We study equilibrium configurations of swarming biological organisms subject to exogenous and pairwise endogenous forces. Beginning with a discrete dynamical model, we derive a variational description of the corresponding continuum population density. Equilibrium solutions are extrema of an energy functional and satisfy a Fredholm integral equation. We find conditions for the extrema to be local minimizers, global minimizers, and minimizers with respect to infinitesimal Lagrangian displacements of mass. In one spatial dimension, for a variety of exogenous forces, endogenous forces, and domain configurations, we find exact analytical expressions for the equilibria. These agree closely with numerical simulations of the underlying discrete model. The exact solutions provide a sampling of the wide variety of equilibrium configurations possible within our general swarm modeling framework. The equilibria typically are compactly supported and may contain δ-concentrations or jump discontinuities at the edge of the support. We apply our methods to a model of locust swarms, which in nature are observed to consist of a concentrated population on the ground separated from an airborne group. Our model can reproduce this configuration; quasi-two-dimensionality of the model plays a critical role.

The ‘Reform of the State’ is one of the recurrent themes in French politics, but it is deeply ambivalent. Understanding the causes or independent variables of state reform cannot be dissociated from understanding the core narratives that are used to justify the reform process. In this article we observe processes of state reform since the late 1980s through the lens of two rather different forms of justification that are labelled as public service and state productivity. Though there are some similarities between the two, they represent distinct ways of understanding the nature and scope of the State and the weighting of endogenous and exogenous forces driving the reform process itself. While state reform is a by-product of the public services narrative, it occupies a central role in that of state productivity. Crucially, for the purposes of this article, they take a different stance towards new public management, which is firmly resisted in the public services narrative as foreign to French political and administrative traditions, but forms a central theme in accounts of state productivity.

Stephen Sanderson’s (2005) ‘World-systems analysis after thirty years: Should it rest in peace?’ raised the prospect of an area of scholarship that had run its course. We answer the five main criticisms that he asserts against world-systems analysis: the primacy of exogenous over endogenous forces; teleology and reification; an incorrect understanding of the role of foreign investment; an inaccurate analysis of long-term trends of inequality; and, a misinterpretation of state socialism. As we respond to his criticisms, we find that while some of his arguments have merit, particularly against the relatively narrow form of world-systems analysis that he considered, his assumption of methodological individualism runs counter to the epistemological position of most world-systems scholars. Our review of the field finds it to be evolving and expanding into new realms that no do not suffer from the deficiencies Sanderson identified. Indeed, now at 35 years and counting, world-systems analysis is not dying, it is thriving.

Height of female Americans in the 19th century and the antebellum puzzle

DOI: 10.17014/ijog.v5i3.103The horizontal configuration and vertical dimension of the landforms occurring in the tectonically unstable parts of Indonesia were resulted in the first place from plate tectonics. Most of them date from the Quaternary and endogenous forces are ongoing. Three major plates – the northward moving Indo-Australian Plate, the south-eastward moving SE-Asian Plate and the westward moving Pacific Plate - meet at a plate triple-junction situated in the south of New Guinea’s Bird’s Head. The narrow North-Moluccan plate is interposed between the Asia and Pacific. It tapers out northward in the Philippine Mobile Belt and is gradually disappearing. The greatest relief amplitudes occur near the plate boundaries: deep ocean trenches are associated with subduction zones and mountain ranges with collision belts. The landforms of the more stable areas of the plates date back to a more remote past and, where emerged, have a more subdued relief that is in the first place related to the resistance of the rocks to humid tropical weathering Rising mountain ranges and emerging island arcs are subjected to rapid humid-tropical river erosions and mass movements. The erosion products accumulate in adjacent sedimentary basins where their increasing weight causes subsidence by gravity and isostatic compensations. Living and raised coral reefs, volcanoes, and fault scarps are important geomorphic indicators of active plate tectonics. Compartmental faults may strongly affect island arcs stretching perpendicular to the plate movement. This is the case on Java. Transcurrent faults and related pull-apart basins are a leading factor where plates meet at an angle, such as on Sumatra. The most complicated situation exists near the triple-junction and in the Moluccas. Modern research methods, such as GPS measurements of plate movements and absolute dating of volcanic outbursts and raised coral reefs are important tools. The mega-landforms resulting from the collision of India with the Asian continent, around 50.0 my. ago, and the final collision of Australia with the Pacific, about 5.0 my. ago, also had an important impact on geomorphologic processes and the natural environment of SE-Asia through changes of the monsoonal wind system in the region and of the oceanic thermo-haline circulation in eastern Indonesia between the Pacific and the Indian ocean. In addition the landforms of the region were, of course, affected by the Quaternary global climatic fluctuations and sea level changes.

We argue that a number of recent studies have overstated the economic case for the creation of a common Asian currency by focusing on only a few of the relevant criteria. We also conclude that endogenous forces are unlikely to be sufficiently strong that adopting a common currency would quickly turn Asia into an optimum currency area (OCA) as some have suggested. We argue that more attention needs to be devoted to issues of monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate coordination under a fairly flexible exchange rate system and that OCA analysis is a valuable framework for analyzing such issues.

The transition ‘from plan to market’ under a politically conservative regime in Vietnam, where the communist party remains in power, can be seen as an example of a process in which evolving endogenous forces drove and resourced institutional change. Two sets of phenomena are analytically important. The first may be understood as the creation and seeking out of economic rents in the ‘neo-classical’ sense of resources available ‘below economic costs’; the second, more ‘classical’, concentrates upon the central importance of ‘appropriable resources’. These two are both important because, in trying to understand emergent capitalism after transition, they push to the fore the historical emergence of factor markets (land, labour and capital). Social networks created during transition for ‘rent-switching’ later support advantageous access to resources created for plan implementation and may then, as a form of capitalism emerges, be used to access resources in forms appropriate to market-oriented activity. It becomes clear that ‘rent-switching’ may have effects upon static economic efficiency that are positive during transition but negative afterwards, so that the significance of ‘rents’ depends upon context.

Exogenous and endogenous force regulation of endothelial cell behavior

We investigate democracies where citizens vote on basis of personal gains, guaranteed individually through direct contracts with political parties. Once a political party wins the elections, it is expected to honour its contracts with individuals. We show that such a system is both feasible and applicable, in large and small states alike, where democracy merely serves as a competitive mechanism determining which group of persons will benefit – though unjustly - from state resources and privileges. This is a free democratic contest, where individuals, citizens and the elite alike, can easily move and even change sides. We also show that such systems are very stable and do not readily generate endogenous forces in favour of good governance. We also deduce that such systems, due to their dependence on a non-fiscal surplus, have a compelling tendency to block the path to development, be exploitative of environment, extractive and natural resources, and to squander funds, including those for development cooperation. In the absence of clarity on concepts on the part of the international community, such systems are impervious to good governance initiatives. Governments are usually able to use such moves in their favour, by shifting attention to marginal or superficial issues unthreatening to system’s continuity e.g. reduction of lower-level baksheesh and legal reforms not intended to be enforced. The findings also point out the overwhelming need to scrutinize democracies, as democracies are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good governance. As this model clearly shows, democracy without good governance is corruption by majority. It is also argued that all democracies are, deep down, klepto-democracies as described above, with an endogenous characteristic which can resurface any time societal and institutional guards are down – in multiple and complex forms of corruption.

This paper explores the nature and characteristics of lone motherhood in Zimbabwe. We argue that endogenous and exogenous forces associated with failing economies and gendered public policy structures, practices, and initiatives exacerbated by HIV/AIDS and intermittent droughts have worsened national poverty with much more devastation experienced by lone mothers and their children. Using vignettes of lone parents drawn from Zimbabwe, this paper extends the perspectives on lone motherhood to show the extent of poverty experienced by lone mothers as well as the varied formations and structures of lone parenthood. The vignettes highlight the socioeconomic concerns for these families regarding inadequate income, lack of access to employment, lack of housing, and problematic governmental policies that affect the well-being of lone mothers and their families. We conclude with a discussion of the role of social policy in managing the context in which lone mothers and their families must live and function.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the endogenous forces generated by fibroblast-mediated contraction, using four individual collagen gel models that differed with respect to the ability of the cells to contract the gel. Human neonatal dermal fibroblasts were seeded in type I collagen and the gels were cast in a racetrack-shaped mould containing a removable central island. Two of the models were mechanically stressed (20 mm and 10 mm), as complete contraction was prevented by the presence of a central island. The central island was removed in the third model (released) and the final model was cast in a Petri dish and detached, allowing full multi-axial contraction (SR). Cell viability was maintained in the 10 mm, released and SR models over a 6 day culture period but localized regions of cell death were evident in the 20 mm model. Cell and collagen alignment was developed in the 20 mm and 10 mm models and to a lesser extent in the released model, but was absent in the SR model. Cell proliferation and collagen synthesis was lower in the 20 mm model compared to the other systems and there was evidence of enhanced matrix metalloproteinase production. The mechanical properties of the 20 mm model system were inferior to the 10 mm and released systems. The 10 mm model system induced a high level of cell and matrix orientation and may, therefore, represent the best option for tissue-engineered ligament repair involving an orientated fibroblast-seeded collagen gel.

If organizational renewal (becoming) is key to organizational survival why is it so difficult to come about and how might it be supported? This is the central question this paper will seek to explore by problematizing the current conceptualizations of organizational renewal, which are often limited to dualisms between stability, order and harmony on the one hand, and on the other hand, conflict, change and transformation. These dualisms are reflective of the kind of 'distal' mode of thinking Cooper and Law (1995) refer to which, prevent us from understanding and supporting organizational renewal as integral to the emergence of organization. This paper, therefore, argues for the need to understand multiplicities of organizing through dualities that permit us to come closer to the dynamic interaction between apparently oppositional forces. The analysis presented, will show that at the core of organizational renewal lie the balancing acts between macro and micro forces as they interact and negotiate order and disorder, which are central to self-organization (renewal). The paper explores these balancing acts by drawing on two recent ideas in Organisation Studies, which seek to support organisational renewal; Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Learning. The analysis focuses on the tensions that underpin the interaction between exogenous and endogenous forces. These tensions are examined through a socio-political lens revealing dynamic forms of organizing in the way macro (strategic activities) and micro (operational activities) practices are interconnected.

Ethnic congregation in a globalizing city: The case of Guangzhou, China

Mechanical stresses are ever present in the cellular environment, whether through external forces that are applied to tissues or endogenous forces that are generated within the active cytoskeleton. Despite the wide array of studies demonstrating that such forces affect cellular signaling and function, it remains unclear whether mechanotransduction in different contexts shares common mechanisms. Here, I discuss possible mechanisms by which applied forces, cell-generated forces and changes in substrate mechanics could exert changes in cell function through common mechanotransduction machinery. I draw from examples that are primarily focused on the role of adhesions in transducing mechanical forces. Based on this discussion, emerging themes arise that connect these different areas of inquiry and suggest multiple avenues for future studies.

This paper analyzes the evolution of Sinopec’s corporate governance system and performance in the domestic capital market after its overseas listing. Results show that Sinopec’s governance system successfully evolves from a mandatory type to a voluntary type as a result of conformation to legal regulatory systems in the overseas market as exogenous forces and company voluntary decision-makings as endogenous forces. Sinopec takes the initiative to carry out corporate governance innovation, which has significantly improved its performance in the domestic capital market.

This article offers an analysis of the dynamic interplay of endogenous and exogenous forces that create the complexity of immigrant identity. It examines cultural identity and the related discourse of one particular immigrant group, the ‘post-war immigrant Taiwanese, in contemporary Japan. This group came to Japan after the end of Second World War. They have experienced complex transitions in both legal status and self-identification. Constituted from the legacies of Japanese colonialism and Chinese nationalism, the post-war émigré Taiwanese constantly negotiate and redefine their ‘neither here, nor there’ identities and thus constitute a distinct case within the population of overseas ethnic Chinese. Japan, widely considered to be a society of racial and cultural homogeneity, faces an increasing influx of migrants, in particular those from East Asia in recent years. Immigration thus leads to a broad range of concerns in contemporary Japanese society. While previous literatures of the Chinese and Korean Diaspora are widely researched, there is a vacuum on Taiwanese Diaspora in the associated scholarship. This study investigates the Taiwanese migrants' cultural adaptation and socialization under the Japanese discourse through literature reviews and field study. This paper argues that the post-war émigré Taiwanese have constructed a transnational identity hidden in-between two cultures of Japanese and Chinese. In other words, this paper attempts to offer a perspective of Taiwanese under Japanese colonialism and Chinese nationalism that transcends the ‘identity struggle’ commonly experienced by immigrants around the world. This group of Taiwanese migrants in postwar Japan struggle with surveillance, assimilation, resistance and identity confusion. To balance between a survival strategy overseas and a primordial attachment to the motherland, their identification with group boundaries may shift in accordance with a variety of situations.

Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Palsy

Many real ecological systems show sudden changes in behavior, phenomena sometimes categorized as regime shifts in the literature. The relative importance of exogenous versus endogenous forces producing regime shifts is an important question. These forces' role in generating variability over time in ecological systems has been explored using tools from dynamical systems. We use similar ideas to look at transients in simple ecological models as a way of understanding regime shifts. Based in part on the theory of crises, we carefully analyze a simple two patch spatial model and begin to understand from a mathematical point of view what produces transient behavior in ecological systems. In particular, since the tools are essentially qualitative, we are able to suggest that transient behavior should be ubiquitous in systems with overcompensatory local dynamics, and thus should be typical of many ecological systems.

In this paper, we argue that though a plethora of other factors outside the University system have been advanced to explain the upsurge of violent cults on Nigerian campuses, endogenous forces including policy failure, administrative naivety, and deterioration of structures, equipment and facilities, that is, institutional degeneration is the key explanatory variable. We conclude that institutional expansion and restoration of existing structures to better health rather than combative measures will produce results that are more effective against cults. Combative measures merely drive cultism underground while institutional regeneration addresses the root causes of the problem. Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 4 () 2007: pp.1-14

Many substance use prevention programs directed at adolescents exist that have been developed by researchers in the United States and are intended to be used in school settings. Some of the problems associated with such programs are reviewed, including their accessibility, ease of use, copyright status, evaluation options, program scales, and ratings, together with an overall consideration of the factors and processes posited to be associated with substance use and non-use (posited “at-risk” and “protective” mechanisms).The authors contend that there is a great need to: (a) develop substance use prevention programs which are commercially available but are not protected by copyright, (b) assess empirically each component in a program separately, and (c) encourage funding bodies to be more active in supporting the production of manuals and evaluation instruments for substance use prevention programs directed at adolescents.We need more and better process evaluations that are also sensitive to both endogenous and exogenous forces in order to know the processes by which a successful prevention program achieves its effects, is prevented from doing so and which processes are irrelevant. A social competence framework might be used as both a goal and as a theoretical base to achieve a better understanding of the processes by which substance use prevention programs reach their effects.