scholarly journals The Global Historical and Contemporary Impacts of Voluntary Membership Associations on Human Societies

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Horton Smith
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Past ◽  
Voluntary Membership ◽  
Global Impacts ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Membership Associations ◽  
The Universe

AbstractReviewed here is global research on how 13 types of Voluntary Membership Associations (MAs) have significantly or substantially had global impacts on human history, societies, and life. Such outcomes have occurred especially in the past 200+ years since the Industrial Revolution circa 1800 CE, and its accompanying Organizational Revolution. Emphasized are longer-term, historical, and societal or multinational impacts of MAs, rather than more micro-level (individual) or meso-level (organizational) outcomes. MAs are distinctively structured, with power coming from the membership, not top-down. The author has characterized MAs as the dark matter of the nonprofit/third sector, using an astrophysical metaphor. Astrophysicists have shown that most physical matter in the universe is dark in the sense of being unseen, not stars or planets.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Pacchioni
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Human Race ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Radical Transformation

About 10,000 years ago, at the beginning of the agriculturalrevolution, on the whole earth lived between 5 and 8 million hunter-gatherers, all belonging to the Homo sapiens species. Five thousand years later, freed from the primary needs for survival, some belonging to that species enjoyed the privilege of devoting themselves to philosophical speculation and the search for transcendental truths. It was only in the past two hundred years, however, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, that reaping nature’s secrets and answering fundamental questions posed by the Universe have become for many full-time activities, on the way to becoming a real profession. Today the number of scientists across the globe has reached and exceeded 10 million, that is, more than the whole human race 10,000 years ago. If growth continues at the current rate, in 2050 we will have 35 million people committed full-time to scientific research. With what consequences, it remains to be understood. For almost forty years I myself have been concerned with science in a continuing, direct, and passionate way. Today I perceive, along with many colleagues, especially of my generation, that things are evolving and have changed deeply, in ways unimaginable until a few years ago and, in some respects, not without danger. What has happened in the world of science in recent decades is more than likely a mirror of a similar and equally radical transformation taking place in modern society, particularly with the advent ...

Rediseñando las Organizaciones del Futuro. El impacto de la transformación digital en el mundo del trabajo

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Ricardo M. Piñeyro Prins ◽  
Guadalupe E. Estrada Narvaez
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
The People ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
The Way

We are witnessing how new technologies are radically changing the design of organizations, the way in which they produce and manage both their objectives and their strategies, and -above all- how digital transformation impacts the people who are part of it. Even today in our country, many organizations think that digitalizing is having a presence on social networks, a web page or venturing into cases of success in corporate social intranet. Others begin to invest a large part of their budget in training their teams and adapting them to the digital age. But given this current scenario, do we know exactly what the digital transformation of organizations means? It is necessary? Implying? Is there a roadmap to follow that leads to the success of this process? How are organizations that have been born 100% digital from their business conception to the way of producing services through the use of platforms? What role does the organizational culture play in this scenario? The challenge of the digital transformation of businesses and organizations, which is part of the paradigm of the industrial revolution 4.0, is happening here and now in all types of organizations, whether are they private, public or third sector. The challenge to take into account in this process is to identify the digital competences that each worker must face in order to accompany these changes and not be left out of it. In this sense, the present work seeks to analyze the main characteristics of the current technological advances that make up the digital transformation of organizations and how they must be accompanied by a digital culture and skills that allow their successful development. In order to approach this project, we will carry out an exploratory research, collecting data from the sector of new actors in the world of work such as employment platforms in its various areas (gastronomy, delivery, transportation, recreation, domestic service, etc) and an analysis of the main technological changes that impact on the digital transformation of organizations in Argentina.

The Kalam Cosmological Argument

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Lane Craig
Keyword(s):  
Space Time ◽  
Cosmological Argument ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Classical Space ◽  
Kalam Cosmological Argument ◽  
Kalām Cosmological Argument ◽  
The Universe

A survey of recent philosophical literature on the kalam cosmological argument reveals that arguments for the finitude of the past and, hence, the beginning of the universe remain robust. Plantinga’s brief criticisms of Kant’s argument in his First Antinomy concerning time are shown not to be problematic for the kalam argument. This chapter addresses, one by one, the two premises of the kalam, focusing on their philosophical aspects. The notion of infinity, both actual and potential, is discussed in relation to the coming into being of the universe. In addition, the scientific aspects of the two premises are also, briefly, addressed. Among these are the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem, which proves that classical space-time cannot be extended to past infinity but must reach a boundary at some time in the finite past. This, among other factors, lends credence to the kalam argument’s second premise.

Sleep in western culture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Ekirch
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Predominant Form ◽  
Artificial Illumination ◽  
Illness Anxiety

Although a universal necessity, sleep, as the past powerfully indicates, is not a biological constant. Before the Industrial Revolution, sleep in western households differed in a variety of respects from that of today. Arising chiefly from a dearth of artificial illumination, the predominant form of sleep was segmented, consisting of two intervals of roughly 3 hours apiece bridged by up to an hour or so of wakefulness. Notwithstanding steps taken by families to preserve the tranquillity of their slumber, the quality of pre-industrial sleep was poor, owing to illness, anxiety, and environmental vexations. Large portions of the labouring population almost certainly suffered from sleep deprivation. Despite the prevalence of sleep-onset insomnia, awakening in the middle of the night was thought normal. Not until the turn of the nineteenth century and sleep’s consolidation did physicians view segmented sleep as a disorder requiring medication.

The Long View of Planetary Systems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Milky Way Galaxy ◽  
Population Statistics ◽  
The Past ◽  
General Terms ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
The Universe

How many planetary systems formed before our’s did, and how many will form after? How old is the average exoplanet in the Galaxy? When did the earliest planets start forming? How different are the ages of terrestrial and giant planets? And, ultimately, what will the fate be of our Solar System, of the Milky Way Galaxy, and of the Universe around us? We cannot know the fate of individual exoplanets with great certainty, but based on population statistics this chapter sketches the past, present, and future of exoworlds and of our Earth in general terms.

The Shape of Time

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Time Travel ◽  
Arrow Of Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Traveler ◽  
Dimensional Shape ◽  
Manifold Theory ◽  
The Universe

This chapter is about the arrow or direction of time against the backdrop of the pure manifold theory. It is accepted that the fact that time has a direction ought to be explained. It is proposed that the arrow of time is grounded in deeper facts about the four-dimensional nature of each object in the manifold and in facts about the overall four-dimensional shape of the universe. Towards the end of the chapter the possibility of time travel is discussed. It is argued that time travel is metaphysically possible and that there is a reasonable and intelligible sense in which a time traveler can and cannot change the past, according to the pure manifold theory.

Disability and Work During the Industrial Revolution in Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Blackie
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Coal Industry ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Industrial Sites ◽  
The Past ◽  
Paid Employment

A common claim in disability studies is that industrialization has marginalized disabled people by limiting their access to paid employment. This claim is empirically weak and rests on simplified accounts of industrialization. Use of the British coal industry during the period 1780–1880 as a case study shows that reassessment of the effect of the Industrial Revolution is in order. The Industrial Revolution was not as detrimental to the lives of disabled people as has often been assumed. While utopian workplaces for disabled people hardly existed, industrial sites of work did accommodate quite a large number of workers with impairments. More attention therefore needs to be paid to neglected or marginalized features of industrial development in the theorization of disability. Drawing on historical research on disability in the industrial workplace will help scholars better understand the significance of industrialization to the lives of disabled people, both in the past and the present.

scholarly journals Taxonomy of Dark Energy Models

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Verónica Motta ◽  
Miguel A. García-Aspeitia ◽  
Alberto Hernández-Almada ◽  
Juan Magaña ◽  
Tomás Verdugo
Keyword(s):  
Dark Energy ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Accelerated Expansion ◽  
Energy Component ◽  
The Past ◽  
Energy Models ◽  
The Status ◽  
Expansion Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Unknown Component

The accelerated expansion of the Universe is one of the main discoveries of the past decades, indicating the presence of an unknown component: the dark energy. Evidence of its presence is being gathered by a succession of observational experiments with increasing precision in its measurements. However, the most accepted model for explaining the dynamic of our Universe, the so-called Lambda cold dark matter, faces several problems related to the nature of such energy component. This has led to a growing exploration of alternative models attempting to solve those drawbacks. In this review, we briefly summarize the characteristics of a (non-exhaustive) list of dark energy models as well as some of the most used cosmological samples. Next, we discuss how to constrain each model’s parameters using observational data. Finally, we summarize the status of dark energy modeling.

Performance Assessment Study of Indian Railways – Case of Low Efficiencies in Large Government Monopoly

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110255
Author(s):  
Sabyasachi S. Roy ◽  
Mukul Kulshrestha
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Rail Network ◽  
The Past ◽  
Assessment Study ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Financial Losses

Indian Railways is the world’s largest government-owned monopoly, annually carrying passenger numbers that surpass the global population. It is world’s fourth largest rail network after the U.S.A., China, and Russia, and is managed by a separate Ministry of Railways. The operating ratios have consistently been around 90% in the past several years, indicating that that the capability to generate operational surplus is low. Further, its expenditure on staff and their pensions has been increasing. Consequently, capacity growth is increasingly being funded through borrowings, which threatens to further worsen the financial situation. Thus, railway services in India are often perceived as being inefficient and unsatisfactory. However, this perception of inefficient services has no scientific basis as mid- and micro-level efficiency analyses of Indian Railways have never been carried out. This paper adopts a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based approach to evaluate the performance efficiencies of the 69 divisions of Indian Railways. Six models that deploy a range of performance indicators like operating expenditures, numbers of staff employed or passengers carried, freight carried, rail network length, and revenues generated have been employed to assess efficiencies. The results demonstrate the existence of significant inefficiencies that may possibly be attributed to lack of proper management, planning policies, and mis-governance, resulting in significant financial losses. The paper discusses these issues and the policy reforms needed in the developing country context, while suggesting some reforms that may lead to improved sector performances.

scholarly journals Flying Free: A Research Overview of Deep Learning in Drone Navigation Autonomy

Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Thomas Lee ◽  
Susan Mckeever ◽  
Jane Courtney
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Clear Definition ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
The Past ◽  
Computer Vision Applications ◽  
Definition Of

With the rise of Deep Learning approaches in computer vision applications, significant strides have been made towards vehicular autonomy. Research activity in autonomous drone navigation has increased rapidly in the past five years, and drones are moving fast towards the ultimate goal of near-complete autonomy. However, while much work in the area focuses on specific tasks in drone navigation, the contribution to the overall goal of autonomy is often not assessed, and a comprehensive overview is needed. In this work, a taxonomy of drone navigation autonomy is established by mapping the definitions of vehicular autonomy levels, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, to specific drone tasks in order to create a clear definition of autonomy when applied to drones. A top–down examination of research work in the area is conducted, focusing on drone navigation tasks, in order to understand the extent of research activity in each area. Autonomy levels are cross-checked against the drone navigation tasks addressed in each work to provide a framework for understanding the trajectory of current research. This work serves as a guide to research in drone autonomy with a particular focus on Deep Learning-based solutions, indicating key works and areas of opportunity for development of this area in the future.

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