Visualisation Tools for Multi-Perspective, Cross-Sector, Long-Term Infrastructure Performance Evaluation

Across different infrastructure sectors there are systems that help to monitor the current and near-future operation and performance of a particular system. Whilst Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical to maintaining acceptable levels of functionality, they do not provide insights over the longer timescales across which strategic investment decisions play out. To understand how individual or multiple, interdependent, infrastructure sectors perform over longer timescales, capacity/demand modelling is required. However, the outputs of such models are often a complex high-dimensionality result-set, and this complexity is further compounded when crosssector evaluation is required. To maximise utility of such models, tools are required that can process and present key outputs. In this paper we describe the development of prototype tools for infrastructure performance evaluation in relation to different strategic decisions and the complex outputs generated from capacity and demand models of five infrastructure sectors (energy, water, waste water, solid waste, transport) investigated within the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC). By constructing tools that expose various dimensions of the model outputs, a user is able to take greater control over the knowledge discovery process

Distributions and abundances of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) and other pelagic fishes in the California Current Ecosystem during spring 2006, 2008, and 2010, estimated from acoustic–trawl surveys

The abundances and distributions of coastal pelagic fish species in the California Current Ecosystem from San Diego to southern Vancouver Island, were estimated from combined acoustic and trawl surveys conducted in the spring of 2006, 2008, and 2010. Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus), and Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus) were the dominant coastal pelagic fish species, in that order. Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were sampled only sporadically and therefore estimates for these species were unreliable. The estimates of sardine biomass compared well with those of the annual assessments and confirmed a declining trajectory of the “northern stock” since 2006. During the sampling period, the biomass of jack mackerel was stable or increasing, and that of Pacific mackerel was low and variable. The uncertainties in these estimates are mostly the result of spatial patchiness which increased from sardine to mackerels to anchovy and herring. Future surveys of coastal pelagic fish species in the California Current Ecosystem should benefit from adaptive sampling based on modeled habitat; increased echosounder and trawl sampling, particularly for the most patchy and nearshore species; and directed-trawl sampling for improved species identification and estimations of their acoustic target stre

Determinants of Financial Health of US General Aviation Airports

This survey-based study investigates the current financial environment of US general aviation airports. Due to a dearth of data and research on the financial performance of general aviation airports, the paper provides vital information regarding the critical needs and major revenue sources of such airports.The findings suggest that general aviation airports can be self-sustaining regardless of their location, runway length and other airport-specific characteristics.The attitudes of the airport manager towards the importance of financial self-sustainability, positive relationships with local communities, and utilisation of non-traditional and non-aviation revenue sources are found to be critical for the financial health of general aviation airports. In addition, the research provides estimates of the funding needs of US general aviation airports and evidence of the cumulative demand for T-hangars on a national basis

Entrepreneurial Spirit in Government Managed Enterprises: Evidence from the U.S. General Aviation Airports

While a number of studies introduce entrepreneurship in the public sector, there is still a need for empirical research in this field. We use a survey of U.S. general aviation airport managers to investigate the benefits of entrepreneurial spirit in public sector management. The results of logistic regressions suggest that the airport managers’ beliefs in importance of self-sustainability significantly improve the likelihood of general aviation airports to be self-sustaining. On the other hand, the airport specific characteristics, such as a favorable location, county population, and others are not statistically significant in achieving self-sustainability. Our findings support the literature that argue that entrepreneurship can be a mean of achieving more efficient, flexible and adaptive management in the public sector

Re-parameterization Invariance in Fractional Flux Periodicity

We analyze a common feature of a nontrivial fractional flux periodicity in two-dimensional systems. We demonstrate that an addition of fractional flux can be absorbed into re-parameterization of quantum numbers. For an exact fractional periodicity, all the electronic states undergo the re-parameterization, whereas for an approximate periodicity valid in a large system, only the states near the Fermi level are involved in the re-parameterization.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor changes, final version to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Fetal Environment and Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia and related disorders are adult-onset illnesses with no definitively established risk factors. Several studies report that exposures to infection and nutritional deprivation during early development may elevate the risk of later developing schizophrenia, specifically during the prenatal period. Preliminary evidence implicates lead exposure as well, suggesting that chemical exposures during early development may constitute a new class of risk factors for schizophrenia that has not been adequately investigated. Exposure to lead is given as an example of a chemical agent for which some effects have been described throughout the life course on both general neurodevelopmental outcomes and now on a specific psychiatric diagnosis. Findings from prospectively collected birth cohorts are offered as examples of both innovations in methodology and opportunities for future generations of investigators

Streamlining Deposit: An OJS to Repository Plugin (Pitch)

Pitch for Stremlining Deposit: An OJS Plugin, presented by Stephann Makri

Anomalous Behavior near T_c and Synchronization of Andreev Reflection in Two-Dimensional Arrays of SNS Junctions

We have investigated low-temperature transport properties of two-dimensional arrays of superconductor--normal-metal--superconductor (SNS) junctions. It has been found that in two-dimensional arrays of SNS junctions (i) a change in the energy spectrum within an interval of the order of the Thouless energy is observed even when the thermal broadening far exceeds the Thouless energy for a single SNS junction; (ii) the manifestation of the subharmonic energy gap structure (SGS) with high harmonic numbers is possible even if the energy relaxation length is smaller than that required for the realization of a multiple Andreev reflection in a single SNS junction. These results point to the synchronization of a great number of SNS junctions. A mechanism of the SGS origin in two-dimensional arrays of SNS junctions, involving the processes of conventional and crossed Andreev reflection, is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective

This Report has a number of inter-related general purposes. One is to explore the extent to which food, nutrition, physical activity, and body composition modify the risk of cancer, and to specify which factors are most important. To the extent that environmental factors such as food, nutrition, and physical activity influence the risk of cancer, it is a preventable disease. The Report specifies recommendations based on solid evidence which, when followed, will be expected to reduce the incidence of cancer