Ecological embeddedness: An interrogation and refinement of the concept within the context of alternative food networks in the UK

Among their many ‘alternative’ characteristics, food networks that seek to reconfigure the relationship between producers and consumers are understood as having the potential to be beneficial for the rural environment and landscape. One of the ways in which this characteristic has been conceptualised is through the notion of ‘ecological embeddedness’. Although the roots of this concept lie in economic sociology, where the social embeddedness of economic relations has been the focus of interest, agro-food researchers have extended its meaning to suggest that alternative or ‘quality’ food production can also be seen as increasingly embedded in ‘natural’ or ecological processes. However, this paper argues that until now the notion of ecological embeddedness has lacked conceptual clarity. As such, the aim is to interrogate and refine the concept of embeddedness, specifically as it pertains to ecologies within the context of food production on-farm. Ecological embeddedness, it is argued, must encompass more than just recognition of the general influence of the natural environment on economic activity. Specifically, it must reflect a change in the relations between economic actors and the natural environment that produces a benefit to both. The paper also establishes how the concept of ecological embeddedness might be operationalised in research practice as a means of exploring the ecological dimensions of alternative food networks. An illustration of this empirical application is provided. The paper concludes by asserting the value of ecological embeddedness as a concept, in spite of the observed limitations of embeddedness in other contexts and the challenges that are associated with its ecological application.     

The Multiple Control of Verbal Behavior

Amid the novel terms and original analyses in Skinner's Verbal Behavior, the importance of his discussion of multiple control is easily missed, but multiple control of verbal responses is the rule rather than the exception. In this paper we summarize and illustrate Skinner's analysis of multiple control and introduce the terms convergent multiple control and divergent multiple control. We point out some implications for applied work and discuss examples of the role of multiple control in humor, poetry, problem solving, and recall. Joint control and conditional discrimination are discussed as special cases of multiple control. We suggest that multiple control is a useful analytic tool for interpreting virtually all complex behavior, and we consider the concepts of derived relations and naming as cases in point.     

比较视野下的受教育权法律救济制度 优化路径

受教育权是现代宪法所确认的一项最重要的公民基本权利之一,有关受教育权的保障和救济成为当前的热点问题,一系列教育诉讼案引起了社会广泛的关注和热烈的讨论.受教育权的法律救济制度是教育法律纠纷解决机制中的重要组成部分,世界各国因文化传统、法律制度与技术以及教育体制的差异,其受教育权的法律救济制度也不尽相同.通过比较分析两大法系受教育权法律救济相关制度的设计、实践差异,借鉴域外先进的法律技术经验,可以对我国的制度优化有所裨益.     

行动、因果关系和自我——塞尔行动哲学述评

塞尔的行动哲学实际上论证了一个康德式的问题:自由行动如何可能?他将意向性和行动紧密联系起来,指出意向性引起行动,行动使意向性得到满足.这种关系是通过心理因果关系实现的.心理因果关系不同于一般的因果关系,它不是行动的充分条件.正因为如此,在行动中我们需要设定一个不可还原的非休谟式自我.塞尔的这种考察行动的方式避免了内省主义和行为主义的缺陷,推进了行动哲学的讨论.但其分析还显粗糙,有待我们的精细化.     

心身问题与决定论、自由意志

心身问题背后的根本症结是机械决定论与自由意志难以两全。一方面,西方近现代科学强调的机械决定论要求物理世界的因果封闭性,从而使自由意志无法作为一个真实的因素插入神经、肌肉等物理世界因果作用的链条之中,另一方面,道德、责任之可能又要求我们保留一种真实、而不仅是随附性的自由意志,这就构成了心身问题的两难处境。非决定论是自由意志的必要条件,但量子论等思想只是强调了主观认识论意义上的不可预测性,未能提供客观世界的、本体论意义上的非决定性。突现论中的下向因果则提供了一个突破决定论的可能,而自由意志也只能限定于认识及利用规律或必然。     

浅谈歌唱中的“怯场”心理

歌唱中出现的怯场现象是一种正常的心理状态，是客观存在的，不可避免的。我们要分析歌唱者怯场的原因，就要从技术和心理素质两方面着手。正确分析了怯场的原因，才能采取相应的措施来克服紧张，使演唱趋于成功。     

和谐社会应当是公平社会

和谐社会应当是公平社会。公平社会体现在政治法律、经济社会、教育卫生等各个方面。目前我国还存在着一些不公平的问题。这些问题的产生有复杂的原因,如政策导向、制度漏洞、体制弊端等等。社会不公有很多危害,如扩大贫富差距、引发社会危机、影响政权稳固等。解决社会不公问题的关键是深化各项改革,尤其是政治体制改革。     

Significance and impotence: towards a balanced view of the null and the alternative hypotheses in marker selection for plant breeding

Summary.  The isolation of DNA markers that are linked to interesting genes helps plant breeders to select parent plants that transmit useful traits to future generations. Such 'marker-assisted breeding and selection' heavily leans on statistical testing of associations between markers and a well-chosen trait. Statistical association analysis is guided by classical p -values or the false discovery rate and thus relies predominantly on the null hypothesis. The main concern of plant breeders, however, is to avoid missing an important alternative. To judge evidence from this perspective, we complement the traditional p -value with a one-sided 'alternative p -value' which summarizes evidence against a target alternative in the direction of the null hypothesis. This p -value measures 'impotence' as opposed to significance: how likely is it to observe an outcome as extreme as or more extreme than the one that was observed when data stem from the alternative? We show how a graphical inspection of both p -values can guide marker selection when the null and the alternative hypotheses have a comparable importance. We derive formal decision tools with balanced properties yielding different rejection regions for different markers. We apply our approach to study rye-grass plants.     

论黑社会性质组织犯罪的特点、原因及防控对策

目前,黑社会性质组织的犯罪的出现并迅猛发展已不是个别城市、地区的现象,而是我国许多省市都存在的事实,特别是在一些大中城市和沿海开放地区的黑社会性质组织犯罪的活动甚至相当猖獗。本文通过对黑社会性质组织犯罪的涵义、特点的阐述,分析了黑社会性质组织犯罪的原因,进而提出了预防和打击黑社会性质组织犯罪的对策。     

苯教的现状及其与社会的文化融合

作者在多年实地调查的基础上叙述了苯教的现状、苯教寺院的分布及其历史和文化原因。重点阐释了佛苯两教在显宗方面的融合,尤其是在内道关键教义上的融合完成了这两个宗教在教义上的最终合流,提出了苯教这种与传统藏族社会的主要意识形态的融合和顺应实际上减少了不同文化传统和思想流派之间的摩擦,起到了积极的社会效应的学术观点。