Biodiversity Economy and conservation territorialization: a pyrrhic strategy in Kwazulu-Natal

Post-apartheid Kwazulu-Natal is in the midst of ecological and social crises related to land ownership, resource control, minerals extraction, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. The environs of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park are a violent environment, where the immediate violence of an anti-poaching 'war' waged over fears of Rhinoceros extinction, is counter-posed to the slow violence permeating the lives of marginal rural residents affected by the externalities of coal mining. A range of struggles are waged against these challenges, but a hegemonic 'Biodiversity Economy' intervention has arisen, attended by projects aimed at territorializing conservation space and multiple-win scenarios. Based on four years of intermittent research in the area, this article critiques the territorialization of conservation, project outcomes, and commercialization efforts within the Umfozi Biodiversity Economy Node (UBEN). I contend that a biodiversity economy nodal approach extends neoliberal conservation strategies, and functions as a spatial aggregator to reterritorialize conservation land use over space and time. However, the findings suggest that, despite years of energy and investment there have only been limited individual successes in the UBEN, and a range of frustrations, compounded by COVID-19 complications. The analysis also highlights further costs and externalities of the initiative: as the UBEN exacerbates underlying tensions in Kwazulu-Natal's uneven conservation geography, and it aligns with problematic and often unrepresentative traditional authority structures and related accumulation networks. It is also complicit with the production of sacrificial spaces at the conservation-extraction nexus.In this context, I argue the UBEN is pyrrhic; that is, an outcome or goal strived for/achieved at too little reward and too high a cost. The article extends political-ecological critique of neoliberal conservation and the green economy to incorporate the framing and implementation of biodiversity economy nodal approaches – and their uneven and pyrrhic effects – in contested, crisis-ridden conservation contexts.

Epidemic Control and Resource Allocation: Approaches and Implications for the Management of COVID-19

The experience with COVID-19 underscores a classic public policy choice problem: how should policymakers determine how to allocate constrained budgets, limited equipment, under-resourced hospitals and stretched personnel to limit the spread of the virus. This article presents an overview of the general literature on resource allocation in epidemics and assess how it informs our understanding of COVID-19. We highlight the peculiarities of the pandemic that call for a rethinking of existing approaches to resource allocation. In particular, we analyse how the experience of COVID-19 informs our understanding and modelling of the optimal resource allocation problem in epidemics. Our delineation of the literature focuses on resource constraint as the key variable. A qualitative appraisal indicates that the current suit of models for understanding the resource allocation problem requires adaptations to advance our management of COVID-19 or similar future epidemics. Particularly under-studied areas include issues of uncertainty, potential for co-epidemics, the role of global connectivity, and resource constrained problems arising from depressed economic activity. Incorporating various global dimensions of COVID-19 into resource allocation modelling such a centralized versus decentralized resource control and the role of geostrategic interests could yield crucial insights. This will require multi-disciplinary approaches to the resource allocation problem. JEL Classifications: I14, I18, E61, D60, H4, H12

Propensity to intentional and unintentional mind-wandering differs in arousal and executive vigilance tasks

We typically observe a decrement in vigilance with time-on-task, which favors the propensity for mind-wandering, i.e., the shifting of attention from the task at hand to task-unrelated thoughts. Here, we examined participants’ mind-wandering, either intentional or unintentional, while performing vigilance tasks that tap different components of vigilance. Intentional mind-wandering is expected mainly when the arousal component is involved, whereas unintentional mind-wandering is expected mainly in tasks involving the executive component. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) assessed the arousal component, whereas the Sustained Attention to Response task (SART) assessed the executive component of vigilance. The two types of mind-wandering were probed throughout task execution. The results showed that the overall rate of mind-wandering was higher in the PVT than in the SART. Intentional mind-wandering was higher with the PVT than with the SART, whereas unintentional mind-wandering was higher with the SART than with the PVT. Regarding mind-wandering as a function of vigilance decrement with time-on-task, unintentional mind-wandering in the PVT increased between blocks 1 and 2 and then stabilized, whereas a progressive increase was observed in the SART. Regarding intentional mind-wandering, a progressive increase was only observed in the SART. The differential patterns of intentional and unintentional mind-wandering in both tasks suggest that, intentional mind wandering occurs mainly in arousal tasks in which propensity to mind-wander has little impact on task performance. However, unintentional mind-wandering occurs mainly in executive tasks as a result of a failure of cognitive control, which promotes attentional resources to be diverted toward mind-wandering. These results are discussed in the context of the resource-control model of mind-wandering.

The Orbital Channel Resource Control on NonMarkov Priority Systems of Mass Service Basis. Part 1.Operational Distribution Model

In work systems analysis of process of target functioning of the satellite command relay system (SCRS) in the conditions of a difficult radio-electronic situation is carried out. The carried-out analysis of perspectives of development of a subsystem of relaying of SKRS of orbital grouping of spacecrafts of remote sensing of Earth, allowed to draw a conclusion on features of a stage of coordination planning of the means of a subsystem of relaying consisting in distribution of SKRS the orbital channel resource (OCR) on the basis of the non-Markov priority systems of service. The model of operational distribution of ROC of a subsystem of relaying on the basis of the priority systems of service in which, unlike the known models, time of stay of the request in a system is limited is received, limits for a type of distribution of holding time of requests are lifted and also expression for calculation of the initial moments of distribution of waiting time of messages of different priorities is received. Use of model allows to evaluate the probability of untimely delivery of details and also to provide required figures of merit of service of priority flows and at the expense of it to provide the required connectivity and stability of SKRS in general.

Intelligent Resource Allocation Method for Wireless Communication Networks Based on Deep Learning Techniques

In this paper, a deep learning approach is used to conduct an in-depth study and analysis of intelligent resource allocation in wireless communication networks. Firstly, the concepts related to CSCN architecture are discussed and the throughput of small base stations (SBS) in CSCN architecture is analyzed; then, the long short-term memory network (LSTM) model is used to predict the mobile location of users, and the transmission conditions of users are scored based on two conditions, namely, the mobile location of users and whether the small base stations to which users are connected have their desired cache states, and the small base stations select the transmission. The small base station selects several users with optimal transmission conditions based on the scores; then, the concept of game theory is introduced to model the problem of maximizing network throughput as a multi-intelligent noncooperative game problem; finally, a deep augmented learning-based wireless resource allocation algorithm is proposed to enable the small base station to learn autonomously and select channel resources based on the network environment to maximize the network throughput. Simulation results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper leads to a significant improvement in network throughput compared to the traditional random-access algorithm and the algorithm proposed in the literature. In this paper, we apply it to the fine-grained resource control problem of user traffic allocation and find that the resource control technique based on the AC framework can obtain a performance very close to the local optimal solution of a matching-based proportional fair user dual connection algorithm with polynomial-level computational complexity. The resource allocation and task unloading decision policy optimization is implemented, and at the end of the training process, each intelligent body independently performs resource allocation and task unloading according to the current system state and policy. Finally, the simulation results show that the algorithm can effectively improve the quality of user experience and reduce latency and energy consumption.

Reconceptualizing mind wandering from a switching perspective

Mind wandering is a universal phenomenon in which our attention shifts away from the task at hand toward task-unrelated thoughts. Despite it inherently involving a shift in mental set, little is known about the role of cognitive flexibility in mind wandering. In this article we consider the potential of cognitive flexibility as a mechanism for mediating and/or regulating the occurrence of mind wandering. Our review begins with a brief introduction to the prominent theories of mind wandering—the executive failure hypothesis, the decoupling hypothesis, the process-occurrence framework, and the resource-control account of sustained attention. Then, after discussing their respective merits and weaknesses, we put forward a new perspective of mind wandering focused on cognitive flexibility, which provides an account more in line with the data to date, including why older populations experience a reduction in mind wandering. After summarizing initial evidence prompting this new perspective, drawn from several mind-wandering and task-switching studies, we recommend avenues for future research aimed at further understanding the importance of cognitive flexibility in mind wandering.

Resource Control and Secessionist Movements in Nigeria: Implications for National Unity and Development

The geographical entity called Nigeria came into existence on January 1, 1914, when the then Northern and Southern protectorates were merged. Since then, successive governments in the country have been trying to unite the diverse elements that make up the country, all to no avail. From the North and South, there have been called for the dismemberment of the country due to the failure of successive administrations to address the national questions. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines the issues confronting Nigeria’s unity and suggests a way forward. The paper is anchored on elite and frustration-aggression theories and relies on secondary sources of data. The paper contended that injustice, high-handedness, and marginalization of certain sections or regions of the country in the governance of the country accounted for resource control and secessionist movements in the country. The paper suggests justice and inclusiveness of all sections of the country in the affairs of the state, among others.