On the Constituent Attributes of Software and Organizational Resilience

Abstract

The conjecture is put forward that a better understanding of resilience may be reached by decomposing it into a number of ancillary constituent properties, in the same way as a better insight into system dependability was obtained by breaking it down into safety, availability, reliability, and other sub-properties. Three of the main sub-properties of resilience proposed here refer respectively to the ability to perceive environmental changes; to understand the implications introduced by those changes; and to plan and enact adjustments intended to improve the system–environment fit. A fourth property characterizes the way the above abilities manifest themselves in computer systems. The four properties are then analyzed in three families of case studies, each consisting of three software systems that embed different resilience methods. Our major conclusion is that reasoning in terms of our resilience sub-properties may help reveal the characteristics and, in particular, the limitations of classic methods and tools meant to achieve system and organizational resilience. It is suggested that this method may be a prelude to meta-resilient systems, which are able to adjust optimally their own resilience with respect to changing environmental conditions.     

The Effects of a Campaign on Awareness and Participation Among Local Youth at the Lenggong Valley World Heritage Site,Malaysia

The capacity of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site (WHS) to sustain its designated criteria into the future is a function of how valuable local residents perceive the WHS to be, and how motivated they are to contribute toward efforts to maintain its status. In June 2012, Malaysia’s Lenggong Valley became a WHS. We investigate the effectiveness of a campaign targeting young local residents to increase their awareness of the importance of preserving the heritage of Lenggong. We undertook a questionnaire — designed to assess participants’ awareness of the value of the WHS and their willingness to participate in efforts to maintain the WHS — aimed at students from all three secondary schools in Lenggong before and after the campaign. In all, 175 completed questionnaires were analysed: the data revealed that the campaign had a significant effect on improving participants’ awareness of the value of the WHS and on improving their willingness to participate in WHS conservation activities.     

从观念意识角度谈中国旅游业的国际接轨问题

与国际接轨问题是中国旅游发展中一直受到关注但始终未能有效解决的问题。按照本文的理解,问题的根源主要在观念意识方面。本文分析了作为现代旅游观念意识基础的市场观念、人本主义观念、平等观念和法制观念。在此基础上进一步分析了政府旅游主管机构、旅游行业协会、旅游企业和旅游者对于中国旅游业实现国际接轨的问题在观念意识上存在的差距。本文认为,应当采取“硬”、“软”两方面措施以有效实现中国旅游业的国际接轨,即：通过立法和执法手段规定权利义务责任,通过宣传和教育普及现代旅游观念。     

西部生态之法治管见

我国西部生态脆弱带占西部总面积的80%以上,自然灾害多发。造成这种现状的原因是多方面的,对此,本文通过对西部生态灾难现状成因的分析,提出了对西部生态保护实行法治建设的相应对策。     

Commensurable language and incommensurable claims among the Greek linguistic minority of Southern Italy

Abstract

More than ever, minorities reflexively engage with global frameworks in their endeavour to promote distinctiveness. Scaling local diversity through specific frameworks has resulted in familiar commensurable languages of international claim recognition. By presenting the case of the Grecanici – a Greek linguistic minority of Southern Italy – this paper critically assesses the creative mingling of global structures and local particularities which effects commensurable languages of representation. These languages in their global dimension reveal a certain degree of commensurate social commentary between global agents and local actors. This commentary is veryoften structured around master tropes such as awareness, victimization and consumption. Despite their global applicability, languages of representation do not necessarily imply commensurability at the local level. Often it is only after careful mediation by skilled rhetors that commensurability on a local level becomes possible.     

变幻莫测的经济环境与企业的危机意识--访问世界500强企业日本"京瓷公司"

日本经济的迅速崛起以及持续的高速增长,令世人刮目相看。然而,长期持续的增长也掩饰了企业内部的诸多积弊。这些积弊,在经济环境骤然变化之时,常常令一些企业手足无措。进入20世纪90年代,如雪片般飞落的企业丑闻就可以证实这一点。但是,经历了高速增长,也同样面对经济环境的变化莫测,有的企业却能较好地适应,并保持稳步增长,其中的道理何在?本文仅以世界500强京瓷公司为例,对这一问题,略示己见。     

物质主义、环保意识与快时尚品牌的消费逻辑

时尚与品牌消费是地理学的重要领域之一。物质主义和环保意识是快时尚消费领域的一对矛盾,也是影响中国消费者时尚消费的两大逻辑。采用问卷调查和结构方程模型,探讨消费者的物质主义与环保意识对快时尚品牌认同及消费行为意向的影响,发现：第一,受支付能力的局限,物质主义是国际快时尚品牌认同与消费逻辑的最重要因素;第二,消费者环保意识越强,其品牌认同和消费行为意向越高;第三,品牌认同程度对环保意识与品牌消费行为意向的中介作用不显著。可以认为,在物质主义和环保意识冲突的背景下,追求环保的时尚是个伪命题。研究发现可引导消费者理性消费,也有助于我国快时尚企业采取应对消费趋势变化的有效举措。     

Hallux Valgus among an 18th Century Population of the Canary Islands

Hallux valgus is defined as the lateral deviation of the great toe. It is considered a disease mainly related to the use of boots or shoes that constrict the foot. This process usually ensues along many years and is accompanied by changes at the metatarsophalangeal joint, which serve to make the diagnosis on bare bones. Diagnostic criteria include lateral deviation of the metatarsophalangeal joint (1), lateral subluxation of the first phalanx, degenerative changes of the sesamoid articular facets, and exostosis or remodelling of the medial tuberosity. Following other authors, we have defined hallux valgus as the presence of (1) and any of the other three criteria. In a series of the 18th century burials from the church La Concepción, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, we found 35 cases of hallux valgus out of the 117 cases for which necessary data for the diagnosis could be recorded (29.91%). A significant association was found between changes in the left toe and burial site near the altar, where priests and other people of the high social status were interred. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

增强党的观念强化党员意识发挥党员作用

贯彻党章,发挥党员先锋模范作用,是巩固保持共产党员先进性教育成果的需要,也是巩固党的执政基础和执政地位的根本要求。贯彻党章,必须不断增强党的观念,不断强化党员意识,着力发挥共产党员的先锋模范作用。     

Giorgio Agamben and the spatialities of the camp: an introduction

The Italian political philosopher Giorgio Agamben's conclusion that the camp has replaced the city as the biopolitical paradigm of the West is as difficult to digest as it is easy to see how it responds to contemporary political tendencies in the world today. In this introduction to this theme issue on Giorgio Agamben and the spatialities of the camp, a detailed exposition, emulating the structure of Agamben's seminal book Homo Sacer, is conducted, tracing the genealogies of Agamben's ideas and commenting on his swiftly enhanced importance in the social sciences and humanities. The introduction concludes by outlining some possible research fields in human geogrphy where much insight could be gained if Agamben's work is given more detailed consideration.