Report on the EU-US Workshop on Large Scientific Databases

This joint workshop was set up under the auspices of the Joint European Commission/National Science Foundation Strategy Group that met in Budapest in September 1998. The meeting derived from a joint collaboration agreement between the EC and NSF, signed by Dr. George Metakides (Director of Information Technologies for the EC) and Prof. Juris Hartmanis (Director of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the NSF). Some themes that were identified include: digital libraries human-centered computing and virtual environments large scientific databases, and intelligent implants This report expresses the conclusions and recommendations of the Workshop on Large Scientific Databases, held in Annapolis, Maryland, USA in September 1999. The purpose of the workshop was to develop a report to the funding agencies outlining a possible solicitation to the research community, with emphasis on joint European-US work on Large Scientific Databases. Before the workshop, each participant submitted a position paper (these are available at the web site http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/euus). The results of the position papers, presentations, and group discussion are summarized in this report. There were 12 participants from Europe and 12 from the United States, and they are listed at the end of this report. The last section of this report describes possible funding mechanisms

Meltwater delivery from the tidewater glacier Kronebreen to Kongsfjorden, Svalbard; insights from in-situ and remote-sensing analyses of sediment plumes

Tidewater glaciers form a significant drainage catchment of glacierised areas, directly transporting meltwater from the terrestrial to the marine environment. Surface melt of glaciers in the Arctic is increasing in response to warmer atmospheric temperatures, whilst tidewater glaciers are also exposed to warmer ocean temperatures, stimulating submarine melt. Increased freshwater discharge not only freshens fjord waters, but also plays a key role in glacimarine sedimentary processes, transporting sediment to glacial fjords. Despite this, the temporal evolution of meltwater production, storage and release from tidewater glacier systems at seasonal and interannual time scales is poorly understood. This leaves large uncertainties in the predictions for future sea level rise, ocean circulation and the impacts on the marine ecosystem. This study focuses on Kronebreen, a tidewater glacier which flows into the head of Kongsfjorden, north west Svalbard. Surface melt produces freshwater runoff, which is discharged from the grounding line as a buoyant, sediment laden plume, which spreads laterally across the surface water. This supraglacial melt is the dominant freshwater source, contributing an order of magnitude more freshwater to Kongsfjorden, than direct submarine melting of the ice face. Calibration of MODIS band 1 satellite imagery with in situ measurements of Total Suspended Solids and spectral reflectance, provides a method to quantify meltwater and sediment discharge. Plume extent has been determined for each cloud free day, from June to September, 2002 - 2013. Analysis of plume extent with atmospheric temperature and modeled surface runoff, gives a source to sea insight to meltwater production, storage and discharge. The extent of the plume changes in response to meltwater; larger plumes form when discharge increases. These results reveal that meltwater discharge into Kongsfjorden lags atmospheric temperature, the primary driver of meltwater production, by over a week during June and July. This is reduced to only 1 - 2 days in August and September, indicating a decline in meltwater storage as the ablation season progresses, and the development of more efficient glacial drainage. Sediment plumes respond to meltwater production, making them a valuable tool for quantifying meltwater discharge from a tidewater glacier. Insights to glacier hydrology can also be obtained when surface processes are also considered. This furthers the understanding of tidewater glacier hydrology, which is valuable for improving the accuracy of sea level rise predictions

Exploring ethnic inequalities in health: Evidence from the Health Survey for England, 1998-2011

Issues of social justice and social and spatial inequalities in health have long been researched, yet there is a relative paucity of research on ethnic inequalities in health. Given the increasing ethnic diversity of England's population and the persistence of unjust differences in health this research is timely. We used annual data from the Health Survey for England between 1998 and 2011, combined into a time-series dataset, to examine the influence of socioeconomic and spatial factors on ethnic variations in health and to explore whether inequalities have changed over time. Our analysis reveals that ethnic differences in health are largely rooted in socioeconomic or spatial difference, although variations by health outcome are observed. This work builds on existing literature which looks to socioeconomic and spatial difference for explanations of ethnic inequalities in health, rather than any supposed inherent underlying risk of poor health for minority ethnic groups

Corruption as a violation of human and people’s rights : implications for youth in Zimbabwe

The brief provides recommendations on methods to counter the distortion of policy priorities induced by political corruption. Zimbabwe is ranked 157 out of 180 countries according to the 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPSI). This policy brief defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and extends the definition to include “grand corruption” or widespread political corruption. It specifically outlines how corruption causes social harm; the relationship between corruption and economic rights; the shrinking space of civil society organizations (CSOs) and the persecution of activists; and how corruption undermines public confidence and institutions

Decomposition of automotive manufacturing machines through a mechanism taxonomy within a product lifecycle management framework

The automotive sector as with other manufacturing industries is under continual pressure from the consumer to deliver greater levels of product customisation at a higher quality and at reduced costs. Maintaining market position is therefore increasingly determined by a company's ability to innovate design changes quickly and produce greater numbers of product variants on leaner production lines with shorter times to market. In response manufacturers are attempting to accommodate product customisation and change through the use of reconfigurable production machines. Besides the need for flexibility, production facilities represent a significant investment for automotive manufacturers which is increasingly critical to commercial success; consequently the need to reduce costs through the reuse of assembly and manufacturing hardware on new product programs is becoming crucial. The aim of this research is to enable production machines to be more easily and cost effectively built and subsequently reconfigurable through the adoption of a component-based approach to their implementation utilising virtual manufacturing tools such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). It is suggested that through the decomposition of manufacturing machines into standardised mechanisms and their associated data structures a revised business model can be defined. The mechanisms are classified and deployed as part of a consistent integrated data structure that encompasses product, process and plant information. An objective is to properly integrate manufacturing data with more established Product Data Management (PDM) processes. The main areas of research reported in this article are, (1) development of a method for identifying and mapping data producers, consumers and flow, (2) development of standardised data structures for the management of manufacturing data within a PLM tool, (3) development of a taxonomy for the decomposition of manufacturing and assembly lines into a library of standard physical, logical and structural mechanisms and their associated interfaces. An automotive OEM case study is presented to illustrate the classification and management of production mechanisms focusing on an engine assembly line