Extracting finite structure from infinite language

This paper presents a novel connectionist memory-rule based model capable of learning the finite-state properties of an input language from a set of positive examples. The model is based upon an unsupervised recurrent self-organizing map [T. McQueen, A. Hopgood, J. Tepper, T. Allen, A recurrent self-organizing map for temporal sequence processing, in: Proceedings of Fourth International Conference in Recent Advances in Soft Computing (RASC2002), Nottingham, 2002] with laterally interconnected neurons. A derivation of functionalequivalence theory [J. Hopcroft, J. Ullman, Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation, vol. 1, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1979] is used that allows the model to exploit similarities between the future context of previously memorized sequences and the future context of the current input sequence. This bottom-up learning algorithm binds functionally related neurons together to form states. Results show that the model is able to learn the Reber grammar [A. Cleeremans, D. Schreiber, J. McClelland, Finite state automata and simple recurrent networks, Neural Computation, 1 (1989) 372–381] perfectly from a randomly generated training set and to generalize to sequences beyond the length of those found in the training set

Competing biosecurity and risk rationalities in the Chittagong poultry commodity chain, Bangladesh

This paper anthropologically explores how key actors in the Chittagong live bird trading network perceive biosecurity and risk in relation to avian influenza between production sites, market maker scenes and outlets. They pay attention to the past and the present, rather than the future, downplaying the need for strict risk management, as outbreaks have not been reported frequently for a number of years. This is analysed as ‘temporalities of risk perception regarding biosecurity’, through Black Swan theory, the idea that unexpected events with major effects are often inappropriately rationalized (Taleb in The Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable, Random House, New York, 2007). This incorporates a sociocultural perspective on risk, emphasizing the contexts in which risk is understood, lived, embodied and experienced. Their risk calculation is explained in terms of social consent, practical intelligibility and convergence of constraints and motivation. The pragmatic and practical orientation towards risk stands in contrast to how risk is calculated in the avian influenza preparedness paradigm. It is argued that disease risk on the ground has become a normalized part of everyday business, as implied in Black Swan theory. Risk which is calculated retrospectively is unlikely to encourage investment in biosecurity and, thereby, points to the danger of unpredictable outlier events

Distribution of Nature-based Solutions in cities across Europe

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) is a conceptual framework that seeks to use properties of nature to co-produce ecosystem services to build climate change resilience and improve quality of life by mitigating the relationship between health inequality and socio-economic adversity. This study investigates how the distribution of these forms of urban nature relate to trends in demographic change and social and economic indicators that influence material aspects of quality of life (QoL) in cities. Using macro-scale spatial mapping and descriptive pattern identification, we examine the relationship of distribution trends in the key characteristics of NBS across European cities and social and material factors that influence QoL. Our findings suggest that less than 6% of NBS aim to address poverty or deprivation and fewer than 25% relate to housing or neighbourhood regeneration. We argue inattention to the complex intersectional relationship of socio-economic disparities, historical structural conditions, and the impact of changes to the structural policy on economic convergence across regions leading to the concept being used to address green-growth imperatives in Western Europe rather than mitigate inequalities across eastern and parts of Southern Europe. Failure to address these considerations in the design and deployment of NBS could lead to cities reinforcing or even worsening inequalities within deprived communities, particularly in these areas.</p

Finding feasible action towards urban transformations

While innovative approaches to urban transformations are increasingly proposed, scholars often overlook challenges faced by endogenous actors (e.g. urban planners) tasked with taking action within non-ideal, real-world settings. Here we argue that an ‘inside’ view of transformations (focused on judgment in practice) is needed to complement existing ‘outside’ views (focused on assessment), where the feasibility of action becomes a central concern. This recasts urban transformations in a discretised perspective. It suggests a view of transformation pathways as both directed and stochastic, and emergent from an unfolding series of ‘fuzzy action moments’. Principles for bridging urban science and planning are derived.Peer reviewe

The Kepler-10 planetary system revisited by HARPS-N: A hot rocky world and a solid Neptune-mass planet

Kepler-10b was the first rocky planet detected by the Kepler satellite and con- firmed with radial velocity follow-up observations from Keck-HIRES. The mass of the planet was measured with a precision of around 30%, which was insufficient to constrain models of its internal structure and composition in detail. In addition to Kepler-10b, a second planet transiting the same star with a period of 45 days was sta- tistically validated, but the radial velocities were only good enough to set an upper limit of 20 Mearth for the mass of Kepler-10c. To improve the precision on the mass for planet b, the HARPS-N Collaboration decided to observe Kepler-10 intensively with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo on La Palma. In to- tal, 148 high-quality radial-velocity measurements were obtained over two observing seasons. These new data allow us to improve the precision of the mass determina- tion for Kepler-10b to 15%. With a mass of 3.33 +/- 0.49 Mearth and an updated radius of 1.47 +0.03 -0.02 Rearth, Kepler-10b has a density of 5.8 +/- 0.8 g cm-3, very close to the value -0.02 predicted by models with the same internal structure and composition as the Earth. We were also able to determine a mass for the 45-day period planet Kepler-10c, with an even better precision of 11%. With a mass of 17.2 +/- 1.9 Mearth and radius of 2.35 +0.09 -0.04 Rearth, -0.04 Kepler-10c has a density of 7.1 +/- 1.0 g cm-3. Kepler-10c appears to be the first strong evidence of a class of more massive solid planets with longer orbital periods.Comment: 44 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Redefining co-design for social-ecological research and practice:A systematic literature review

Collaborative processes such as co-design are increasingly crucial in generating social-ecological research and practice. Fostering change within complex adaptive systems requires collaboratively working with real-world actors or stakeholders to resolve complicated issues. Co-design is a distinct and fundamental component of the co-paradigm, a collective term for co-design, co-production, and co-creation. However, scientific literature currently provides limited definitions of the key concepts within the co-paradigm, leading to misinterpretations or inconsistent usage. Improving the clarity of these definitions is essential because it permits scientific progress and better implementation of processes and engagement in practice. To address this gap, the following paper presents research which critically examines the practice of co-design through a systematic literature review. Using a systematic approach, this study identifies fifty-two papers with empirical methodologies, which are thematically analysed to understand the purpose and process of the co-design approach within social-ecological research and practice. The paper identifies effective co-design methods and discusses the implications of their utilisation within social-ecological study and practice. The review also identifies and examines definitions of co-design and the challenges of implementing a co-design approach, highlighting potential solutions. The paper concludes by proposing an integrative definition of co-design to further understand and enhance the process's implementation within social-ecological systems. The definition proposed in this paper can serve as a roadmap for researchers and practitioners aiming to use co-design as part of sustainable transformation efforts in social-ecological systems.</p

Exploring urban novel ecosystems:Understandings, insights and recommendations for future research and practice

Novel ecosystems are those that have been altered by human activities and have afterwards experienced abandonment or human disuse, allowing for a new assemblage of species to establish. In urban areas, these ecosystems, are commonly found in post-industrial sites, vacant lots, and other unmanaged spaces. The informality of these ecosystems, assumptions of their low ecological value, and associations with negative attributes continue to prevent recognition of their social-ecological value. Although research in the last decade has started to show the potential of novel ecosystems to address several challenges such as biodiversity loss, there remains a need to understand what areas of research are needed to progress our understanding of these ecosystems in urban areas. This paper uses a modified Delphi methodology, in which a panel of knowledge-holders provided their understandings and insights of urban novel ecosystems. Through this process, we distilled key questions for future research and practice that should drive the investigation of these wild ecosystems for improved decision-making. This study sets out recommendations on how to progress the research questions as part of urban transformative agendas in which urban novel ecosystems offer new possibilities for climate experimentation, social-ecological stewardship and biodiversity conservation.</p

Urban novel ecosystems as affective landscapes

Intertwined within a patchwork of different types of land use and land cover, novel ecosystems are urban ecosystems that have no historical analogues and contain novel species assemblages. Some researchers and practitioners in the field of conservation and restoration regard urban novel ecosystems unworthy of concern, while other groups call for their preservation due to the rate of biodiversity loss in cities and limited access to nature among some social groups. However, very little is known about how people perceive novel ecosystems (such as informal green spaces, post-industrial or derelict land sites awaiting redevelopment, brownfield sites, vacant lots, interstitial or gap spaces) which are often characterised by assemblages of wild, spontaneous, and overgrown vegetation, but also remanent or derelict urban infrastructure in cities. This paper addresses this gap by firstly asking how people percieve assemblages of wild-looking vegetation and urban infrastructure often found in novel ecosystems and how our affective and aesthetic responses to these ecosystems affects our attitudes towards wildness in cities. To begin to unpack this question, we obtain data from a series of exploratory workshops held in four cities in the global north where we asked people ‘what is urban nature?’ Our findings suggest that value judgements that people ascribe to novel ecosystems are often deeply polarised, but they are influenced by different ecological and urban conditions that people encounter within them. However, some negative perceptions about novel ecosystems may be mediated by situational cues; these situational cues could have important implications for rewilding and restoration programmes that aim to reconnect urban communities with nature through socio-ecological stewardship. To conclude, areas for further research that could improve our understanding of the social values of novel ecosystems in cities and the influence that these ecosystems may have on affective encounters with urban nature are proposed.</p

State history and economic development: evidence from six millennia

The presence of a state is one of the most reliable historical predictors of social and economic development. In this article, we complete the coding of an extant indicator of state presence from 3500 BCE forward for almost all but the smallest countries of the world today. We outline a theoretical framework where accumulated state experience increases aggregate productivity in individual countries but where newer or relatively inexperienced states can reach a higher productivity maximum by learning from the experience of older states. The predicted pattern of comparative development is tested in an empirical analysis where we introduce our extended state history variable. Our key finding is that the current level of economic development across countries has a hump-shaped relationship with accumulated state history