Assessing the Information Needs of Rural People: The Development of an Action Strategy for Rural Librarians

published or submitted for publicatio

Linking Learning Style Preferences and Ethnicity: International Students Studying Hospitality and Tourism Management in Australia

International student enrolment at Australian higher education institutions has grown significantly over the past decade. Traditionally, many international students that study for an Australian qualification originate from Asia and a majority of these students are of Confucian culture heritage. While there is a growing body of literature that explores learning issues of Asian students involved in Australian higher education, there are examples in the literature that promote stereotypical views of the strengths and weaknesses of international students. This paper examines the individual and collective preferred learning style of a sample of Confucian heritage culture university students, analyses links between ethnic origins and preferred learning style and suggests that preferred learning styles should be taken into consideration when developing curriculum which is accessed by international students

Automated Reverse Engineering of Automotive CAN Bus Controls

This research provides a means of automating the process to reverse engineer an automobile’s CAN Bus to quickly recover CAN IDs and message values to control the various systems in a modern automobile. This approach involved the development of a Python script that uses several open-source tools to interact with the CAN Bus, and it takes advantage of several vulnerabilities associated with the CAN protocol. These vulnerabilities allow the script to conduct replay attacks against the CAN Bus and affect various systems in an automobile without the operator’s knowledge or interaction. These replay attacks can be accomplished by capturing recorded network traffic and resending them to find which traffic conducts certain actions. Automobiles are becoming more reliant on computer systems and networks to operate, including the integration of wireless interfaces to interact with these systems (Avatefipour & Malik, 2018). These systems contain numerous vulnerabilities as they were not built with consideration to hacking (Wolf, Weimerskirch, & Paar, 2004). Creating a tool to automate the reverse engineering process allows for a better understanding of the CAN Bus and its vulnerabilities. The aim of this script is to allow the user to identify what specific packets captured from CAN Bus traffic will initiate selected actions in the automobile’s controls. The results show the user can repeatedly split and send log files to the CAN Bus to narrow down the files to a single packet that is starting the selected outputs of the CAN Bus using this script

Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors at discharge in patients with acute myocardial infarction in the United States: data from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2

AbstractObjectives: This study was undertaken to examine recent trends in the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy in patients discharged after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to identify clinical factors associated with ACE inhibitor prescribing patterns.Background: Clinical trials have demonstrated a significant mortality benefit in patients treated with ACE inhibitors after AMI. Numerous studies have demonstrated underuse of other beneficial treatments for patients with AMI, such as beta-adrenergic blocking agents, aspirin and immediate reperfusion therapy.Methods: Demographic, procedural and discharge medication data from 190,015 patients with AMI were collected at 1,470 U.S. hospitals participating in the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2.Results: Prescriptions for ACE inhibitor therapy at hospital discharge increased from 25.0% in 1994 to 30.7% in 1996. Patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% or evidence of congestive heart failure while in the hospital were discharged with ACE inhibitor treatment 42.6% of the time. Of patients experiencing an anterior wall myocardial infarction and no evidence of heart failure, 26.1% of patients were discharged with this treatment. Of the remaining patients, 15.6% received ACE inhibitors at discharge. ACE inhibitors were prescribed more often to elderly and diabetic patients as well as those requiring intraaortic balloon pump placement. This therapy was given less often to patients who underwent revascularization with coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery or were treated with calcium channel blocking agents.Conclusions: Physicians are prescribing ACE inhibitors in patients with myocardial infarction with increasing frequency. Those patients with the greatest expected benefit receive ACE inhibitor treatment most often. However, the majority of even these high risk patients were not discharged with this life-saving therapy

Convexity criteria and uniqueness of absolutely minimizing functions

We show that absolutely minimizing functions relative to a convex Hamiltonian $H:\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}$ are uniquely determined by their boundary values under minimal assumptions on $H.$ Along the way, we extend the known equivalences between comparison with cones, convexity criteria, and absolutely minimizing properties, to this generality. These results perfect a long development in the uniqueness/existence theory of the archetypal problem of the calculus of variations in $L^\infty.$Comment: 34 page

Speleothem U-series constraints on scarp retreat rates and landscape evolution: an example from the Severn valley and Cotswold Hills gull-caves, UK

Modelling landscape evolution requires quantitative estimates of erosional processes. Dating erosional landscape features such as escarpments is usually difficult because of the lack of datable deposits. Some escarpments and valley margins are associated with the formation of mass-movement caves, sometimes known as ‘gull’ or ‘crevice’ caves, which are typically restricted to within 0.5 km of the valley margin or scarp edge. As in other caves, these mass-movement cavities may host speleothems. As gull-caves develop only after valley incision, uranium-series dating of speleothems within them can provide a minimum age for the timing of valley excavation and scarp formation. Here we present data from several gull-caves in the Cotswold Hills, which form the eastern flank of the Severn valley in southern England. U-series ages from these gull-caves yield estimates for both the minimum age of the Cotswold escarpment and the maximum scarp retreat rate. This is combined with data from geological modelling to propose a model for the evolution of the Severn valley and the Cotswold Hills. The data suggest that the location of the escarpment and regional topography is determined not by valley widening and scarp retreat, but by the in situ generation of relief by differential erosion

Electric sector policy, technological change, and U.S. emissions reductions goals: Results from the EMF 32 model intercomparison project

The Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) 32 study compares a range of coordinated scenarios to explore implications of U.S. climate policy options and technological change on the electric power sector. Harmonized policy scenarios (including mass-based emissions limits and various power-sector-only carbon tax trajectories) across 16 models provide comparative assessments of potential impacts on electric sector investment and generation outcomes, emissions reductions, and economic implications. This paper compares results across these policy alternatives, including a variety of technological and natural gas price assumptions, and summarizes robust findings and areas of disagreement across participating models. Under a wide range of policy, technology, and market assumptions, model results suggest that future coal generation will decline relative to current levels while generation from natural gas, wind, and solar will increase, though the pace and extent of these changes vary by policy scenario, technological assumptions, region, and model. Climate policies can amplify trends already under way and make them less susceptible to future market changes. The model results provide useful insights to a range of stakeholders, but future research focused on intersectoral linkages in emission reductions (e.g., the role of electrification), effects of energy storage, and better coverage of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can improve insights even further

Electric Sector Policy, Technological Change, and U.S. Emissions Reductions Goals: Results from the EMF 32 Model Intercomparison Project

The Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) 32 study compares a range of coordinated scenarios to explore implications of U.S. climate policy options and technological change on the electric power sector. Harmonized policy scenarios (including mass-based emissions limits and various power-sector-only carbon tax trajectories) across 16 models provide comparative assessments of potential impacts on electric sector investment and generation outcomes, emissions reductions, and economic implications. This paper compares results across these policy alternatives, including a variety of technological and natural gas price assumptions, and summarizes robust findings and areas of disagreement across participating models. Under a wide range of policy, technology, and market assumptions, model results suggest that future coal generation will decline relative to current levels while generation from natural gas, wind, and solar will increase, though the pace and extent of these changes vary by policy scenario, technological assumptions, region, and model. Climate policies can amplify trends already under way and make them less susceptible to future market changes. The model results provide useful insights to a range of stakeholders, but future research focused on intersectoral linkages in emission reductions (e.g., the role of electrification), effects of energy storage, and better coverage of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can improve insights even further

Climatic controls on diffuse groundwater recharge across Australia

Reviews of field studies of groundwater recharge have attempted to investigate how climate characteristics control recharge, but due to a lack of data have not been able to draw any strong conclusions beyond that rainfall is the major determinant. This study has used numerical modelling for a range of Köppen-Geiger climate types (tropical, arid and temperate) to investigate the effect of climate variables on recharge for different soil and vegetation types. For the majority of climate types, the correlation between the modelled recharge and total annual rainfall is weaker than the correlation between recharge and the annual rainfall parameters reflecting rainfall intensity. Under similar soil and vegetation conditions for the same annual rainfall, annual recharge in regions with winter-dominated rainfall is greater than in regions with summer-dominated rainfall. The importance of climate parameters other than rainfall in recharge estimation is highest in the tropical climate type. Mean annual values of solar radiation and vapour pressure deficit show a greater importance in recharge estimation than mean annual values of the daily mean temperature. Climate parameters have the lowest relative importance in recharge estimation in the arid climate type (with cold winters) and the temperate climate type. For 75% of all soil, vegetation and climate types investigated, recharge elasticity varies between 2 and 4 indicating a 20% to 40% change in recharge for a 10% change in annual rainfall. Understanding how climate controls recharge under the observed historical climate allows more informed choices of analogue sites if they are to be used for climate change impact assessments