title: (The Futility of) Trying to Predict Carcinogenicity of Chemical Compounds

authors: Pfahringer, Bernhard

subjects: computer science

abstract: This paper describes my submission to one of the sub-problems formulated for the Predictive Toxicology Challenge 2001. The challenge is to predict the carcinogenicity of chemicals based on structural information only. I have only tackled such predictions for bioassays involving male rats. As we currently do not know the true predictions for the test-set, all we can say is that one of the models supplied by us seems to be optimal over some subrange of the ROC spectrum. The successful model uses a voting approach based on most of the sets of structural features made available by various other contestants as well as the organizers in an earlier phase of the Challenge. The WEKA Machine Learning workbench served as the core learning utility. Based on a preliminary examination of our submission we conclude that reliable prediction of carcinogenicity is still a far away goal.

text: (The Futility of) Trying to Predict Carcinogenicity of Chemical Compounds This paper describes my submission to one of the sub-problems formulated for the Predictive Toxicology Challenge 2001. The challenge is to predict the carcinogenicity of chemicals based on structural information only. I have only tackled such predictions for bioassays involving male rats. As we currently do not know the true predictions for the test-set, all we can say is that one of the models supplied by us seems to be optimal over some subrange of the ROC spectrum. The successful model uses a voting approach based on most of the sets of structural features made available by various other contestants as well as the organizers in an earlier phase of the Challenge. The WEKA Machine Learning workbench served as the core learning utility. Based on a preliminary examination of our submission we conclude that reliable prediction of carcinogenicity is still a far away goal.

year: 2001

title: Delivering on sustainability's global and local orientation

authors: Collins, Eva Marie

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: A sustainability instructor takes her graduate-level sustainability class to an eco-village on an island off of Auckland, New Zealand. The students have the opportunity to make mud bricks for homes, visit houses powered "off the grid" from solar and wind energy, and tour community gardens that provide fresh fruit and vegetables. Rain water is collected from roofs for use in the homes. At the end of the day, several New Zealand students approach the instructor and enthuse about how inspired they are by this alternative lifestyle. Two international students also approach the instructor; one student is from China and the other from Tajikistan. And although they approach the instructor separately, they have the same message: "This is how we live at home. We don't want to live this way. We want to live the way you do here in New Zealand."

text: Delivering on sustainability's global and local orientation A sustainability instructor takes her graduate-level sustainability class to an eco-village on an island off of Auckland, New Zealand. The students have the opportunity to make mud bricks for homes, visit houses powered "off the grid" from solar and wind energy, and tour community gardens that provide fresh fruit and vegetables. Rain water is collected from roofs for use in the homes. At the end of the day, several New Zealand students approach the instructor and enthuse about how inspired they are by this alternative lifestyle. Two international students also approach the instructor; one student is from China and the other from Tajikistan. And although they approach the instructor separately, they have the same message: "This is how we live at home. We don't want to live this way. We want to live the way you do here in New Zealand."

year: 2010

title: Effects of industry on Maori cultural values: The case of the Tarawera River

authors: Dodd, Materoa

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The research is a case study of the relationship between three tribes; Te Arawa, Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau and Ngāti Awa and the Tarawera River during the second half of the 20th century when the river was polluted with effluent from pulp and paper mills. It involves the cultural story of the Tarawera River as told by the iwi (tribes) of the river informed by Maori epistemologies and what has come to be known as a ‗kaupapa Maori research' approach. Reference is made to the history, legends, customs and lifestyle that have arisen from the relationship between iwi and the river. It includes comments on the pollution of the river from members of each iwi. The world views, experiences, and perceptions reported on here have forced a fundamental change on the iwi, a change that has affected their cultural and social relationship to the river. The price of economic development on the river has been cultural and ecological genocide. 
The cultural voice echoes a familiar story in indigenous communities. In the Maori context the research provides opportunities for further inquiry into determining the socio-cultural, economic and political future of the iwi of the river.

text: Effects of industry on Maori cultural values: The case of the Tarawera River The research is a case study of the relationship between three tribes; Te Arawa, Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau and Ngāti Awa and the Tarawera River during the second half of the 20th century when the river was polluted with effluent from pulp and paper mills. It involves the cultural story of the Tarawera River as told by the iwi (tribes) of the river informed by Maori epistemologies and what has come to be known as a ‗kaupapa Maori research' approach. Reference is made to the history, legends, customs and lifestyle that have arisen from the relationship between iwi and the river. It includes comments on the pollution of the river from members of each iwi. The world views, experiences, and perceptions reported on here have forced a fundamental change on the iwi, a change that has affected their cultural and social relationship to the river. The price of economic development on the river has been cultural and ecological genocide. 
The cultural voice echoes a familiar story in indigenous communities. In the Maori context the research provides opportunities for further inquiry into determining the socio-cultural, economic and political future of the iwi of the river.

year: 2010