increasing use of microbicides in consumer products is raising concerns related to enhanced microbicide resistance in bacteria and potential cross resistance to antibiotics. The recently published documents on this topic from the European Commission have spawned much interest to better understand the true extent of the putative links for the benefit of the manufacturers, regulators, and consumers alike. This white paper is based on a 2-day workshop (SEAC-Unilever, Bedford, United Kingdom; June 2012) in the fields of microbicide usage and resistance. It identifies gaps in our knowledge and also makes specific recommendations for harmonization of key terms and refinement/standardization of methods for testing microbicide resistance to better assess the impact and possible links with cross resistance to antibiotics. It also calls for a better cohesion in research in this field. Such information is crucial to developing any risk assessment framework on microbicide use notably in consumer products. The article also identifies key research questions where there are inadequate data, which, if addressed, could promote improved knowledge and understanding to assess any related risks for consumer and environmental safety