Prefabrication and the individual

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. [118]-[120]).This thesis attempts to address the perceived failure of the manufactured housing industry to adequately speak to issues of universality and specificity. The universal is investigated and redefined according to two specific circumstances: two communities, two Lots and two houses, in two very different places. Hillside sites were selected in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and in Los Angeles, California. A set of principles (the universal) was derived through the analysis of conditions on the two sites (the specific), and a new prefabricated construction system was developed in response. The universal acts as a platform for the individual; the prefabricated components are combined with sitebuilt elements, both systems having their role to play in the evolution of life on a hillside.by Meredith Atkinson.M.Arch

Report of the user requirements and web based access for eResearch workshops

The User Requirements and Web Based Access for eResearch Workshop, organized jointly by NeSC and NCeSS, was held on 19 May 2006. The aim was to identify lessons learned from e-Science projects that would contribute to our capacity to make Grid infrastructures and tools usable and accessible for diverse user communities. Its focus was on providing an opportunity for a pragmatic discussion between e-Science end users and tool builders in order to understand usability challenges, technological options, community-specific content and needs, and methodologies for design and development. We invited members of six UK e-Science projects and one US project, trying as far as possible to pair a user and developer from each project in order to discuss their contrasting perspectives and experiences. Three breakout group sessions covered the topics of user-developer relations, commodification, and functionality. There was also extensive post-meeting discussion, summarized here. Additional information on the workshop, including the agenda, participant list, and talk slides, can be found online at http://www.nesc.ac.uk/esi/events/685/ Reference: NeSC report UKeS-2006-07 available from http://www.nesc.ac.uk/technical_papers/UKeS-2006-07.pd

Borrelia, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia spp. in Ticks Removed from Persons, Texas, USA

Some tick-borne agents may pose yet-unknown public health risks

Applying the ‘least dangerous assumption’ in regard to behaviour policies and children with special needs

Children with special needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools have a wide range of complex conditions rendering it impossible for teachers to fully understand all the complexities of their needs. Difficulties with understanding and self-control lead to much of the behaviour that is considered unacceptable within schools and that can ultimately lead to the large numbers of children with SEND who are excluded. Schools often wish to provide a behaviour policy where everyone is treated equally despite people’s needs and abilities being different. Government guidance in relation to behaviour policies is that they should comprise a mixture of sanctions and rewards, but this behaviourist view leads to a lack of equity of response to behaviour, again feeding into disproportionate numbers of children with SEND being excluded. The move from sanctions and rewards to the operation of a relationships policy where students’ actions yield consequences, within a humanist ethos of understanding, would far more effectively support all children to learn to moderate and control their behaviour and would allow staff to apply the ‘least dangerous assumption’ when dealing with challenging students

Methane transport in agricultural soil after injection of isotopically-enriched methane in the sub-surface

Small quantities of radioactive methane (14CH4) may be released over prolonged periods from geological disposal facilities for radioactive waste. The impact of this release depends on the capacity of soil to oxidise 14CH4 to 14CO2 during transport from the sub-surface to the atmosphere. We investigated this capacity by pulse-injecting isotopically-enriched methane 50 cm below the surface of an agricultural soil in central England. Three sequential injections were made during growth of a spring wheat crop. Samples of gas were taken from the pore space throughout the soil profile at predetermined time points after injection, accompanied by samples of the atmosphere above the soil collected in sampling chambers, deployed at scheduled intervals. Methane and CO2 were measured in soil and above-ground gas using gas chromatography; the isotopic composition of CH4 and CO2 was determined using gas chromatography with isotopic ratio mass spectrometry. Supporting measurements of environmental variables were made during the experiment. The data can be used to test mathematical models describing CH4 and CO2 transport and fate in temperate agricultural soils

eScience gateway stimulating collaboration in rock physics and volcanology

Earth scientist observe many facets of the planet's crust and integrate their resulting data to better understand the processes at work. We report on a new data-intensive science gateway designed to bring rock physicists and volcanologists into a collaborative framework that enables them to accelerate their research and integrate well with other Earth scientists. The science gateway supports three major functions: 1) sharing data from laboratories and observatories, experimental facilities and computational model runs, 2) sharing computational model sand methods for analysing experimental and observational data, and 3) supporting recurrent tasks, such as data collection and running application in real time. Our prototype gateway has worked with two exemplar projects giving experience of data gathering, model sharing and data analysis. The geoscientists found that the gateway accelerated their work, triggered new practices and provided a good platform for long-term collaboration.</p

Orographic disturbances of surface winds over the shelf waters adjacent to South Georgia

This study seeks to quantify the influence of South Georgia's orography on regional surface winds. A typical case study characterized by large-scale westerly winds is analysed using a high-resolution setup (3.3 km) of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional model. The simulation produces significant fine-scale spatial variability which is in agreement with satellite-derived winds. The model simulation indicates that these orography-driven wind disturbances are responsible for strong wind stress curl and enhanced heat flux over the shelf waters surrounding South Georgia. Such surface forcing is entirely absent from the reanalysis, highlighting the need to use high-resolution forcing in regional ocean model simulation