Mycotoxin Contamination in Grains; Papers presented at the 17th ASEAN Technical Seminar on Grain Postharvest Technology, Lumut, Malaysia, 25-27 July 1995

Crop Production/Industries,

Implementing Research and Best Practice for the Development of Mental Health Hubs in the Community

The aim of this review is to improve the quality of the psychiatric built environment and the neighborhoods that surround them so that people are drawn to them by hope and not fear or despair. It is aimed at everyone involved in the planning, the design and the management of psychiatric units, from C&I estates, although hopefully it might prove inspiring to other trusts as well, to architects and all stakeholders involved, including service users

An adaptive trust based service quality monitoring mechanism for cloud computing

Cloud computing is the newest paradigm in distributed computing that delivers computing resources over the Internet as services. Due to the attractiveness of cloud computing, the market is currently flooded with many service providers. This has necessitated the customers to identify the right one meeting their requirements in terms of service quality. The existing monitoring of service quality has been limited only to quantification in cloud computing. On the other hand, the continuous improvement and distribution of service quality scores have been implemented in other distributed computing paradigms but not specifically for cloud computing. This research investigates the methods and proposes mechanisms for quantifying and ranking the service quality of service providers. The solution proposed in this thesis consists of three mechanisms, namely service quality modeling mechanism, adaptive trust computing mechanism and trust distribution mechanism for cloud computing. The Design Research Methodology (DRM) has been modified by adding phases, means and methods, and probable outcomes. This modified DRM is used throughout this study. The mechanisms were developed and tested gradually until the expected outcome has been achieved. A comprehensive set of experiments were carried out in a simulated environment to validate their effectiveness. The evaluation has been carried out by comparing their performance against the combined trust model and QoS trust model for cloud computing along with the adapted fuzzy theory based trust computing mechanism and super-agent based trust distribution mechanism, which were developed for other distributed systems. The results show that the mechanisms are faster and more stable than the existing solutions in terms of reaching the final trust scores on all three parameters tested. The results presented in this thesis are significant in terms of making cloud computing acceptable to users in verifying the performance of the service providers before making the selection

Building Climate Resilient Communities: Living Within the Earth’s Carrying Capacity

This Knowledge Synthesis examines how Canadian communities can proactively advance climate resilience to effectively reduce the risk from climate change impacts. Our synthesis reveals that some communities have prepared high level adaptation plans, but very few have a detailed implementation strategy with established funding frameworks. Most actions to build community resilience in Canada are unplanned and take place in recovery following an extreme loss event. Indigenous communities are at the forefront of climate change adaptation in Canada. Self-determination and adaptive capacity building through community-led risk assessments, planning, and disaster recovery organizations, while addressing the broader context of reconciliation gaps and opportunities for integration, are important for climate resiliency. Combining Western and Indigenous ways of knowing for effective knowledge translation is necessary for adaptation. Indigenous collaborations that promote nature-based solutions and conservation are critical to global GHG sequestration and resilience. Local scale urban warming experienced by Canadian communities adds to the heat burden in the warm season and further exacerbates social, health and economic impacts. More research is needed to document and predict the occurrence of heatwaves and to develop heat adaptation strategies for Canadian cities. There are physical and mental health impacts of heatwaves and climate change. To address the climate crisis, a more ambitious, strategic and collaborative approach to adaptation is required. Proven tools exist to proactively improve climate resilience. A major issue is lack of funding and direction for governments and indigenous communities to address climate resilience. The executive summary of the full report provides key messages

The North American Arctic: Themes in Regional Security

he North American Arctic addresses the emergence of a new security relationship within the North American North. It focuses on current and emerging security issues that confront the North American Arctic and that shape relationships between and with neighbouring states (Alaska in the US; Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada; Greenland and Russia). Identifying the degree to which ‘domain awareness’ has redefined the traditional military focus, while a new human rights discourse undercuts traditional ways of managing sovereignty and territory, the volume’s contributors question normative security arrangements. Although security itself is not an obsolete concept, our understanding of what constitutes real human-centred security has become outdated. The contributors argue that there are new regionally specific threats originating from a wide range of events and possibilities, and very different subjectivities that can be brought to understand the shape of Arctic security and security relationships in the twenty-first century. The North American Arctic provides a framework or lens through which many new developments are assessed in order to understand their impact on a changing circumpolar region at different scales – from the level of community to the broader national and regional scale

Exploring Technology Adoption in Canada’s Mineral Mining Sector: Navigating Through an Interplay of Factors

The mining sector is currently experiencing a period of disruption where technological innovations such as electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and drones are transforming how the industry operates. Little is known, however, about the factors that drive, enable, and impede technology adoption in the mining sector, particularly in the context of Canada. To address this gap, this research explores the drivers, enablers, and barriers to technology adoption in Canada's mineral mining sector through an online survey, structured by the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, with insights from similar research in the context of Australia. The findings of this research suggest that the top three technologies being adopted by mining companies in Canada are battery electric vehicles (BEV's), sensors, and autonomous equipment. In the Canadian context, the technology adoption process for mining companies is influenced by a complex interplay of factors determined by the three commonly cited dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, environmental). While economic considerations, such as productivity and efficiency, to reduce operating costs and competitive pressures underpin technology adoption decisions, mining companies are also motivated to adopt technologies by social factors such as improvements to health and safety for workers, and environmental factors such as to reduce diesel emissions. Economic factors, such as costs of the technology, implementation costs, limited internal capital, and the capital intensive nature of the sector, underpin the barriers to technology adoption for mining companies with operations in Canada. This research concludes with suggestions for future research, and key theoretical contributions

Planning for selective use and ecologically compatible forms of outdoor recreation: One means of core area revitalization in the City of Waterloo, Ontario.

This thesis explores the potential contribution that could be made to core area revitalization through the integration of outdoor recreation planning, ecological planning, and urban planning. The revitalization of urban centres, and especially those of mid-size cities, has typically been explored through policy planning, economic vitality, and urban design. An area, which often has been neglected, is that of urban outdoor recreation, specifically recreation that is carried out in an ecologically compatible fashion. The thesis examines theoretical and practical approaches in outdoor recreation planning, ecological planning, and urban planning, addressing any gaps and insufficiencies that seem to hinder the integration of the three disciplines in terms of devising practical solutions to identified issues. The core area in the city of Waterloo serves as a case study to examine the feasibility of integrating ecological planning, outdoor recreation planning, and urban planning. This research indicates that ecological planning is a versatile and responsive planning approach whereas outdoor recreation planning and urban planning seem disconnected from each other. Planning for outdoor recreation needs to be more inclusive and coordinated with other disciplines, such as urban planning and ecological planning. The thesis applies these findings in recommendations for the City of Waterloo to consider when planning its core area

Impacts of road network connectivity on quality of in abuja city

Development of well-connected road network to guarantee quality living in cities is a major concern in the current era. Efforts have been made to establish the underlying relation between road network and societal well-being. However, the causal relationship remains poorly understood due to inability to consider personal quality of life in the appraisal technique. This research introduces a novel model with multidimensional analytical approach for empirical exploration of road connectivity impact on quality of life (QOL) in Abuja City, Nigeria. Forty planning districts were used as spatial units for road network analysis. QOL survey data were generated from 367 respondents in the 15 sampled districts. Graph theory metrics comprising alpha, beta, cyclomatic number, eta, gamma and aggregate transportation score (ATS) indices were applied to determine the connectivity of road networks. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the components of road connectivity and quality of life indicators for the model development. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the model fitness between the components of road connectivity and the latent indicators of quality of life. Weighted average score (WAS) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare the quality of life among the districts with different levels of road connectivity. Finding revealed that most districts (60%) have low road connectivity (6.66 – 46.23 ATS). About 22.5% of the districts have moderate connectivity (51.04 – 91.00 ATS), while 17.5% districts have high road connectivity (100.98 – 146.13 ATS). Factor analysis affirmed that four connectivity components, six latent factors and 26 observable factors were fit for model development. The structural equation modelling showed high factor loading (R2 = 0.66), implying that road connectivity components explained 66% of QOL. Path coefficient was 0.81, indicating that every one unit increase in connectivity, contributes 0.81 unit increase in QOL. Analysis of variance showed a statistical significant difference in quality of life at < .05 level between low and high connected districts. However, quality of life slightly varied between the moderate and low connected districts as well as between the moderate and high connected districts. Overall, the results of this research have contributed by revealing how road connectivity empirically affects QOL. Hence, the study suggests a multidimensional model that can be employed in future analyses. The model would be useful to researchers, planners and engineers for examining the impact of transportation network on societal quality of life