Land pressures,the evolution of farming systems,and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis

Evidence assembled in this special issue of Food Policy shows that rising rural population densities in parts of Africa are profoundly affecting farming systems and the region’s economies in ways that are underappreciated in current discourse on African development issues. This study synthesizes how people, markets and governments are responding to rising land pressures in Africa, drawing on key findings from the various contributions in this special issue. The papers herein revisit the issue of Boserupian agricultural intensification as an important response to land constraints, but they also go further than Boserup and her followers to explore broader responses to land constraints, including non-farm diversification, migration, and reduced fertility rates. Agricultural and rural development strategies in the region will need to more fully anticipate the implications of Africa’s rapidly changing land and demographic situation, and the immense challenges that mounting land pressures pose in the context of current evidence of unsustainable agricultural intensification, a rapidly rising labor force associated with the region’s current demographic conditions, and limited nonfarm job creation. These challenges are manageable but will require explicit policy actions to address the unique development challenges in densely populated rural areas.     

关于天然气批发环节客户评价体系及精准营销的思考

近年来,中国天然气行业市场化改革不断深化,市场原有竞争格局受到挑战,但供应商现有客户评价管理较为粗放,客户评价体系不尽完善。新形势下的天然气行业客户评价及精准营销体系亟待建立,新体系遵循的原则包括:多维衡量,因地制宜;分类细化,量化评价;结合场景,灵活运用。可依据"销量、价格、效益、信用、协作"5个维度及15个指标,选取所需指标并赋予权重,获取指标数据源,运用分数归类定级方法进行判断。客户评价是工具,精准营销是措施。建议从做好精准营销基础项目、立足本职工作替客户分忧、运用大数据探索精准营销3个层面进行规划与升级。     

海绵城市建设绩效评价指标体系研究

我国海绵城市建设绩效评价还处于起步阶段,急需构建科学合理的海绵城市建设绩效评价指标体系。通过对海绵城市建设全生命周期各项绩效评价内容的研究,全面选取评价指标,采用层次分析法、专家调查法给出指标权重,设置具有操作性的评价标准,建立总体级、项目级两个层级的具有针对性、科学性、完整性的海绵城市建设绩效评价指标体系,为海绵城市建设各阶段各层级的绩效监测或总体评价提供参考。     

基于One-Class SVM的青鳉鱼异常行为识别方法

为了更准确地解析青鳉鱼在突发污染环境中的行为变化趋势,提出了一种基于One-Class SVM模型的青鳉鱼异常行为识别方法。以青鳉鱼的生理及行为特征作为观测指标,将采集到的暴露在不同类型和浓度特征污染物下的青鳉鱼行为强度信号作为经验数据,利用直方图统计和主成分分析（PCA）对行为强度数据进行降维,实现行为特征提取,基于One-Class SVM构建模型,并以五水合硫酸铜和三氯酚作为特征污染物进行暴露实验对算法进行验证。结果表明,One-Class SVM模型可以准确地识别正常行为和污染物暴露时发生的异常行为;对于有机污染物最快可在10 min内完成预警,重金属污染物可在1 h内完成预警,并且污染物浓度越高,模型的识别效果越好。识别方法可对水源突发性水质污染进行更有效的监测和预警,也可为水污染应急决策提供技术支撑。     

地方党政主要领导干部经济责任同步审计评价浅析

通过对党政主要领导干部经济责任同步审计的必要性(是时代发展的需要)以及从对党委、政府的经济职能分析入手,提出党政主要领导干部经济责任同步审计,是中国经济责任审计制度不断深化和探索发展的结果,是时代发展的需要。在此基础上提出当前党政主要领导干部经济责任同步审计评价存在经济责任难以界定;审计评价标准和评价体系尚未完全建立,评价标准不明确,审计评价尺度把握难;审计评价不规范;评价领导干部个人廉洁自律情况存在较大风险等问题。进而从争取各级党委和政府对经济责任审计工作的重视和支持;加强与各部门的协作配合,建立部门协作机制和决策后评估机制;明确、细化审计重点,有效提升党政主要领导同步审计工作的成效;规范审计评价;提高审计人员素质,控制和防范审计风险五个方面提出党政主要领导干部经济责任审计评价的创新思路。     

基于灰色关联模糊模型的黑龙江省农产品流通企业发展水平评价

利用2005—2011年黑龙江省农产品流通企业发展水平指标的年度数据,利用灰色关联度分析法与模糊综合评判法相结合构建模型,以此作为定量分析黑龙江省农产品流通企业发展水平的基础。研究表明,黑龙江省农产品流通企业发展水平处于一般状态且存在发展结构不合理的现象。     

旅游资源调查和评价信息系统的开发

为了配合国标《旅游资源分类、调查与评价》的实施．针对旅游资源调查和评价的实际工作的需要，应用最新的地理信息技术研究开发“旅游资源调查和评价信息系统”．对于实现旅游资源调查和评价的信息化、标准化具有重大的理论与实践意义。系统通过标准信息编码来实现旅游资源数据的规范化管理，能够实现旅游资源数据共享、数据互操作，为未来在全国范围内的旅游资源比较评价提供了可能性。     

Engineering Hedonic Attributes to Generate Perceptions of Luxury: Consumer Perception of an Everyday Sound

For the last twenty years, the perception of hedonic attributes has been a problematic matter in consumer research. We argue that the perception of a hedonic product attribute should not be considered as an irreducible holistic experience, but rather as a complex set of sensory experiences, the components of which are identifiable and quantifiable. We provide evidence for this position by proposing a reliable method linking the features of product-related sound stimuli to consumer perception of hedonic attributes. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind offering a detailed investigation of consumer perception of everyday sounds (as opposed to music). We discuss managerial and consumer-level implications of the findings and provide an agenda for future research.     

Change Theory as an Evaluation Tool for a Community Action Board of Directors

The dynamics of a board of directors resemble those of other groups. They are either positive or negative in their flow of communication, their dispute resolution style, their problem solving ability and their ability to make decisions. This article discusses a model of change theory that is used in evaluating the effectiveness of a board of directors and assisting it to make changes for the betterment of the organization it serves.     

The “Euro Illusion”: Illusion or Fact?

The changeover to the euro elicited an upsurge of research on the effects of the new currency on consumers’ conversion strategies, price estimates, price evaluations, choices, and purchases. This research includes longitudinal surveys, interviews, and controlled experiments, both natural and in the laboratory. The present article starts with an overview of this research after which it more specifically focuses on research showing an influence of the nominal value, as expressed in different currencies, on price evaluations and consumer choice. For most countries, the transition to the euro led to a lower nominal value currency. A bias known as the “euro illusion” has been documented such that the subjective value of money is influenced in the direction of the nominal value (i.e., in most countries prices and salaries seem smaller when expressed in euros than in the old domestic currency). Although the term was coined in connection with the euro changeover, the nominal representation of a currency has been shown to influence the subjective value of money in unfamiliar currencies other than the euro. Thus, tourists travelling abroad may frequently be subject to such an illusion. Different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the euro illusion. One is the numerosity heuristic and another the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic in conjunction with biased conversion strategies. The size of the euro illusion is influenced by trade-offs between accuracy and effort. Consistent with this hypothesis, task importance, time constraints, familiarity with the conversion strategy, complexity of the conversion strategy, mood, and attitude towards the country or the currency all influence the size of the euro illusion.