329 research outputs found
A Balanced Approach to IT Project Management
The primary objectives of this study were to identify how IT projects can be managed using the Balanced Scorecard approach. Although the research is positioned to have potential application within international project management discipline, the analysis is limited to a South African project management perspective and only internal aspects of managing projects are considered
From Isotopes to TK Interviews: Towards Interdisciplinary Research in Fort Resolution and the Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories
Evolving research in Fort Resolution and the Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories, aims to improve understanding of how the natural ecosystem functions and responds to various environmental stressors, as well as to enhance the stewardship of natural resources and the capacity of local residents to respond to change. We seek to integrate approaches that span the natural and social sciences and traditional knowledge understandings of change, employing a research design developed in response to the concerns of a northern community. In doing so, we have strived for a research process that is collaborative, interdisciplinary, policy-oriented, and reflective of northern priorities. These elements characterize the new northern research paradigm increasingly promoted by various federal funding agencies, northern partners, and communities. They represent a holistic perspective in the pursuit of solutions to address complex environmental and socioeconomic concerns about impacts of climate change and resource development on northern societies. However, efforts to fulfill the objectives of this research paradigm are associated with a host of on-the-ground challenges. These challenges include (but are not restricted to) developing effective community partnerships and collaboration and documenting change through interdisciplinary approaches. Here we provide an overview of the components that comprise our interdisciplinary research program and offer an accounting of our formative experiences in confronting these challenges
Collaboratively Identifying and Referring to Sounds with Words and Phrases
Presented at the 20th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2014), June 22-25, 2014, New York, NY.Machine classification of underwater sounds remains an
important focus of U.S. Naval research due to physical and
environmental factors that increase false alarm rates. Human
operators tend to be reliably better at this auditory task than
automated methods, but the attentional properties of this
cognitive discrimination skill are not well understood. In the
study presented here, pairs of isolated listeners, who were only
allowed to talk to each other, were given a collaborative soundordering
task in which only words and phrases could be used to
refer to and identify a set of impulsive sonar echoes. The
outcome supports the premise that verbal descriptions of
unfamiliar sounds are often difficult for listeners to
immediately grasp. The method of âcollaborative referringâ
used in the study is proposed as new technique for obtaining a
verified perceptual vocabulary for a given set of sounds and for
studying human aural identification and discrimination skills
From Isotopes to TK Interviews: Towards Interdisciplinary Research in Fort Resolution and the Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories
Evolving research in Fort Resolution and the Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories, aims to improve understanding of how the natural ecosystem functions and responds to various environmental stressors, as well as to enhance the stewardship of natural resources and the capacity of local residents to respond to change. We seek to integrate approaches that span the natural and social sciences and traditional knowledge understandings of change, employing a research design developed in response to the concerns of a northern community. In doing so, we have strived for a research process that is collaborative, interdisciplinary, policy-oriented, and reflective of northern priorities. These elements characterize the new northern research paradigm increasingly promoted by various federal funding agencies, northern partners, and communities. They represent a holistic perspective in the pursuit of solutions to address complex environmental and socioeconomic concerns about impacts of climate change and resource development on northern societies. However, efforts to fulfill the objectives of this research paradigm are associated with a host of on-the-ground challenges. These challenges include (but are not restricted to) developing effective community partnerships and collaboration and documenting change through interdisciplinary approaches. Here we provide an overview of the components that comprise our interdisciplinary research program and offer an accounting of our formative experiences in confronting these challenges.Des travaux de recherche en cours Ă Fort Resolution et dans le delta de la riviĂšre des Esclaves, aux Territoires du Nord-Ouest, visent Ă mieux comprendre le fonctionnement de lâĂ©cosystĂšme naturel, Ă rĂ©agir aux divers facteurs dâagression environnementaux ainsi quâĂ rehausser la gĂ©rance des ressources naturelles et la capacitĂ© des habitants de la rĂ©gion Ă rĂ©agir au changement. Nous cherchons Ă intĂ©grer des mĂ©thodes qui englobent les sciences naturelles et sociales et favorisent la comprĂ©hension du changement du point de vue des connaissances traditionnelles. Nous cherchons Ă©galement Ă employer une mĂ©thodologie respectueuse des inquiĂ©tudes de la collectivitĂ© du Nord. Ce faisant, nous avons abouti Ă un processus de recherche caractĂ©risĂ© par la collaboration, lâinterdisciplinaritĂ© et les politiques, processus qui tient Ă©galement compte des prioritĂ©s dans le Nord. Ces Ă©lĂ©ments dĂ©finissent le nouveau paradigme de recherche dans le Nord qui est de plus en plus prĂ©conisĂ© par divers organismes de subvention fĂ©dĂ©raux, partenaires du Nord et collectivitĂ©s. Ils reprĂ©sentent une perspective holistique en guise de solutions Ă des enjeux environnementaux et socioĂ©conomiques complexes portant sur les incidences du changement climatique et de lâexploitation des ressources sur les sociĂ©tĂ©s du Nord. Toutefois, les efforts visant Ă concrĂ©tiser les objectifs de ce paradigme de recherche font face Ă une multitude de dĂ©fis. Ces dĂ©fis comprennent (mais sans sây restreindre) la formation de partenariats efficaces avec les collectivitĂ©s, des efforts de collaboration et la prise de notes sur les changements qui sâopĂšrent grĂące Ă des mĂ©thodes interdisciplinaires. Ici, nous fournissons un aperçu des Ă©lĂ©ments de notre programme de recherche interdisciplinaire et donnons un aperçu de lâexpĂ©rience formative qui a dĂ©coulĂ© de ces dĂ©fis
Lifespan extension and the doctrine of double effect
Recent developments in biogerontologyâthe study of the biology of ageingâsuggest that it may eventually be possible to intervene in the human ageing process. This, in turn, offers the prospect of significantly postponing the onset of age-related diseases. The biogerontological project, however, has met with strong resistance, especially by deontologists. They consider the act of intervening in the ageing process impermissible on the grounds that it would (most probably) bring about an extended maximum lifespanâa state of affairs that they deem intrinsically bad. In a bid to convince their deontological opponents of the permissibility of this act, proponents of biogerontology invoke an argument which is grounded in the doctrine of double effect. Surprisingly, their argument, which we refer to as the âdouble effect argumentâ, has gone unnoticed. This article exposes and critically evaluates this âdouble effect argumentâ. To this end, we first review a series of excerpts from the ethical debate on biogerontology in order to substantiate the presence of double effect reasoning. Next, we attempt to determine the role that the âdouble effect argumentâ is meant to fulfil within this debate. Finally, we assess whether the act of intervening in ageing actually can be justified using double effect reasoning
STING gain-of-function disrupts lymph node organogenesis and innate lymphoid cell development in mice
STING gain-of-function causes autoimmunity and immunodeficiency in mice and STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI) in humans. Here, we report that STING gain-of-function in mice prevents development of lymph nodes and Peyer\u27s patches. We show that the absence of secondary lymphoid organs is associated with diminished numbers of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), including lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells. Although wild-type (WT) α4ÎČ
Ambient aerosol properties in the remote atmosphere from global-scale in-situ measurements
In situ measurements of aerosol microphysical, chemical, and optical properties were made during global-scale flights from 2016â2018 as part of the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom). The NASA DC-8 aircraft flew from âŒâ84ââN to âŒâ86ââS latitude over the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern oceans while profiling nearly continuously between altitudes of âŒâ160âm and âŒâ12âkm. These global circuits were made once each season. Particle size distributions measured in the aircraft cabin at dry conditions and with an underwing probe at ambient conditions were combined with bulk and single-particle composition observations and measurements of water vapor, pressure, and temperature to estimate aerosol hygroscopicity and hygroscopic growth factors and calculate size distributions at ambient relative humidity. These reconstructed, composition-resolved ambient size distributions were used to estimate intensive and extensive aerosol properties, including single-scatter albedo, the asymmetry parameter, extinction, absorption, Ă
ngström exponents, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) at several wavelengths, as well as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations at fixed supersaturations and lognormal fits to four modes. Dry extinction and absorption were compared with direct in situ measurements, and AOD derived from the extinction profiles was compared with remotely sensed AOD measurements from the ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET); this comparison showed no substantial bias.
The purpose of this work is to describe the methodology by which ambient aerosol properties are estimated from the in situ measurements, provide statistical descriptions of the aerosol characteristics of different remote air mass types, examine the contributions to AOD from different aerosol types in different air masses, and provide an entry point to the ATom aerosol database. The contributions of different aerosol types (dust, sea salt, biomass burning, etc.) to AOD generally align with expectations based on location of the profiles relative to continental sources of aerosols, with sea salt and aerosol water dominating the column extinction in most remote environments and dust and biomass burning (BB) particles contributing substantially to AOD, especially downwind of the African continent. Contributions of dust and BB aerosols to AOD were also significant in the free troposphere over the North Pacific.
Comparisons of lognormally fitted size distribution parameters to values in the Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) database commonly used in global models show significant differences in the mean diameters and standard deviations for accumulation-mode particles and coarse-mode dust. In contrast, comparisons of lognormal parameters derived from the ATom data with previously published shipborne measurements in the remote marine boundary layer show general agreement.
The dataset resulting from this work can be used to improve global-scale representation of climate-relevant aerosol properties in remote air masses through comparison with output from global models and assumptions used in retrievals of aerosol properties from both ground-based and satellite remote sensing
Exploring Demographic, Physical, and Historical Explanations for the Genetic Structure of Two Lineages of Greater Antillean Bats
Observed patterns of genetic structure result from the interactions of demographic, physical, and historical influences on gene flow. The particular strength of various factors in governing gene flow, however, may differ between species in biologically relevant ways. We investigated the role of demographic factors (population size and sex-biased dispersal) and physical features (geographic distance, island size and climatological winds) on patterns of genetic structure and gene flow for two lineages of Greater Antillean bats. We used microsatellite genetic data to estimate demographic characteristics, infer population genetic structure, and estimate gene flow among island populations of Erophylla sezekorni/E. bombifrons and Macrotus waterhousii (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Using a landscape genetics approach, we asked if geographic distance, island size, or climatological winds mediate historical gene flow in this system. Samples from 13 islands spanning Erophylla's range clustered into five genetically distinct populations. Samples of M. waterhousii from eight islands represented eight genetically distinct populations. While we found evidence that a majority of historical gene flow between genetic populations was asymmetric for both lineages, we were not able to entirely rule out incomplete lineage sorting in generating this pattern. We found no evidence of contemporary gene flow except between two genetic populations of Erophylla. Both lineages exhibited significant isolation by geographic distance. Patterns of genetic structure and gene flow, however, were not explained by differences in relative effective population sizes, island area, sex-biased dispersal (tested only for Erophylla), or surface-level climatological winds. Gene flow among islands appears to be highly restricted, particularly for M. waterhousii, and we suggest that this species deserves increased taxonomic attention and conservation concern
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