Search results for "Variety"

Recent Nordic research in mathematics education illustrated by examples from NORMA17

2021

A characterization of recent Nordic research in didactics of mathematics is presented based on the 32 research reports from the Nordic and Baltic countries in the proceedings from NORMA17 (The eighth Nordic conference on didactics of mathematics). Recent Nordic research in didactics of mathematics is observed from several aspects such as choice of problem, theory, method, result, and target for the message. The analyses of the papers on different levels and from a manifold of perspectives build up an image of what Nordic research in DM (didactics of mathematics) contains and represents currently. The closeness and cooperation between researchers in the Nordic countries is characteristic as …

Differential Identities and Varieties of Almost Polynomial Growth

2022

Let V be an L-variety of associative L-algebras, i.e., algebras where a Lie algebra L acts on them by derivations, and let c(n)(L) (V), n >= 1, be its Lcodimension sequence. If V is generated by a finite-dimensional L-algebra, then such a sequence is polynomially bounded only if V does not contain UT2, the 2 x 2 upper triangular matrix algebra with trivial L-action, and UT2 epsilon where L acts on UT2 as the 1-dimensional Lie algebra spanned by the inner derivation epsilon induced by e11. In this paper we completely classify all the L-subvarieties of var(L)(UT2) and var(L)(UT2 epsilon) by giving a complete list of finite-dimensional L-algebras generating them.

Interpretable Option Discovery Using Deep Q-Learning and Variational Autoencoders

2021

Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) is unquestionably a robust framework to train autonomous agents in a wide variety of disciplines. However, traditional deep and shallow model-free RL algorithms suffer from low sample efficiency and inadequate generalization for sparse state spaces. The options framework with temporal abstractions [18] is perhaps the most promising method to solve these problems, but it still has noticeable shortcomings. It only guarantees local convergence, and it is challenging to automate initiation and termination conditions, which in practice are commonly hand-crafted.

Boris Ephrussi and the Synthesis of Genetics and Embryology

1991

The career of Boris Ephrussi (1901–1979) presents a series of fascinating perspectives on the intellectual and sociological difficulties that plagued those who wished to reconcile genetics and embryology during the middle of this century (2–8). Ephrussi was born in a suburb of Moscow, but spent much of his working career in France, with important periods in the United States. He made major contributions to the rapprochement between genetics and developmental biology. His work, which we believe has been undervalued both by historians of biology and by subsequent generations of biologists, is worth studying for at least three reasons: 1. Throughout his long career, he sought an adequate causa…

THE EXPECTED DEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES ON THE PROVISION OF EDUCATION SERVICES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOODS OF RIGA

2020

This paper discusses the spatial extent of population change and provides new insights into the relationships between demographic characteristics and the provision of education services in urban neighbourhoods of Riga. Thus, our empirical evidence confirms that the provision of social infrastructure is fundamentally dependent on the nature of demographic processes. The aim of this paper is twofold: to explore the spatial extent of changes in the number of pre-school and school-aged children in Riga, and to assess how the demographic change of particular age cohorts are associated with the provision of educational establishments at the neighbourhood level. Using available statistics and base…

Ecological modernisation and discourses on rural non-wood bioenergy production in Finland from 1980 to 2005

2009

Abstract Rural bioenergy production is currently a much debated question worldwide. It is closely connected to questions of environmental protection and rural development in both developing and industrial world. In Finland, rural bioenergy production has traditionally meant the production of wood fuels for heating purposes. The utilisation of forest biomasses is undiminished even today, and other biomasses are scarcely used for energy production. The purpose of this article is to discuss the possibility of widening the bioenergy production palette to include biomasses other than forest-based woody ones. This matter is approached from an environmental aspect using the concept of ecological m…

A new variety of Diarthron (Thymelaeaceae) from Tajikistan

2013

About the Use of Tag Questions in Andean Spanish

2021

This paper aims to describe the use of tag questions in the variety of Andean Spanish spoken in Bolivia. In particular, it explores the tag questions that occur in the Corpus oral del español hablado por bilingües de aymara-español. The analysis consists of two levels. On the one hand, it describes the pragmatic functions of tag questions and identifies the correlation between their distribution and their pragmatic functions. On the other hand, it focuses on the impact that social factors (the speakers’ sex, age, and education) have on the frequency of the tags. Along these lines, it displays the lack of a general sociolinguistic trend in the use of tag questions, furthermore, it shows that…

The future of health communication : innovating through partnerships

2015

The Preamble of the Constitution of the World Health Organization reminds us that «Informed opinion and active cooperation on the part of the public are of the utmost importance in the improvement of the health of the people» (Grad, 2002). Nonetheless, nearly seven decades later, the conditions under which people can be informed and actively participate in their health management in a meaningful way are being globally challenged. Drawing from experience in a variety of areas that I will delve into in this article, I remain a believer that we can marshal the necessary forces to advance the communication of health issues and create a base for a health-literate population to make smart(er), he…

Quality of government and economic growth at the municipal level: Evidence from Spain

2021

This paper analyzes the relationship between quality of government and economic growth at the municipal level in 1,820 Spanish municipalities during the period 2008–2015. At this level of dis- aggregation, the literature is virtually non-existent due to severe data constraints. To address this limitation, we proxy institutional quality with a measure of local government efficiency, which provides an accurate indicator of how good local authorities are at managing their budgets. This variable is expected to be highly correlated with other more traditional quality of government indicators such as corruption. After computing our measure, we then use it in a growth regression framework. We find…