340 research outputs found

    Lower Mekong Portfolio: Interim Evaluation

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    This report summarizes a portfolio evaluation of the MacArthur Foundation's conservation investments in the Lower Mekong region since 2011. It is explicitly a portfolio-level evaluation, focusing on common themes rather than individual grants. The evaluation involved understanding the portfolio context through reviewing relevant documents and speaking with donor partners; gathering data from MacArthur grantees; calibrating initial evaluation findings through consultations with independent regional experts and donor partner grantees; improving future evaluation ability by cooperating with NatureServe to improve the Lower Mekong Dashboard; and presenting results in this evaluation report and to MacArthur directly

    Hemispheric specialization in selective attention and short-term memory: a fine-coarse model of left- and right-ear disadvantages.

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    Serial short-term memory is impaired by irrelevant sound, particularly when the sound changes acoustically. This acoustic effect is larger when the sound is presented to the left compared to the right ear (a left-ear disadvantage). Serial memory appears relatively insensitive to distraction from the semantic properties of a background sound. In contrast, short-term free recall of semantic-category exemplars is impaired by the semantic properties of background speech and is relatively insensitive to the sound’s acoustic properties. This semantic effect is larger when the sound is presented to the right compared to the left ear (a right-ear disadvantage). In this paper, we outline a speculative neurocognitive fine-coarse model of these hemispheric differences in relation to short-term memory and selective attention, and explicate empirical directions in which this model can be critically evaluated

    Biodiversity management: application of biodiversity data to inform conservation and industry practice

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    This submission presents a small selection of my publications on a theme – the application of biodiversity data to inform both conservation and industry practice. The published work presented here demonstrates my ability to generate new biodiversity data, to interpret how to apply those data to improve conservation outcomes, and to apply the same biodiversity data in different ways to reduce industry impacts. The core biodiversity data I use are related to species’ distributions and conservation status, as direct indicators of their irreplaceability and vulnerability. This thesis comprises five peer-reviewed journal papers and a double-blind peer-reviewed published report. Several of these are well-cited: the submitted publications have cumulatively received in excess of 500 citations. My submitted publications have extended understanding in my area of specialisation, and had clear impact on scientific and professional practice. This is demonstrated not only by incorporation of these publications’ findings into conservation action and policy, but also by the professional advice that I am regularly sought to give as a recognised authority in my field to leading global companies, financial institutions, conservation donors and non-governmental organisations. My submitted work is the result of collaborations with leaders in my field. It includes the generation of new knowledge that has directly informed applied conservation of highly iii threatened species in Asia. It contains substantial scientific advances, such as an innovative approach I developed to resolve the long-standing and intractable problem of ‘limits to biodiversity offsets’. In some cases, it has had a clear practical impact on conservation – by guiding substantial donor funding towards, and even greater development investment away from, species and sites of highest global significance to conservation. In other cases, it has demonstrated influence on policy at a global level – such as shaping the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s policy on biodiversity offsets

    Connecting algebra to geometry: A transition summer camp for at-risk students

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    The authors share how they designed curriculum for a summer algebra camp, for eighth graders in a district serving high proportions of Latino students. They discuss the impact the algebra camp had on students’ confidence in mathematics and mathematical ability

    Review of offshore cable reliability metrics

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    Reliable cable systems are essential for offshore wind operation. Industry trends have led to a large number of offshore cable connections being installed recently, with 11027 MW of offshore wind connected at the end of 2015 compared to just 2955 MW in 2010 [1]. Despite the increase in connections, the publically available reliability data in this area is almost non-existent. With several connections in planning of both similar and increasing lengths it is essential to better understand these metrics. A review of published reliability data was undertaken in order to populate a database which is presented in this paper. This data focusses on a number of connection types including both AC and DC connections across a number of cable ratings and configurations. From this database it is confirmed that reliability figures currently being used across the literature generally conform to those currently being experienced in the offshore wind industry. However it is established that failure rates taken from some reports are not accurate as the technology and environments these are calculated from are typically different from those used in offshore wind farm connections. This information is collated and converted into reliability metrics in order for comparisons to be made. Analysis of the cost of an outage experienced by a windfarm is also carried out in this paper. The results of which establish that the revenue lost from a cable failure could potentially be substantial. The findings in this paper would also suggest a greater risk of failure in the early life of a windfarm and as such a greater potential cost associated with this risk. It is important to have a better understanding of offshore renewable energy cable connections as the reliability of a cable has a significant impact on the Levelised Cost of Energy. With a greater understanding of the metrics investors can make more informed decisions with respect to the technology that is installed as well as the importance of the installation process itself, due diligence on subsequent OFTO asset purchases and the maintenance plans that have been outlined for the connection

    Ursinus College Bulletin, Fall 1979

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    Being an alumnus: It\u27s an active role • Economics: It really means business • A first in forecasting • Forum for current events and culture • Church-college colloquium • Something new has been added • Continuing education continues to grow • College gets valuable volume • East meets West • Eilts honored • Fall Board meeting report • Homecoming: October 27, 1979 • News notes • Births • Marriages • Deathshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/new_bulletin/1025/thumbnail.jp

    Desarrollo y política social en áreas no metropolitanas. Estados Unidos de América

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    It is interesting to envisage the situation of social and economic development in non-metropolitan areas of the United States, understating that 80% of the population of American citizens currently live in cities.This work is based on research on rural economy done by the members of the Economic Research Service (ERS). The data used in this analysis came from a variety of federal sources. The most recent data available was used for this study, from different series emitted at different times, so that the newest data comes from 2003 and 2005.Resulta interesante visualizar la situación de desarrollo social y económico en áreas de los Estados Unidos de América no metropolitanas, entendiendo que un 80 % de la población de ciudadanos estadounidenses viven actualmente en ciudades.El presente trabajo, se basa en las investigaciones de la economía rural de los miembros del Servicio de Investigaciones Económicas (ERS), siendo el origen de los datos utilizados en este análisis, una variedad de fuentes federales, en la que se utilizan los datos más recientes disponibles, de series diversas emitidas en diferentes épocas, por lo cual los datos más nuevos fluctúan entre los años 2003 y 2005

    Ursinus College Bulletin, Spring 1982

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    Ursinus plans for the future: Targets and strategies • Setting the stage • Women\u27s work • Book sale benefits Myrin Library • Name that tune • Art exhibited in Myrin • Federal funding and financial aid • Brown named football coach • G.E. Chairman to address graduates • Note of thanks • Alumni named to administration • Want ads • U.C. goes to U.N. • Winterfest! • Summer study in Japan • Frat fund • Evenings and weekends: Prime time at Ursinus • Abroad view • $500,000 grant • Arnold to assume development post • Homecoming • Founders Day • News notes • 25th reunion report • Evening School • Marriages • Births • Deaths • New alumni directory to be publishedhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/new_bulletin/1031/thumbnail.jp

    Failure rates of offshore wind transmission systems

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    In the offshore wind industry, failures are often costlier than those experienced onshore. Through examination of the literature, it is clear that failures occurring in offshore transmission systems are not well documented. As a result of this, many developers and other parties involved in the planning processes associated with offshore wind farms will defer back to existing reliability metrics in the public domain. This article presents a review of European offshore wind farm transmission failures based on fusing information from multiple public domain sources. The results highlight both the spread of the reliability performance of these assets and the reliability performance over time. The results also reinforce the industry view that installation practices could lead to low reliability in the initial years of operation, resulting in increased repair costs and decreased revenue for wind farm owners and operators. The information collated in the review is also compared to metrics from across the literature to evaluate the difference in forecasted failure rates to those experienced within the industry. In general, it is found that the experienced failure rates are subject to a much higher spread in practice than those published until now
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