Analysis and selection of the simulation environment

This document provides the initial report of the Simulation work package (Work Package 4,WP4) of the CATNETS project. It contains an analisys of the requirements for a simulation tool to be used in CATNETS and an evaluation of a number of grid and general purpose simulators with respect to the selected requirements. A reasoned choice of a suitable simulator is performed based on the evaluation conducted. -- Diese Arbeit analysiert die Anforderungen an eine Simulationsumgebung für die Analyse der Katallaxie. Anhand von Kennzahlen wird die Auswahl der Simulationsumgebung bestimmt.Grid Computing

The hedonic valuation of South African wine brands

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This study aims to value South African wine brands. Deploying blind and sighted versions of hedonic quality it defines (1) ‘functional’ wine brands as those with consistently higher levels of intrinsic quality as proxied by their blind tasting scores, and (2) placebo-type ‘symbolic’ wine brands as those with statistically significant positive predictive differences between their blind and sighted scores. Through a series of econometric analyses applied to 8225 wines sampled over the eight year period from 2000 through 2007, a higher proportion of functional-to-symbolic brands is notified. Bi-polar clustering is observed in both brand-classes, with positive and negative brand-effects yielding positive and negative ‘non’ brands, respectively. Such clustering extends to those brands presenting simultaneously with both functional and symbolic brand-effects. Here brands decompose into zones of either Symbolic Values (with positive placebos and weak intrinsics) or Functional Values (with negative placebos and strong intrinsics). When these zones are graphed relative to their intrinsic blind to sighted-minus-blind scores, no brands appear to occupy the middleground. Each zone is located approximately one standard deviation left and right of the grand-sample mean intrinsic score. This functional-to-symbolic typology confirms and extends the literature on brands in general (Bhat and Reddy, 1998), and wine brands in particular (Mowle and Merrilees, 2005). Two wine brand valuation techniques are subsequently presented and comparatively assessed. Each is based on the combined use of non-ordinal wine valuation models and discounted cash-flow methodologies. The first price-premium approach defines brand equity value (per bottle) as the difference between a wine’s price and a valuation of its intrinsic worth as measured by blind ratings. The second quality-premium approach defines brand equity value as the difference between a wine’s intrinsic value and (instead of price) the value of its perceived quality when sampled sighted

Water Current, Volume 39, No. 1. Winter 2007

Contents • Future of Water Use in Agriculture Topic of Fourth Annual Water Law, Policy and Science Conference by Steve Ress • June Water Tour to New Mexico Compares Republican and Pecos River Compacts By Steve Ress • From the Director • Meet the Faculty • EPAGrant Helps Researchers Study Feedlot Waste Impacts by Steve Ress • Lawmakers Get Briefings on Top Water Issues by Jessica Harder • UNL Hosts Biofuels and Water Resources Retreat By Steve Ress • Fish and Wildlife Coop Supports Students, Lends Assistance by Brent Atema • UNL Land Purchase Will Help Farmers and Ranchers Deal With Using Less Water By Faye Colburn and Sandi Alswager Karstens • Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Begins Work on Great Plains Fire History • Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Begins Work on Great Plains Fire History • Groundbreaking Work on Natural Resources and Public Policy • Water News Briefs • Groundwater Monitoring For Livestock Producer

VGC 2023 - Unveiling the dynamic Earth with digital methods: 5th Virtual Geoscience Conference: Book of Abstracts

Conference proceedings of the 5th Virtual Geoscience Conference, 21-22 September 2023, held in Dresden. The VGC is a multidisciplinary forum for researchers in geoscience, geomatics and related disciplines to share their latest developments and applications.:Short Courses 9 Workshops Stream 1 10 Workshop Stream 2 11 Workshop Stream 3 12 Session 1 – Point Cloud Processing: Workflows, Geometry & Semantics 14 Session 2 – Visualisation, communication & Teaching 27 Session 3 – Applying Machine Learning in Geosciences 36 Session 4 – Digital Outcrop Characterisation & Analysis 49 Session 5 – Airborne & Remote Mapping 58 Session 6 – Recent Developments in Geomorphic Process and Hazard Monitoring 69 Session 7 – Applications in Hydrology & Ecology 82 Poster Contributions 9

Ciri-ciri yang mempengaruhi pelatih aliran kemahiran untuk menjadi seorang usahawan : satu tinjauan di Institut Kemahiran Mara Lumut, Manjung Perak

Kajian ini beijudul "Ciri-ciri yang Mempengaruhi Pelatih Aliran Kemahiran Untuk Menjadi Seorang Usahawan : Satu Tinjauan di Institut Kemahiran Mara Lumut, Manjung Perak. Tujuan kajian ini ialah untuk menilai sejauhmana tahap ciriciri usahawan di kaiangan pelatih IKM untuk menjadi seorang usahawan daripada lima aspek ciri-ciri usahawan iaitu kemahiran berkomunikasi, kemahiran berfikir, kemahiran merancang dan mentadbir, bermotivasi dan ilmu dalam bidang keusahawanan. Kajian ini adalah berbentuk deskriptif. Instrumen yang digunakan di dalam kajian adalah borang soal selidik. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 48 orang pelatih semester akhir kursus Kejuruteraan Awam (Bangunan). Data-data kajian dianalisa dengan menggunakan program SPSS Versi 11.0 for windows dan dianalisis daripada soal selidik ke dalam bentuk min dan frekuensi. Keseluruhan hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa pelatih-pelatih mempunyai ciri-ciri keusahawanan yang tinggi berdasarkan skor min keseluruhan (skor min = 4.06). Akhir sekali, pengkaji mencadangkan agar diwujudkan satu senarai semak yang boleh digunakan sebagai kriteria untuk menilai sama ada terdapat ciri-ciri usahawan di kaiangan pelatih dan dicadangkan supaya kajian ini dilanjutkan ke seluruh Pusat Latihan Kemahiran yang lain di Malaysia

PyrSat - Prevention and response to wild fires with an intelligent Earth observation CubeSat

Forest fires are a pervasive and serious problem. Besides loss of life and extensive environmental damage, fires also result in substantial economic losses, not to mention property damage, injuries, displacements and hardships experienced by the affected citizens. This project proposes a low-cost intelligent hyperspectral 3U CubeSat for the production of fire risk and burnt area maps. It applies Machine Learning algorithms to autonomously process images and obtain final data products on-board the satellite for direct transmission to users on the ground. Used in combination with other services such as EFFIS or AFIS, the system could considerably reduce the extent and consequences of forest fires

Remote Sensing for Land Administration 2.0

The reprint “Land Administration 2.0” is an extension of the previous reprint “Remote Sensing for Land Administration”, another Special Issue in Remote Sensing. This reprint unpacks the responsible use and integration of emerging remote sensing techniques into the domain of land administration, including land registration, cadastre, land use planning, land valuation, land taxation, and land development. The title was chosen as “Land Administration 2.0” in reference to both this Special Issue being the second volume on the topic “Land Administration” and the next-generation requirements of land administration including demands for 3D, indoor, underground, real-time, high-accuracy, lower-cost, and interoperable land data and information

Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Justice Settings:: Where should be the limits of Artificial Intelligence in legal decision-making? Should an AI device make a decision about human justice?

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems for high-stakes decision making is currently out for debate. In the Criminal Justice System, it can provide great benefits as well as aggravate systematic biases and introduce unprecedented ones. Hence, should artificial devices be involved in the decision-making process? And if the answer is affirmative, where should be the limits of that involvement? To answer these questions, this dissertation examines two popular risk assessment tools currently in use in the United States, LS and COMPAS, to discuss the differences between a traditional and an actuarial instrument that rely on computerized algorithms. Further analysis of the later is done in relation with the Fairness, Accountability, Transparency and Ethics (FATE) perspective to be implemented in any technology involving AI. Although the future of AI is uncertain, the ignorance with respect to so many aspects of this kind of innovative methods demand further research on how to make the best use of the several opportunities that it brings

Drainage models: an evaluation of their applicability for the design of drainage systems in arid regions

Only 5%–10% of irrigated lands in least developed countries (LDCs) are currently drained. Although drainage simulation models (DSMs) are used to evaluate alternative designs, it is unclear which drainage model is suitable for LDCs' arid and semi-arid regions. This study evaluates selected DSMs (ADAPT, RZWQM2, DRAINMOD, EPIC, HYDRUS-1D, WaSim and SWAP) and critically assesses their applicability to arid and semi-arid areas. Also, establish and apply selection criteria based on the availability of data in LDCs with Libya as a case study, and identify the most suitable model for application in Libya. DRAINMOD had the highest overall score, and alternative methods to predict missing input parameters for DRAINMOD are discussed. Evaluating the feasibility of using predicted input parameters for DSMs to design drainage systems in LDCs would help farmers, planners and decision-makers to reduce the overall cost of drainage system and, also, make DRAINMOD a more accessible tool to evaluate different drainage designs