Estimating streambank erosion using GPS-based watershed-scale video mapping and USEPA BANCS for the development of sediment TMDLs

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), sediment is one of the most common water pollutants in the nation’s rivers. Consequently, the identification of streambank locations with high erosion potential is important in reducing sediment input via management and monitoring practices. Furthermore, the estimation of erosion rates and sediment loads can assist in the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The objective of this study was to integrate two USEPA-recommended approaches with the Streambank Video Mapping System (SVMS) in order to predict site-specific Total Daily Sediment Loads (TDSLs) and calculate sediment TMDLs for streambank erosion over several river kilometers. The SVMS, a GPS-based watershed-scale data collection method, was incorporated with the USEPA-approved Bank Assessment for Non-point source Consequences of Sediment (BANCS) model to evaluate streambank erodibility using the Bank Erosion Hazard Index (BEHI) and stream erosivity using Near Bank Stress (NBS). The SVMS was implemented to collect georeferenced video footage of streambank condition using three above water cameras mounted on a kayak. In addition, GPS and stream width were concurrently recorded. The video was ocularly evaluated using four parameters of a modified BEHI (mBEHI): bank angle, bank height to bankfull ratio, surface protection, and riparian diversity. The site-specific mBEHI scores and NBS scores were used along with the North Carolina Piedmont region erosion prediction curves to estimate annual Bank Erosion Rates (BERs). Additionally, USGS stream gage discharge data was utilized to estimate TDSLs. Sediment TMDLs for streambank erosion were calculated using TDSL estimates and the Maximum Daily Limit (MDL) equation, a statistically-based long-term average approach devised by the USEPA. This integrated methodology was implemented on a 22.5 kilometer section of the Driftwood River in Indiana and a 20.4 kilometer section of Upatoi Creek in Georgia. The Total Sediment Load (TSL) of Driftwood River was 222 t yr-1 km-1 [tonnes per year per kilometer] and the TMDL was 66 t d-1 [tonnes per day]. The TSL for Upatoi Creek was 109 t yr-1 km-1 and the TMDL was 24 t d-1

Assessment of lateral erosion in three agriculture- dominated Minnesota streams: measurement tools, and factors affecting erosion rates

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis.May 2017. Major: Bioproducts/Biosystems Science Engineering and Management. Advisors: Gary Sands, Chris Lenhart. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 163 pages.Statewide, 14 percent of Minnesota’s impaired waters are listed for excessive turbidity. In-channel and near-channel erosion are commonly considered major contributors to Midwestern turbidity problems. This research sought to determine the primary drivers of channel erosion in the Elm Creek, Buffalo River and Whitewater River watersheds, with a goal of informing guidance and policy on in-channel and near-channel erosion control practices. Of special interest was whether a woody- or herbaceous- dominated riparian corridor was more stable. First, the definitions, history, and some stream erosion variables are explained. The variables were limited to a brief review of the effects of soil, chemistry, vegetation, hydrology and stream size characteristics. The three study watersheds were introduced. Second, two GIS-based lateral erosion tools (DNR Static Lateral Migration Tool and BBE Dynamic Lateral Migration Tool) and a common field-based methods (BANCS) were compared. The dataset allowed comparison of results from three tools and multiple users on three streams. The DNR Static Lateral Migration Tool was applied to three streams by one user, and to the Whitewater River by a second. The BBE Dynamic Lateral Migration Tool was applied to the Buffalo River by a third user. The BANCS tool was applied to three streams by a group of users, and to the Whitewater River by another group. The reach breaks for the DNR Static Lateral Migration Tool were chosen to allow comparison of erosion rates to reach-specific variables. The reach breaks for the BBE Dynamic Lateral Migration Tool were at set distances. Generally, the erosion rates across all tools, user groups and streams were between 0 and 0.6 meters (0 and 2 feet) per year, though some results were higher. All GIS-based tools and users returned erosion rates near or under 1.2 meters (4 feet) per year, with maximum BANCS results near 1.8 meters (6 feet) per year or more. The erosion data allowed for customization of a stream bank erosion prediction graph for comparable Minnesota streams. Third, using GIS, the lateral erosion rates of nearly 240 reaches of the three streams were compared to other stream characteristics. These characteristics included vegetation type, eroded area, reach length, valley length, sinuosity, water surface slope, low bank slope, high bank slope, water surface elevation, low bank elevation, high bank elevation, low bank height, high bank height, bankfull width, radius of curvature, near bank stress, stream mile (size), curve count, curve length, wetland presence, geomorphology, soils, and erosion to bankfull ratio. Of the measurements available to a GIS-user, near bank stress, and stream size were most correlated to erosion rate in these systems. Finally, a few of the values associated with Minnesota’s water economy are linked to the costs of preventative policy, and reactive restorations. Due to the local need for an accurate picture of erosion drivers and erosion rates, and for an efficient restoration prioritization tool, the University of Minnesota partnered with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The work can inform policy and restoration efforts

Une approche générique pour l'automatisation des expériences sur les réseaux informatiques

This thesis proposes a generic approach to automate network experiments for scenarios involving any networking technology on any type of network evaluation platform. The proposed approach is based on abstracting the experiment life cycle of the evaluation platforms into generic steps from which a generic experiment model and experimentation primitives are derived. A generic experimentation architecture is proposed, composed of an experiment model, a programmable experiment interface and an orchestration algorithm that can be adapted to network simulators, emulators and testbeds alike. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through the implementation of a framework capable of automating experiments using any combination of these platforms. Three main aspects of the framework are evaluated: its extensibility to support any type of platform, its efficiency to orchestrate experiments and its flexibility to support diverse use cases including education, platform management and experimentation with multiple platforms. The results show that the proposed approach can be used to efficiently automate experimentation on diverse platforms for a wide range of scenarios.Cette thèse propose une approche générique pour automatiser des expériences sur des réseaux quelle que soit la technologie utilisée ou le type de plate-forme d'évaluation. L'approche proposée est basée sur l'abstraction du cycle de vie de l'expérience en étapes génériques à partir desquelles un modèle d'expérience et des primitives d'expérimentation sont dérivés. Une architecture générique d'expérimentation est proposée, composée d'un modèle d'expérience générique, d'une interface pour programmer des expériences et d'un algorithme d'orchestration qui peux être adapté aux simulateurs, émulateurs et bancs d'essai de réseaux. La faisabilité de cette approche est démontrée par la mise en œuvre d'un framework capable d'automatiser des expériences sur toute combinaison de ces plateformes. Trois aspects principaux du framework sont évalués : son extensibilité pour s'adapter à tout type de plate-forme, son efficacité pour orchestrer des expériences et sa flexibilité pour permettre des cas d'utilisation divers, y compris l'enseignement, la gestion des plate-formes et l'expérimentation avec des plates-formes multiples. Les résultats montrent que l'approche proposée peut être utilisée pour automatiser efficacement l'expérimentation sur les plates-formes d'évaluation hétérogènes et pour un éventail de scénarios variés

Talent Management and Building Competent Workforce

The dynamic growth of the today’s business world has made the organization more competitive. To survive in the cut throat competition of the globalization, a organization has to attain its competitive advantage. It should be proactive to face the changes in the scenario. In this scenario, the drivers of the growth of the organization are its workforce. The organizational success does not only depend on the organizational policy, but also on the quality of work which can be achieved by the workforce. It is the human resource that is the drivers of the organization through their skill, aptitude & attitude by deciding, implanting & controlling the activities. This is the time to move for the organization where they have to stand first than its competitors. In this situation talent management has become an important tool for the organizational growth aligned with the individual growth. Efficient human resources can be developed & maintained by the contribution of the talents in the organization. According to Michaels, Handfield-Jones and Axelrod (2001, p. XII) talent is seen as “the sum of an individual’s abilities, which includes ‘his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence, judgment, attitude, character, and drive’”. So overall talent refers to the core knowledge, skill & ability within a person which is able to provide competitive advantage by differentiating the employee. It’s the responsibility of the organization to develop &retain such talent , because it will be a unbearable cost to the organization by loosing them.On the other hand it will be a huge loss to the organization to bear the cost of the maintaining employee who is not adding any value to the growth. And in the scenario of survival, it will be impossible for an organization to bear such cost. So it is vital for the organization to find the hidden talent, nourish & develop them, & to retain them for longterm success. This concepts leads to the term “Talent management”

Une méthodologie pour la réutilisation et la valorisation des cités ouvrières. Le cas de Hershey, à Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba

This work focuses on the enhancement and reuse of company towns through the study of the Hershey Sugar Company Town in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. The thesis responds to the current need to rescue and protect the abandoned and deteriorated heritage of the sugar industry in Cuba. After the economic restructuring of the sugar sector carried out in 2002, many sugar mills were abandoned or demolished and the cultural consequences were devastating. Each sugar mill is attached to a human settlement in a codependent and indissoluble unit. Following the abandonment and demolition of the sugar factories, the surrounding local population has faced the severe consequences of social, economic and urban dysfunctionality. The productive, urban, and socio-economic configuration of these sugar settlements responds to archetypal models of company towns. In Cuba, this phenomenon is mainly linked to the American capital that invaded the country in the first half of the 20th century. In order to achieve a proposal that solves the problems of the Hershey Sugar Company Town, a research on the specific characteristics of such productive settlements was carried out. The study of three examples of Italian company towns allowed the identification of good practices for revalorization processes. The final result was the conception of a methodology for the possible enhancement and reuse of the Hershey Sugar Company Town; Résumé: Ce travail aborde la question de l’amélioration et de la réutilisation des cités ouvrières au travers du cas de la Cité Ouvrière Hershey à Santa Cruz del Norte, sur l’île de Cuba. Ce mémoire se préoccupe du besoin actuel de sauver et de protéger le patrimoine abandonné et détérioré de l'industrie du sucre à Cuba. Après une restructuration économique de l’industrie sucrière en 2002, de nombreux moulins à sucre ont été abandonnés ou démolis. Les conséquences culturelles ont été dévastatrices. À côté de chaque moulin à sucre se trouvait un établissement humain si dépendant du lieu de production qu’il en était devenu indissociable. Suite à l'abandon et à la démolition des usines de sucre, cette population locale a souffert des répercussions du dysfonctionnement social, économique et urbain. La configuration productive, urbaine, économique et sociale de ces établissements industriels fait écho aux modèles des cités ouvrières. À Cuba, ce phénomène est principalement lié au capital américain qui a envahi le pays pendant la première moitié du XXème siècle. Afin d’apporter une solution aux problèmes présentés par le cas d'étude, une recherche a été réalisée sur les caractéristiques spécifiques de ce fonctionnement productif. L'étude de trois exemples de cités ouvrières italiennes a permis d'identifier les bonnes démarches à suivre lors des processus de requalification. Le résultat final se présente sous la forme d'une méthodologie pour améliorer et réutiliser la cité ouvrière Hershe

Determination of the informational content of symptoms in the dynamic processes of assessing the patient’s condition in e-health

The study is devoted to substantiating the tactics of choosing the signs of the patient's condition for diagnostic decision-making on corrective medical intervention in mobile medicine. The aim of the research: to study a creation of a methodology for determining the integral informativeness of the patient's symptoms during remote monitoring of his condition. Materials and methods: this article is based on search results in PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Global Health, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, UK NHS HTA articles published between January 1991 and January 2021 and containing the search terms “information technology”, “Mobile medicine”, “digital pathology” and “deep learning”, as well as the results of the authors' own research. The authors independently extracted data on concealment of distribution, consistency of distribution, blindness, completeness of follow-up, and interventions. Results: concluded that to determine the Informativeness of symptoms in mobile monitoring of patients, it is possible to use risk indicators of predicted conditions as a universal method. Given that the Informativeness of the patient's condition changes constantly, for online diagnosis of conditions during remote monitoring of the patient it is recommended to use the function of informative symptoms from time to time and use a set of approaches to assess the Informativeness of patient symptoms. It is proposed to use the strategy of diagnosis and treatment using probabilistic algorithms based on the values of the risk of complications of the pathological process, as well as the formulas of Kulbach and Shannon to determine individual trends in the pathological patient process. Conclusion: there was proposed to use risk indicators of predicted conditions as a universal method for determining the informational content of symptoms in mobile monitoring of patients