Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modelling And Hazard Analysis For Contaminated Sediments Using Stamp Model And Stpa Tool, Karim Hardy, Franck Guarnieri

Karim Hardy

The goal of this article is dual: first, introducing a new model of accident named STAMP (systems-theoretic accident modeling and processes); then applying the model to an innovative process for the treatment of contaminated substances and the re-use of treated substances. This article is a demonstration for a need of a new tool to take into account hazards and safety within socio-technical systems.

Earth Ethics, James Martin-Schramm, Daniel Spencer, Laura A. Stivers

Laura Stivers

2014-15 Central West State Of The Environment Report, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

The Impact On The Gold Coast's Terrestrial Environments, Tor Hundloe

Tor Hundloe

Extract: We tend to think of the Gold Coast as a water environment. As tourists know, it sits on the shore of the vast Pacific Ocean. That is why most come. They have seen the magnificent photographs. If not perched on flattened dunes looking east to the ocean, a significant part of the urban Gold Coast environment is located around natural and human-made water environments. Of these we will say little here, other than to note their extent. The focus of this chapter is the city's terrestrial environments, reporting on and ultimately, after describing the environments, discussing what proportion of …

Smart Cities: Environmental Aspects And Opportunities, Marcus R. Wigan

Marcus R Wigan

April 2015 - Urban Sprawl In Kane, Kendall, Will And Mchenry Counties, Illinois, 1987 And 2007, Elisa Addlesperger

Elisa E. Addlesperger

Elisa Addlesperger’s map, created as part of a final project for GEO 243 Remote Sensing, shows the impact of development on availability of farmland in four collar counties in northeastern Illinois: Kane, Kendall, Will and McHenry. Landsat 5 multi-band spectral images from 1987 and 2007 were processed to create classes showing development density in each respective year. Open or agricultural land is indicated with a bright green. Based on this visual analysis, substantial amounts of arable land have been lost to development in Chicago’s collar counties. According to the state Department of Agriculture, Illinois has lost over 3.6 million acres …

Measuring Good Architecture: Long Life, Loose Fit, Low Energy, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Good architecture is something that we all seek, but which is difficult to define. Sir Alexander John Gordon, in his role as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, defined ‘good architecture’ in 1972 as buildings that exhibit ‘long life, loose fit and low energy’. These characteristics, nicknamed by Gordon as the 3L Principle, are measurable. Furthermore, life cycle cost (LCC) provides a method for accessing the economic contribution or burden created by buildings to the society they aim to serve. Yet there is no research available to investigate the connection, if any, between 3L and LCC. It might …

Designing For Better Building Adaptability: A Comparison Of Adaptstar And Arp Models, Sheila Conejos, Craig Langston, Jim Smith

Craig Langston

Can sustainability and adaptability be integrated in a single decision tool for designing future buildings? Indeed, it is not possible to know what lies ahead for future buildings but, using current research on sustainability and the impact on natural resources and climate, it is possible to forecast the connection between built environment activity and sustainability. This paper demonstrates that the assessment of future adaptation in newly designed building is achievable by using the adaptSTAR model. This new design-rating tool, based on detailed analysis of 12 award-winning adaptive reuse projects in Australia, will assist designers in making decisions to achieve optimum …

Annotated Bibliography: Environmental Education (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Dust Transport And Deposition In A Superhumid Environment, Samuel K. Marx, Hamish A. Mcgowan

Samuel K Marx

Contemporary rates of dust deposition monitored along a 300-km section of the superhumid West Coast of New Zealand's South Island are presented. In this setting, dust is entrained primarily from the dry channels of braided glaciofluvial rivers that drain the western slopes of the Southern Alps. Measured dust deposition ranged between 0.21 and 118.9 kg-1 ha -1 month-1, which is similar to dust deposition rates monitored in arid and semiarid environments. However, these are not considered to be sufficient for present day loess genesis. Dust deposition was highest in summer because of the greater frequency of favourable dust transporting winds, …

Failed Cyberdefense - The Environmental Consequences Of Hostile Acts, Jan Kallberg, Rosemary A. Burk

Jan Kallberg

A failed cyberdefense can have wider effects than discussed in earlier debates of potential consequences of a cyberattack. The need for cyberdefense to protect the environment has not drawn the attention it deserves as a national security matter. Adversarial nations are covertly pursuing methods to damage and disrupt the United States in a cyberconflict in the future. The president of the United States noted this in Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense: Both state and non-state actors possess the capability and intent to conduct cyberespionage and, potentially, cyberattacks on the United States, with possible severe effects on …

Land-Based Wind Energy And The Environment: Potential Impacts For Wildlife And The West Michigan Landscape, Betty Gajewski, Claire Schoolmaster, Jon Vandermolen, Erik Edward Nordman

Erik Edward Nordman

No abstract provided.

Engaging With The (Un)Familiar: Field Teaching In A Multi-Campus Teaching Environment, Nicholas Gill, Michael Adams, Christine Eriksen

Nicholas J Gill

Field trips have long been central to geography, but have been subject to assessment of the role of the 'field' in teaching. At the same time, academics face barriers to running field trips. Distance education and enhanced educational access for non-metropolitan students represented such an obstacle at an Australian university. These obstacles were taken as an opportunity to draw on the regional nature of the students and staff to enhance teaching goals, run critically informed field trips by and manage academic workloads. We evaluate the field trips by conducting surveys and interviews with students and tutors, and as an example …

Becoming Multiliterate: Digital Video News Construction Within A Technology-Supported Learning Environment, Lori Lockyer, Ian Brown, David Blackall, Barry Harper, Phillip Mckerrow

Professor Lori Lockyer

Twenty-first century literacies imply multiliteracies – going beyond language literacy and numeracy to, among others, information, visual, media and technological literacies. An education that develops capabilities across a range of literacies equips young people with the skills necessary to participate in a complex, globalized workplace and community. A key step toward realizing such national and state education agendas is specific curriculum interventions that are translated to the classroom level. This paper reports on a case study that explored both the process and outcomes of the implementation of an education program which was designed to incorporate multiliteracies.

Soil Chemistry: Understanding Phosphorus In The Environment, Paul Milham, Warwick Dougherty, Robert Morrison, Robert Clark, Ronald Smernik, Ashlea Doolette, Lucy Burkitt, Damian Collins, Rebeca Alvarez, Andrew Thomas

Robert Clark

It is an essential ingredient in food production, but poor management means bad news downstream. Understanding the way phosphorus behaves in the environment calls for soil and plant biology, and some new soil chemistry.

Single-Grain Osl Chronologies For Middle Palaeolithic Deposits At El Mnasra And El Harhoura 2, Morocco: Implications For Late Pleistocene Human-Environment Interactions Along The Atlantic Coast Of Northwest Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard Roberts, Roland Nespoulet, M El Hajraoui, Andre Debenath

Richard G Roberts

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at two cave sites (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra) on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 32 of the 33 samples collected from the Middle Palaeolithic deposits, including the earliest and latest Aterian levels at both sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 110 and 95 ka (thousands of years ago), and at ~75 ka. A late Middle Palaeolithic occupation of El Harhoura 2 is also recorded at ~55 ka. Our single-grain OSL …

Spatial Statistics In The Presence Of Location Error With An Application To Remote Sensing Of The Environment, Noel A. Cressie, John Kornak

Professor Noel Cressie

Techniques for the analysis of spatial data have, to date, tended to ignore any effect caused by error in specifying the spatial locations at which measurements are recorded. This paper reviews the methods for adjusting spatial inference in the presence of data-location error, particularly for data that. have a continuous spatial index (geostatistical data). New kriging equations are developed and evaluated based on a simulation experiment. They are also applied to remote-sensing data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer instrument on the Nimbus-7 satellite, where the location error is caused by assignment of the data to their nearest grid-cell centers. …

Becoming Multiliterate: Digital Video News Construction Within A Technology-Supported Learning Environment, Lori Lockyer, Ian M. Brown, David Blackall, Barry M. Harper, Phillip J. Mckerrow

David Blackall

Twenty-first century literacies imply multiliteracies – going beyond language literacy and numeracy to, among others, information, visual, media and technological literacies. An education that develops capabilities across a range of literacies equips young people with the skills necessary to participate in a complex, globalized workplace and community. A key step toward realizing such national and state education agendas is specific curriculum interventions that are translated to the classroom level. This paper reports on a case study that explored both the process and outcomes of the implementation of an education program which was designed to incorporate multiliteracies.

Telecommunications Network Management Applications In An Educational Environment, Ibrahim Raad, Peter Vial, W. Raad, Keni Popovski

Dr Peter Vial

No abstract provided.

Waypoints On A Journey Of Discovery: Mental Models In Human Environment Interactions, Timothy Lynam, Raphael Mathevet, Michel Etienne, Samantha Stone-Jovicich, Anne Leitch, Nathalie Jones, Helen Ross, Derick Du Toit, Sharon Pollard, Harry Biggs, Pascal Perez

Professor Pascal Perez

Although the broad concept of mental models is gaining currency as a way to explore the link between how people think and interact with their world, this concept is limited by a theoretical and practical understanding of how it can be applied in the study of human-environment relationships. Tools and processes are needed to be able to elicit and analyze mental models. Because mental models are not directly observable, it is also important to understand how the application of any tools and processes affects what is measured. Equally important are the needs to be clear on the intent of the …

Evaluating Participatory Modeling: Developing A Framework For Cross-Case Analysis. Socio-Economics And The Environment In Discussion (Seed), Natalie A. Jones, Pascal Perez, Thomas G. Measham, Gail J. Kelly, Patrick D'Aquino, Katherine Daniell, Anne Dray, Nils Ferrand

Professor Pascal Perez

Participatory modeling is increasingly recognised as an effective way to assist collective decision-making processes in the domain of natural resource management. This paper introduces a framework for evaluating projects that have adopted a participatory modeling approach. This framework – known as the ‘Protocol of Canberra’ – was developed through a collaboration between French and Australian researchers engaged in participatory modeling and evaluation research. The framework seeks to assess the extent to which different participatory modeling practices reinforce or divert from the theoretical assumptions they are built upon. The paper discusses the application of the framework in three case-studies, two from …

Joint Modeling Of Additive And Non-Additive (Genetic Line) Effects In Multi-Environment Trials, H Oakey, A Verbyla, Brian Cullis, X. Wei, W. Pitchford

Professor Brian Cullis

A statistical approach for the analysis of multienvironment trials (METs) is presented, in which selection of best performing lines, best parents, and best combination of parents can be determined. The genetic effect of a line is partitioned into additive, dominance and residual nonadditive effects. The dominance effects are estimated through the incorporation of the dominance relationship matrix, which is presented under varying levels of inbreeding. A computationally efficient way of fitting dominance effects is presented which partitions dominance effects into between family dominance and within family dominance line effects. The overall approach is applicable to inbred lines, hybrid lines and …

A Networked Virtual Environment Communications Model Using Priority Updating, Yang-Wai Chow, Ronald Pose, Matthew Regan

Dr Yang-Wai Chow

Networked virtual environments have been used in a variety of applications ranging from military training simulations to collaborative teleconferencing, and have recently become increasingly popular in the field of entertainment especially in online gaming. As the size, distribution and number of participants of these virtual world systems increases, so do the demands placed on the limited networking resources. This has presented networked virtual environment system developers with the problem of having to design efficient network communication models in order to reduce the amount of network traffic and bandwidth utilization, while at the same time not compromising on the real-time interactive …

Post-Testicular Sperm Environment And Fertility, Jean-Luc Gatti, Sandrine Castella, Francoise Dacheux, Heath Ecroyd, S Metayer, Veronique Thimon, Jean-Louis Dacheux

Heath Ecroyd

When mammalian spermatozoa exit the testis, they show a highly specialized morphology; however, they are not yet able to carry out their task: to fertilize an oocyte. This property, that includes the acquisition of motility and the ability to recognize and to fuse with the oocyte investments, is gained only after a transit through the epididymis during which the spermatozoa from the testis travel to the vas deferens. The exact molecular mechanisms that turn these cells into fertile gametes still remain mysterious, but surface-modifying events occurring in response to the external media are key steps in this process. Our laboratory …

Teaching By Showing For Automatic Assembly Through A Virtual Environment, Yan Chen, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Skill Acquisition From A Haptic Rendered Virtual Environment For Automatic Assembly, Yuxin Chen, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Simulation Of Drilling In A Virtual Environment With Force Feedback, Fazel Naghdy, Yi Chen

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Manipulation Skills Acquisition Through A Haptic Rendered Virtual Environment, Yan Chen, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

No abstract provided.

Human-To-Robot Skill Transfer Through Haptic Rendered Environment, Yan Chen, Fazel Naghdy

Professor Fazel Naghdy

A new paradigm for programming of robotics manipulator is being studied. The teaching of the machine will begin with the necessary skills being demonstrated by the human operator in a virtual environment with tactile sensing (haptics). Position and contact force/torque data generated in the virtual environment combined with a priori knowledge about the task will be used to identify and learn the skills in the newly demonstrated tasks and then to reproduce them in the robotics system. The peg-in-hole insertion problem is used as a case study. The overall concept is described. The methodologies developed to build the virtual environment …

Part I: Policy Dimensions Of Offshore Wind Energy Development, Erik Nordman Ph.D., Betty Gajewski, Paul Isely Ph.D., John Koches, Kurt Thompson, Jon Vandermolen, Yue Fan, Sara Damm, Aaron Ferguson, Ryan Gajewski, Claire Schoolmaster

Erik Edward Nordman

The deployment of thousands of wind energy facilities required to meet various renewable energy targets will bring changes to the nation’s landscapes, communities, and economies.

The intent of this integrated assessment project is to comprehensively analyze the benefits and challenges to wind energy development in one particular region of coastal West Michigan, including Oceana, Muskegon, Ottawa and Allegan counties.

By combining science and public participation, our integrated assessment will empower citizens and local governments to make informed decisions about wind energy facilities in their communities. Our project will enhance local capacity to mitigate conflicts surrounding wind energy development, and will …