Historical Grassland Turboveg Database Project. 2067 Relevés recorded by Dr Austin O’ Sullivan 1962 – 1982

User Guide and CD of Database are availableEnd of project reportThe more common grassland types occupy about 70% of the Irish landscape (O’Sullivan, 1982), but information on these vegetation types is rare. Generally, Irish grasslands are distinguished based on the intensity of their management (improved or semi-natural grasslands), and the drainage conditions and acidity of the soil (dry or wet, calcareous or acidic grassland types) (Fossitt, 2000). However, little is known about their floristic composition and the changes in floristic composition over time. The current knowledge on grassland vegetation is mostly based on a survey of Irish grasslands by Dr. Austin O’Sullivan completed in the 1960’s and 1970’s (O’Sullivan, 1982). In this survey O’Sullivan identified Irish grassland types in accordance with the classification of continental European grasslands based on the principles of the School of Phytosociology. O’Sullivan distinguished five main grassland types introducing agricultural criteria as well as floristic criteria into grassland classification (O’Sullivan, 1982). In 1978, O’Sullivan made an attempt at mapping Ireland’s vegetation types including the five grassland types distinguished in his later publication as well as two types of peatland vegetation (Figures 1 and 2). This map was completed using 1960’s soils maps (National Soil Survey, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle) and a subsample of the dataset on the composition of Irish grasslands. Phytosociological classification of vegetation is based on the full floristic composition of the vegetation as determined by assessing the abundance and spatial structure of the plant species in a given area. The actual area of the survey (or relevé) is determined according to strict criteria, which include how representative the sample area is for the wider vegetation (i.e. how many of the species found in the wider area are also present in the survey area).National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland

Design and implementation of a filter engine for semantic web documents

This report describes our project that addresses the challenge of changes in the semantic web. Some studies have already been done for the so-called adaptive semantic web, such as applying inferring rules. In this study, we apply the technology of Event Notification System (ENS). Treating changes as events, we developed a notification system for such events

Rationalized development of a campus-wide cell line dataset for implementation in the biobank LIMS system at Bioresource center Ghent

The Bioresource center Ghent is the central hospital-integrated biobank of Ghent University Hospital. Our mission is to facilitate translational biomedical research by collecting, storing and providing high quality biospecimens to researchers. Several of our biobank partners store large amounts of cell lines. As cell lines are highly important both in basic research and preclinical screening phases, good annotation, authentication, and quality of these cell lines is pivotal in translational biomedical science. A Biobank Information Management System (BIMS) was implemented as sample and data management system for human bodily material. The samples are annotated by the use of defined datasets, based on the BRISQ (Biospecimen Reporting for Improved Study Quality) and Minimum Information About Biobank data Sharing (MIABIS) guidelines completed with SPREC (Standard PREanalytical Coding) information. However, the defined dataset for human bodily material is not ideal to capture the specific cell line data. Therefore, we set out to develop a rationalized cell line dataset. Through comparison of different datasets of online cell banks (human, animal, and stem cell), we established an extended cell line dataset of 156 data fields that was further analyzed until a smaller dataset-the survey dataset of 54 data fields-was obtained. The survey dataset was spread throughout our campus to all cell line users to rationalize the fields of the dataset and their potential use. Analysis of the survey data revealed only small differences in preferences in data fields between human, animal, and stem cell lines. Hence, one essential dataset for human, animal and stem cell lines was compiled consisting of 33 data fields. The essential dataset was prepared for implementation in our BIMS system. Good Clinical Data Management Practices formed the basis of our decisions in the implementation phase. Known standards, reference lists and ontologies (such as ICD-10-CM, animal taxonomy, cell line ontology...) were considered. The semantics of the data fields were clearly defined, enhancing the data quality of the stored cell lines. Therefore, we created an essential cell line dataset with defined data fields, useable for multiple cell line users

KB-WOT Quality assurance acoustics: overview and protocols 2008 version

The quality of IMARES' acoustic surveys proved quite unstable in recent years despite extra effort in this field to bring this instability down. The amount of involved scientists in acoustics has been small compared to demersal survey work. Therefore scientific standards of acoustic surveys are relatively low compared resulting in poor standardisation and minimal transparency. Highly specialised technical work made it even more difficult to exchange scientists within IMARES and the quality of acoustic surveys proved to be very sensitive to loss or change in personnel. This situation improved drastically in 2008 when more scientists got involved in acoustic projects and more effort was put in standardisation

Can Students Studying Abroad use Forward Exchange Rates as a Tool for Better Budgeting Their Semesters?

Traveling abroad requires an immense amount of planning and attention to detail. Budgeting is a difficult task in one’s own country, but when planning across borders, that task becomes even greater. Differences in exchange rates and buying power have the potential to adversely affect the budget set ahead of time, placing more stress on the traveler. Financial tools available in the foreign exchange market, if used strategically, may provide a reliable method to budgeting travel abroad as accurately as possible. There are many individuals, students especially, that plan on traveling or studying abroad yet are on tight budgets. Having a reliable budgeting tool that works to hedge against risk can make a difference in their ability to travel abroad

Efficient and Playful Tools to Teach Unix to New Students

Teaching Unix to new students is a common tasks in many higher schools. This paper presents an approach to such course where the students progress autonomously with the help of the teacher. The traditional textbook is complemented with a wiki, and the main thread of the course is a game, in the form of a treasure hunt. The course finishes with a lab exam, where students have to perform practical manipulations similar to the ones performed during the treasure hunt. The exam is graded fully automatically. This paper discusses the motivations and advantages of the approach, and gives an overall view of the tools we developed. The tools are available from the web, and open-source, hence re-usable outside the Ensimag.Comment: ITiCSE, Darmstadt : Germany (2011