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Households have choices when it comes to reducing waste sent to landfills: reduction of consumption or packaging, reuse of goods purchased, or recycling. In this paper, we adopt a holistic approach to the analysis of these choices as separate but related facets of households' waste management behaviour. Theoretically, households produce waste as a by-product of their consumption and must then deal with it either by curbside disposal or by recycling. To the extent that managing additional waste is costly even if only in terms of time, households may also engage in waste prevention, that is, produce less waste by reducing their consumption level and/or changing their consumption patterns in favour of less waste-intensive products. As curbside disposal, waste prevention and recycling relate to the same problem and are linked via several constraints, we employ a three-equation mixed process estimation strategy which allows for the error terms of the three equations to be correlated. For the study, we rely on an original data set that permits defining waste prevention comprehensively from a list of 19 waste prevention activities, that provides for a more balanced policy representation (in terms of presence versus absence of unit pricing), and that covers a wide range of attitudinal elements, values, and norms. Given the richness of the data set, we also examine individuals' decisions over recyclable items that carry a refundable deposit in terms of both purchasing and returning habits, with particular attention to the interaction between a refundable deposit system and unit pricing.

Within the project MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water), long-term tropospheric water vapour isotopologue data records are provided for ten globally distributed ground-based mid-infrared remote sensing stations of the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change). We present a new method allowing for an extensive and straightforward characterisation of the complex nature of such isotopologue remote sensing datasets. We demonstrate that the MUSICA humidity profiles are representative for most of the troposphere with a vertical resolution ranging from about 2 km (in the lower troposphere) to 8 km (in the upper troposphere) and with an estimated precision of better than 10%. We find that the sensitivity with respect to the isotopologue composition is limited to the lower and middle troposphere, whereby we estimate a precision of about 30‰ for the ratio between the two isotopologues HD16O and H216O. The measurement noise, the applied atmospheric temperature profiles, the uncertainty in the spectral baseline, and the cross-dependence on humidity are the leading error sources. We introduce an a posteriori correction method of the cross-dependence on humidity, and we recommend applying it to isotopologue ratio remote sensing datasets in general. In addition, we present mid-infrared CO2 retrievals and use them for demonstrating the MUSICA network-wide data consistency. In order to indicate the potential of long-term isotopologue remote sensing data if provided with a well-documented quality, we present a climatology and compare it to simulations of an isotope incorporated AGCM (Atmospheric General Circulation Model). We identify differences in the multi-year mean and seasonal cycles that significantly exceed the estimated errors, thereby indicating deficits in the modeled atmospheric water cycle.

Notaris saat ini diperbolehkan melakukan sertifikasi dokumen elektronik. Kewenangan ini termaktub dalam Pasal 15 ayat (3) Undang-Undang Nomor 2 Tahun 2014 Tentang Jabatan Notaris. Selain mengesahkan akta, notaris juga dapat menyimpan berkas dalam bentuk file. Namun, tidak sedikit notaris yang masih enggan menggunakan teknologi untuk membuat dan mengesahkan sebuah akta dikarenakan adanya pertentangan antar pasal baik dalam Undang-Undang Jabatan Notaris sendiri maupun dengan pasal dalam Undang-Undang lainnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah akta yang menggunakan teknologi informatika memiliki kekuatan pembuktian layaknya akta autentik dan apakah sertifikasi elektronik yang dilakukan oleh notaris sejalan dengan tugas dan jabatan notaris. Metode penelitian yang digunakan yaitu jenis penelitian hukum normatif yang dilakukan dengan cara penelaahan bahan pustaka atau data sekunder dengan menggunakan pendekatan undang-undang dan pendekatan konseptual. Penelitian ini berfokus pada akta hasil Rapat Umum Pemegang Saham Luar Biasa PT. Lippo Karawaci. Tbk yang dilakukan melalui video konferensi pada tanggal 13 Oktober 2021. Adanya ketidaksepakatan dari beberapa pemegang saham atas sertifikasi yang dilakukan secara elektronik karena dinilai dapat membuat akta tersebut menjadi akta di bawah tangan. Selain adanya pertentangan antara pasal, hal ini juga disebabkan tidak adanya peraturan pelaksana terkait pembuatan akta melalui teknologi informasi (Cyber Notary) oleh notaris sehingga perlunya pengkajian ulang terhadap Undang-Undang terkait dan pembuatan peraturan pelaksana khusus cyber notary.

A growing body of literature on the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is becoming available, but a synthesis of available data has not been conducted. We performed a scoping review of currently available clinical, epidemiological, laboratory, and chest imaging data related to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, Scopus and LILACS from 01 January 2019 to 24 February 2020. Study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed by two independent reviewers. Qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis were conducted using the clinical and laboratory data, and random-e ects models were applied to estimate pooled results. A total of 61 studies were included (59,254 patients). The most common disease-related symptoms were fever (82%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 56%–99%; n = 4410), cough (61%, 95% CI 39%–81%; n = 3985), muscle aches and/or fatigue (36%, 95% CI 18%–55%; n = 3778), dyspnea (26%, 95% CI 12%–41%; n = 3700), headache in 12% (95% CI 4%–23%, n = 3598 patients), sore throat in 10% (95% CI 5%–17%, n = 1387) and gastrointestinal symptoms in 9% (95% CI 3%–17%, n=1744). Laboratory findings were described in a lower number of patients and revealed lymphopenia (0.93 109/L, 95% CI 0.83–1.03 109/L, n = 464) and abnormal C-reactive protein (33.72 mg/dL, 95% CI 21.54–45.91 mg/dL; n = 1637). Radiological findings varied, but mostly described ground-glass opacities and consolidation. Data on treatment options were limited. All-cause mortality was 0.3% (95% CI 0.0%–1.0%; n = 53,631). Epidemiological studies showed that mortality was higher in males and elderly patients. The majority of reported clinical symptoms and laboratory findings related to SARS-CoV-2 infection are non-specific. Clinical suspicion, accompanied by a relevant epidemiological history, should be followed by early imaging and virological assay.

We investigate the power of voting among diverse, randomized software agents. With teams of computer Go agents in mind, we develop a novel theoretical model of two-stage noisy voting that builds on recent work in machine learning. This model allows us to reason about a collection of agents with different biases (determined by the first-stage noise models), which, furthermore, apply randomized algorithms to evaluate alternatives and produce votes (captured by the second-stage noise models). We analytically demonstrate that a uniform team, consisting of multiple instances of any single agent, must make a significant number of mistakes, whereas a diverse team converges to perfection as the number of agents grows. Our experiments, which pit teams of computer Go agents against strong agents, provide evidence for the effectiveness of voting when agents are diverse.

I consider the model of a differentiated duopoly with process R&D when goods are either substitute, complements or independent. I propose a non-cooperative two-stage game with two firms producing differentiated goods. In the first stage, firms decide their technologies and in the second stage, they compete in quantities or prices. I evaluate the social welfare within a framework of Cournot and Bertrand competition models with or without investment in research and development. I prove that the Cournot price can be lower than Bertrand price when the R&D technology is relatively inefficient; thus, Cournot market structure can generate larger consumer's surplus and welfare.

We study the Shapley wage function, a wage scheme in which a worker's pay depends both on the number of hours worked and on the output of the firm. We then provide a way to measure the distance of an arbitrary wage scheme to this function in limited datasets. In particular, for a fixed technology and a given supply of labor, this distance is additively decomposable into violations of the classical axioms of efficiency, equal treatment of identical workers, and marginality. The findings have testable implications for the different ways in which popular wage schemes violate basic properties of distributive justice in market organizations. Applications to the linear contract and to other well-known compensation schemes are shown.

A graph drawing is greedy if, for every ordered pair of vertices (x,y), there is a path from x to y such that the Euclidean distance to y decreases monotonically at every vertex of the path. Greedy drawings support a simple geometric routing scheme, in which any node that has to send a packet to a destination "greedily" forwards the packet to any neighbor that is closer to the destination than itself, according to the Euclidean distance in the drawing. In a greedy drawing such a neighbor always exists and hence this routing scheme is guaranteed to succeed. In 2004 Papadimitriou and Ratajczak stated two conjectures related to greedy drawings. The greedy embedding conjecture states that every 3-connected planar graph admits a greedy drawing. The convex greedy embedding conjecture asserts that every 3-connected planar graph admits a planar greedy drawing in which the faces are delimited by convex polygons. In 2008 the greedy embedding conjecture was settled in the positive by Leighton and Moitra. In this paper we prove that every 3-connected planar graph admits a planar greedy drawing. Apart from being a strengthening of Leighton and Moitra's result, this theorem constitutes a natural intermediate step towards a proof of the convex greedy embedding conjecture.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama septynių Šiaurės Lietuvos miestelių heraldika, kurioje vaizduojami krikščioniški simboliai. Miestelio heraldiką sudaro jo herbas, herbinė vėliava, herbinis antspaudas. Herbas yra tiek vėliavos, tiek antspaudo pagrindas. Herbo figūra simbolizuoja tam tikrą reikšmę, suteikia daugiausiai informacijos apie herbo savininką. Taip pat atspindi tai, kas buvo svarbu jį sukūrusiems arba yra/turėtų būti svarbu jį šiandien naudojantiems miestelių gyventojams. Todėl straipsnyje stengiamasi ne tik trumpai pristatyti miestelių heraldikos kūrimo procesą, tačiau taip pat išnagrinėti ką šiandienos miestelių gyventojams reiškia toks jų miestelio herbas? Ar herbai su krikščioniškais simboliais gali užimti svarbią vietą XXI a. miestelėnų kultūrinėje atmintyje? Kokių veiksmų reikia imtis norint, kad šie herbai nebūtų užmiršti, nesuprasti? This article studies the coats of arms of seven small northern Lithuanian towns which depict Christian symbols. A town‘s heraldry comprises a coat of arms, an heraldic flag and an heraldic seal. The coat of arms forms the basis for both flag and seal. The heraldic device has a certain meaning and gives information about its owner. It also reflects what was important for those who obtained the arms and it should be important too for modern inhabitants of the towns. Therefore the study attempts not only to present a concise account of how urbam coats of arms were formed but also to examine what such coats of arms mean to townsfolk today. Can coats of arms with Christian devices occupy an important place in the cultural memory of people in small towns? What efforts should be made to ensure that such coats of arms are not forgotten or misunderstood?

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease of childhood. Our objective is to predict the results of remission so that those children who are likely to experience poor remission outcomes could benefit from early aggressive treatment. Many classification techniques could provide either a binary prediction or an estimated probability of remission. However, parents would like to know more specifically about the remission outcomes of children similar to their own. In this project, we propose a supervised clustering method that provides this information. Inspired by the basic idea of supervised principal component analysis, we perform supervision by selecting and/or weighting explanatory variables differently depending on their associations with the class response. Our supervised clustering method is applied to JIA data and to data simulated with known properties. Our method is shown to be competitive with an existing supervised clustering method, classification trees and random forests in terms of out-of-sample misclassification rates.