Chimpanzees consider alternative possibilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (20) ◽  
pp. R1377-R1378
Author(s):  
Jan M. Engelmann ◽  
Christoph J. Völter ◽  
Cathal O’Madagain ◽  
Marina Proft ◽  
Daniel B.M. Haun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Possibilities

Integrating PET/CT unit into the NHS of a small sized EU state: A financial cost efficiency study

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Giannakou ◽  
D Kefallonitou ◽  
I Polycarpou ◽  
K Souliotis
Keyword(s):  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Financial Analysis ◽  
National Health System ◽  
Emission Tomography ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Financial Cost ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Pet Ct ◽  
Investment Cost ◽  
Two Alternatives

Abstract Background According to the Ministry of Health in Cyprus, since 2009, every year more than 3.000 new incidents with neoplasm are diagnosed. The National Health System (NHS) of Cyprus aims to offer adequate health services, comparing them with European Union standards. However, it is lacking a Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET/CT) unit. The present study aims to examine whether an investment by the Cyprus NHS of a PET/CT unit can be financially sustainable. Methods A financial analysis of the operating revenues and expenses of a departmental PET/CT with F18-FDG was performed taking into consideration all related parameters. A detailed estimation of the unit's operation expenses (PET/CT unit supply, overheads, salaries, etc.) and incomes was produced for a 15-year period. This initial scenario was not financially viable and therefore two alternatives are also examined. Results After performing a detailed analysis and projection for the evaluation of the feasibility study in the initial scenario, the overall outcome is estimated negative deriving to a €2,2 million losses in the cumulative results by 2035. The second scenario concluded that the required number of incidents to reach a neutral cash flow after a 15-year period should increase from 8.971 to 23.430. The third scenario reached the conclusion that a parallel investment to the purchase of the PET/CT unit by installing a cyclotron unit in the Cypriot NHS provides cumulative results positive of €1,7 million for the PET/CT, in the same period, that can finance the largest part of the €2,5 million required for the installation of the cyclotron unit. Conclusions Our findings show that an investment of a sole PET/CT unit is not a financially viable. Alternative possibilities such as usage of a PET/CT operated by the private sector or supporting patients to travel to another country are within the economic terms recommended. Key messages From a financial viewpoint, the scenario of investing in a PET/CT unit by the Cyprus NHS is not viable. Examining alternative options for patients in need of a PET/CT unit, where the initial investment cost for the state is not financially viable.

scholarly journals Problems of Powering End Devices in Wireless Networks of the Internet of Things

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2417
Author(s):  
Andrzej Michalski ◽  
Zbigniew Watral
Keyword(s):  
Wireless Sensor Networks ◽  
Sensor Networks ◽  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Internet Of Things

This article presents the problems of powering wireless sensor networks operating in the structures of the Internet of Things (IoT). This issue was discussed on the example of a universal end node in IoT technology containing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. The basic methods of signal transmission in these types of networks are discussed and their impact on the basic requirements such as range, transmission speed, low energy consumption, and the maximum number of devices that can simultaneously operate in the network. The issue of low power consumption of devices used in IoT solutions is one of the main research objects. The analysis of possible communication protocols has shown that there is a possibility of effective optimization in this area. The wide range of power sources available on the market, used in nodes of wireless sensor networks, was compared. The alternative possibilities of powering the network nodes from Energy Harvesting (EH) generators are presented.

Compatibilist Alternatives

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Keim Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Traditional Theory ◽  
Van Inwagen ◽  
Source Theory

This paper is a defense of traditional compatibilism. Traditional compatibilism is, roughly, the view that (a) free will is essential to moral responsibility, (b) free will requires alternative possibilities of action, or alternatives for short, and (c) moral responsibility is compatible with determinism. Traditional compatibilism is a version of the traditional theory of free will. According to the traditional theory, a person S performed an action a freely only if S could have done otherwise, that is, only if S had alternatives. The traditional theory is often contrasted with the source theory: S performed a freely only if S was the source of a (McKenna 2001; Pereboom 2003). One may adopt a combined view of free will that sanctions both the traditional and source theories (Kane 1996, 72-3; van Inwagen 1983). As I use the terms ‘source theorist’ and ‘traditional theorist,’ the former refers to folks who accept the source theory and reject the traditional theory; the latter refers to folks who accept the traditional theory whether or not they accept the source theory.

scholarly journals Genetic Analysis of Pathway Specificity during Posttranslational Protein Translocation across the Escherichia coli Plasma Membrane

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (9) ◽  
pp. 2811-2819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natascha Blaudeck ◽  
Peter Kreutzenbeck ◽  
Roland Freudl ◽  
Georg A. Sprenger
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Signal Peptide ◽  
Protein Translocation ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Sec Pathway ◽  
Twin Arginine Translocation ◽  
Tat Pathway ◽  
Arginine Residues ◽  
Dependent Protein

ABSTRACT In Escherichia coli, the SecB/SecA branch of the Sec pathway and the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway represent two alternative possibilities for posttranslational translocation of proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane. Maintenance of pathway specificity was analyzed using a model precursor consisting of the mature part of the SecB-dependent maltose-binding protein (MalE) fused to the signal peptide of the Tat-dependent TorA protein. The TorA signal peptide selectively and specifically directed MalE into the Tat pathway. The characterization of a spontaneous TorA signal peptide mutant (TorA*), in which the two arginine residues in the c-region had been replaced by one leucine residue, showed that the TorA*-MalE mutant precursor had acquired the ability for efficiently using the SecB/SecA pathway. Despite the lack of the “Sec avoidance signal,” the mutant precursor was still capable of using the Tat pathway, provided that the kinetically favored Sec pathway was blocked. These results show that the h-region of the TorA signal peptide is, in principle, sufficiently hydrophobic for Sec-dependent protein translocation, and therefore, the positively charged amino acid residues in the c-region represent a major determinant for Tat pathway specificity. Tat-dependent export of TorA-MalE was significantly slower in the presence of SecB than in its absence, showing that SecB can bind to this precursor despite the presence of the Sec avoidance signal in the c-region of the TorA signal peptide, strongly suggesting that the function of the Sec avoidance signal is not the prevention of SecB binding; rather, it must be exerted at a later step in the Sec pathway.

Americans' Social Policy Preferences in the Era of Rising Inequality

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie McCall ◽  
Lane Kenworthy
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Series Data

Rising income inequality has been a defining trend of the past generation, yet we know little about its impact on social policy formation. We evaluate two dominant views about public opinion on rising inequality: that Americans do not care much about inequality of outcomes, and that a rise in inequality will lead to an increase in demand for government redistribution. Using time series data on views about income inequality and social policy preferences in the 1980s and 1990s from the General Social Survey, we find little support for these views. Instead, Americans do tend to object to inequality and increasingly believe government should act to redress it, but not via traditional redistributive programs. We examine several alternative possibilities and provide a broad analytical framework for reinterpreting social policy preferences in the era of rising inequality. Our evidence suggests that Americans may be unsure or uninformed about how to address rising inequality and thus swayed by contemporaneous debates. However, we also find that Americans favor expanding education spending in response to their increasing concerns about inequality. This suggests that equal opportunity may be more germane than income redistribution to our understanding of the politics of inequality.

scholarly journals Role of the national energy system modelling in the process of the policy development

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matevz Pusnik ◽  
Boris Sucic ◽  
Andreja Urbancic ◽  
Stane Merse
Keyword(s):  
System Analysis ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Calculated Data ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Small Energy ◽  
New Approach

Strategic planning and decision making, nonetheless making energy policies and strategies, is very extensive process and has to follow multiple and often contradictory objectives. During the preparation of the new Slovenian Energy Programme proposal, complete update of the technology and sector oriented bottom up model of Reference Energy and Environmental System of Slovenia (REES-SLO) has been done. During the redevelopment of the REES-SLO model trade-off between the simulation and optimisation approach has been done, favouring presentation of relations between controls and their effects rather than the elusive optimality of results which can be misleading for small energy systems. Scenario-based planning was integrated into the MESAP (Modular Energy System Analysis and Planning) environment, allowing integration of past, present and planned (calculated) data in a comprehensive overall system. Within the paper, the main technical, economic and environmental characteristics of the Slovenian energy system model REES-SLO are described. This paper presents a new approach in modelling relatively small energy systems which goes beyond investment in particular technologies or categories of technology and allows smooth transition to low carbon economy. Presented research work confirms that transition from environment unfriendly fossil fuelled economy to sustainable and climate friendly development requires a new approach, which must be based on excellent knowledge of alternative possibilities of development and especially awareness about new opportunities in exploitation of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

The demoralization of society and the proliferation of organization

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Rachlitz ◽  
Benjamin Grossmann-Hensel ◽  
Ronja Friedl
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Love Relationships ◽  
Social Forms ◽  
Or Organization ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeIn this paper, the authors aim to clarify the relationship between organization and society. They argue that the proliferation of organization in modernity has not yet been properly understood in light of the absence of organization in premodern times. The authors therefore ask: Why do organizations proliferate? Why do they proliferate in such manifold organizational forms? And how can these heterogeneous forms nevertheless be related to a common problem to which organizations provide a solution? A comparative historical analysis based on the theory of social systems reveals that organizations fill a gap which the decline of morality as an integrative success medium created.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a conceptual framework focusing on the theory of media within Luhmann’s theory of social systems as a point of departure. The authors discuss the concept of “interpenetration” to assess the relation between morality and organization. They raise several follow-up questions for future empirical research, most prominently pertaining to the relationship between organization and digitalization.FindingsThe main finding is that morality can be conceptualized as a specific success medium (alongside religion and symbolically generalized communication media) which used to structure premodern societies by means of social and interhuman interpenetration at once. Modern society instead employs two differentiated forms of interpenetration: Social interpretation through organizations and interhuman interpenetration through love relationships. These centripetal counterforces help to mediate the centrifugal forces unleashed by the full development of modern success media. Modern society critically depends on the proliferation of organizations.Originality/valueThis paper examines the relationship between morality and organization not from the perspective of interaction or organization, but from the perspective of society. This approach provides novel insights in that it opens up promising avenues of comparison between organization and other social forms. Understanding the distinctively modern “success story” of organization as a social form makes it possible to ask about corresponding potentials and limitations, but also alternative possibilities. In doing so, the authors depart from most studies of organizations grounded in social systems theory as the authors primarily focus on Luhmann’s theory of media (as opposed to the theory of differentiation).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document