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Restoration ecology is a deepening and diversifying field with current research incorporating multiple disciplines and infusing long-standing ideas with fresh perspectives. We present a list of 10 recent pivotal papers exemplifying new directions in ecological restoration that were selected by students in a cross-disciplinary graduate seminar at the University of California, Berkeley. We highlight research that applies ecological theory to improve restoration practice in the context of global change (e.g. climate modeling, evaluation of novel ecosystems) and discuss remaining knowledge gaps. We also discuss papers that recognize the social context of restoration and the coupled nature of social and ecological systems, ranging from the incorporation of cultural values and Traditional Ecological Knowledge into restoration, to the consideration of the broader impacts of markets on restoration practices. In addition, we include perspectives that focus on improving communication between social and natural scientists as well as between scientists and practitioners, developing effective ecological monitoring, and applying more integrated, whole-landscape approaches to restoration. We conclude with insights on recurrent themes in the papers regarding planning restoration in human-modified landscapes, application of ecological theory, improvements to restoration practice, and the social contexts of restoration. We share lessons from our cross-disciplinary endeavor, and invite further discussion on the future directions of restoration ecology through contributions to our seminar blog site . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the move of geologist Taylor Perron and his colleagues Jim Kirchner and Bill Dietrich at University of California, Berkeley, to examine how erosional processes create uniform patterns of landscapes. They compare a computational model with precise measurements of various landscapes. Moreover, it reveals that having developed a computational model that accurately predicts the natural patterns in landscapes, geologists can learn how factors have shaped Earth's topography.

Purpose - This paper seeks to feature an interview with Brad Eden, Associate University Librarian for Technical Services and Scholarly Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Eden discusses the University of California Libraries' Next Generation Technical Services initiative. Design/methodology/approach - The paper notes changes necessary to transform technical services for the new digital realm. Findings - The task force chaired by Eden recommends several changes to traditional processes, three of which are central to achieving transformative change. Originality/value - The paper offers readers insights into the means by which a large consortium under severe financial constraints is attempting to achieve cost-savings and value-added services through system-wised collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multiclassification algorithm using multilayer perceptron neural network models. It tries to boost two conflicting main objectives of multiclassifiers: a high correct classification rate level and a high classification rate for each class. This last objective is not usually optimized in classification, but is considered here given the need to obtain high precision in each class in real problems. To solve this machine learning problem, we use a Pareto-based multiobjective optimization methodology based on a memetic evolutionary algorithm. We consider a memetic Pareto evolutionary approach based on the NSGA2 evolutionary algorithm (MPENSGA2). Once the Pareto front is built, two strategies or automatic individual selection are used: the best model in accuracy and the best model in sensitivity (extremes in the Pareto front). These methodologies are applied to solve 17 classification benchmark problems obtained from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) repository and one complex real classification problem. The models obtained show high accuracy and a high classification rate for each class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study of an inter-university controversy over the publication of research from an interdisciplinary social science project on the forced migration and long- term internment of West Coast Japanese-Americans during World War II shows some of the difficulties of maintaining ownership of research materials. In this particular instance the junior employee was able to override his seniors' demand for control of the dissemination of research results by playing on the concerns about even appearing to suppress work for political reasons. The paper discusses conflicting norms of science and rhetorics of justification ranging from proprietary self-interest through "good science" to "the national interest" and onto "the needs of a free society." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces research papers presented in the inaugural conference of the University of California Council of Women's Programs and published in the 1989 issue of the 'Women's Studies' journal. Relationship between the study of women and social movements; Zavella's discussion on the effect of the problematic relationship between feminism and the Chicano movement on Chicana studies; Roberta Fernandez's analysis of Helena Maria Viramontes' story, 'The Cariboo Caf,'.

The article presents information on the contents of various monographic series related to anthropology. The 1989 volume of the monographic series "Antropologia Portuguesa" consists of the proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Anthropological Research and Teaching held in Portugal. The activities of the Frankfurt-based Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University Institute for Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology will be reported by the monographic series "Notizen." Nine research papers by current students and recent graduates of the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, California, are published in a special issue of the Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers.

The author recounts her experience of working in the Emma Goldman Papers Project, an archive about topics related to the women anarchist, at the University of California in Berkeley. She cites the reasons for contemporary archive panic, including the vast expansion of archiving and archivable materials through electronic technologies. Definitions of an archive is also provided. She expresses her desire to investigate the political conditions that confine archival materials and work for their liberation.

Abstract: When the ECCO project was proposed by A. Westphal, Space Science Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, our Japanese group decided to collaborate with the project and contribute to the precise analysis of massive nuclear track data. In the ECCO experiment, the exposed area of the track detectors was extremely large . Accordingly, we needed to scan all etched tracks in the large exposed area. To achieve such a scanning capability in a short span of time, we have developed an automatic system for precisely analyzing massive data in nuclear track detectors such as CR-39 and BP-1, as well as measurements of their mass-identification powers, for four years since 2001. In this paper, the present status of the developed techniques and their future prospect will be presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article profiles Nick Cozzarelli, who served the U.S. National Academies for more than a decade as editor in chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. During that time he turned the journal around and it was not an easy task. When Nick came aboard in 1995, members of the Academy were fond of their ability to sponsor papers for colleagues or to get their own published and some objected to the institution of more formal and rigorous peer review. Nick came to his editorial job during a distinguished scientific career in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, California. He managed to combine those commitments in a way that was continuously productive on both fronts, a source of admiration for those who try these things only one at a time.

The article focuses on techniques that help microbial remediation. Understanding how microbes clean up contaminants is difficult without a direct way to observe what the bugs are actually doing. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrate how two complementary geophysical techniques can monitor microbes that remediate metals in contaminated aquifers--without putting equipment below the ground. Historically, miners used the same techniques--complex resistivity and acoustic waves--to search for buried oil and mineral sources as deep as 10,000 meter in the past 20 years, environmental scientists have used these methods at the surface to locate underground pollutant plumes or characterize source points, explains Kenneth Hurst Williams, lead author on the research paper. This is the first effort to actively use the techniques to monitor changes brought about by microbial processes. Specifically, the researchers examine how the geophysical signatures change as sulfate-reducing microbes process metals and form mineral precipitates. These techniques can be run at the surface, cover areas similar to any football field, and have beer modified for a high degree of resolution in field tests to a depth of 10 meter, he adds.