53,535 research outputs found

    Evacuation responsiveness by government organisations (ERGO):the evacuation preparedness assessment workbook

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    This Evacuation Preparedness Assessment Workbook (EPAW) is a tool to assess the level of preparedness of Government Organisations (GOs) for the mass evacuation of their public. It has its origins in the results of a three-year, EU-funded research project called Evacuation Preparedness by Government Organisations (ERGO) which sought to research and strengthen the preparedness activities for the evacuation of cities, regions or even countries. This EPAW presents a list of tasks to be carried out at the different phases of evacuation preparedness. It also provides an assessment facility to evaluate how much progress GOs have made against each task, as well as indications of standard and best practices for each task. A brief background to the need for evacuation, the ERGO project and the development of the workbook is given next. After this, the application process of the workbook is explained and illustrated with an example

    Automated Validation of State-Based Client-Centric Isolation with TLA <sup>+</sup>

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    Clear consistency guarantees on data are paramount for the design and implementation of distributed systems. When implementing distributed applications, developers require approaches to verify the data consistency guarantees of an implementation choice. Crooks et al. define a state-based and client-centric model of database isolation. This paper formalizes this state-based model in, reproduces their examples and shows how to model check runtime traces and algorithms with this formalization. The formalized model in enables semi-automatic model checking for different implementation alternatives for transactional operations and allows checking of conformance to isolation levels. We reproduce examples of the original paper and confirm the isolation guarantees of the combination of the well-known 2-phase locking and 2-phase commit algorithms. Using model checking this formalization can also help finding bugs in incorrect specifications. This improves feasibility of automated checking of isolation guarantees in synthesized synchronization implementations and it provides an environment for experimenting with new designs.</p

    Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 182, July 1978

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    This bibliography lists 165 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in June 1978

    Creationism and evolution

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    In Tower of Babel, Robert Pennock wrote that “defenders of evolution would help their case immeasurably if they would reassure their audience that morality, purpose, and meaning are not lost by accepting the truth of evolution.” We first consider the thesis that the creationists’ movement exploits moral concerns to spread its ideas against the theory of evolution. We analyze their arguments and possible reasons why they are easily accepted. Creationists usually employ two contradictive strategies to expose the purported moral degradation that comes with accepting the theory of evolution. On the one hand they claim that evolutionary theory is immoral. On the other hand creationists think of evolutionary theory as amoral. Both objections come naturally in a monotheistic view. But we can find similar conclusions about the supposed moral aspects of evolution in non-religiously inspired discussions. Meanwhile, the creationism-evolution debate mainly focuses — understandably — on what constitutes good science. We consider the need for moral reassurance and analyze reassuring arguments from philosophers. Philosophers may stress that science does not prescribe and is therefore not immoral, but this reaction opens the door for the objection of amorality that evolution — as a naturalistic world view at least — supposedly endorses. We consider that the topic of morality and its relation to the acceptance of evolution may need more empirical research

    Application of Cognitive Systems Engineering Approach to Railway Systems (System for Investigation of Railway Interfaces)

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    This chapter presents the results of a cognitive systems engineering approach applied to railway systems. This application is through the methodology of ’System for Investigation of Railway Interfaces – SIRI’. The utility of the chapter lies in highlighting errors in the current approaches to safety risk management

    Assessing the feasibility of using system dynamics in the evaluation of shared service centres

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    A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of Philosophy.In order to make businesses more effective and efficient, various approaches have been proposed to improve business structures and processes so as to better support corporate objectives. From the 1990’s onwards, enabled by advances in computer technology, one popular approach has been to develop a Shared Service Centre (SSC), whereby various (mostly back office) activities previously organised and attached to separate business units (often) on a national / regional basis, have been consolidated into a single SSC. In common with other business process improvement / re-engineering projects, the success of these transformations have been varied with both successes and failures reported. From the available literature, it was determined that the SSC transformation process especially with regards to the use of a decision support system such as System Dynamics (SD), that will allow for experimentation by SSC implementers has not been rigorously researched or published and thus this is the gap in knowledge that this research seeks to address. This research uses a multiple paradigm / mixed method (exploratory sequential) research approach (Case Study and System Dynamics). This research contends that, given the patchy outcomes, significant cost implications and the adverse impact on organisations when the SSC Transition / Transformation process fails, the current SSC Transition approaches (methodology) have not been effective. Given that the objective of the SSC Transition approach is to ensure a smooth implementation of the proposed Shared Service Centre, this research argues that a simulation approach, grounded in systems thinking, is a credible way of examining the transformation process and evaluating both the transition methodology and the potential outcomes from that process. This research therefore proposes the use of a decision support system (System Dynamics / Simulation) perspective as a credible way of evaluating Shared Service Centres prior to designing and building them and to enhance the project management methodology for SSCs. Furthermore, the research depicts the cause / effect relationship among the SSC Critical Success Factors. Policy intervention tools can then be generated to mitigate against any adverse findings. The research findings showed that, the proposed Shared Service Centre is impacted by three main factors, the selection of a service delivery model, SSC Critical Success Factors and the SSC Phases; and that there is a cause / effect relationship among the SSC Critical Success Factors. In addition, the motives and critical success factors for organisational change were also found to be applicable to SSCs; and that during the SSC Transition phase, SSC Critical Success Factors, Staff Management and the Management of Transactional Activities were found to be important for a successful transition. A further contribution to knowledge is that the use of SD enables the testing of the SSC phenomenon in a new setting. For future research, the constructed SD model can be used as a basis for future organisational SSC Transitions and policy development

    21st century trade agreements: implications for long-run development policy

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    This repository item contains a single issue of The Pardee Papers, a series papers that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Pardee Papers series features working papers by Pardee Center Fellows and other invited authors. Papers in this series explore current and future challenges by anticipating the pathways to human progress, human development, and human well-being. This series includes papers on a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and a development orientation.This paper examines the extent to which the emerging world trading regime leaves nations the “policy space” to deploy effective policy for long-run diversification and development and the extent to which there is a convergence of such policy space under global and regional trade regimes. We examine the economic theory of trade and long-run growth and underscore the fact that traditional theories lose luster in the presence of the need for long-run dynamic comparative advantages and when market failures are rife. We then review a “toolbox” of policies that have been deployed by developed and developing countries past and present to kick-start diversity and development with the hope of achieving longrun growth. Next, we examine the extent to which rules under the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade agreements between the European Union (EU) and developing countries, trade agreements between the United States (US) and developing countries, and those among developing countries (South-South, or S-S, agreements) allow for the use of such policies. We demonstrate that there is a great divergence among trade regimes over this question. While S-S agreements provide ample policy space for industrial development, the WTO and EU agreements largely represent the middle of the spectrum in terms of constraining policy space choices. On the far end, opposite S-S agreements, US agreements place considerably more constraints by binding parties both broadly and deeply in their trade commitments. Rachel Denae Thrasher holds a master’s degree in International Relations and a law degree, both from Boston University, and she is a Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Her recent research has focused on policy issues related to regional trade agreements, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and on global forests governance. Kevin P. Gallagher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations and Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, both at Boston University. He is also a fellow at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University. He has written extensively on trade and global development. Also see related publication The Future of the WTO, by Kevin Gallagher
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