Exploring the Effectiveness of Transit Security Awareness Campaigns in the San Francisco Bay Area, Research Report 09-19

Public involvement in alerting officials of suspicious and potentially harmful activity is critical to the overall security of a transit system. As part of an effort to get passengers and the public involved, many transit agencies have security awareness campaigns. The objective of this research is to learn how transit agencies seek to make security awareness campaigns effective and explore how they measure the effectiveness of such campaigns, if at all. This research project includes data from case studies of five major agencies that provide transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area region. The case study data are comprised of descriptions of the types of security awareness campaigns the agencies have implemented, the goals of the campaigns, and how they seek to make their campaigns effective, as well as whether and how these agencies measure and determine the effectiveness of their campaigns. A positive finding of this research is the consistency with which Bay Area transit organizations address the need for passenger awareness as part of their overall security program. However, none of the five agencies analyzed for this study measures the effectiveness of their campaigns. Whereas they all have a similar goal—to increase passenger awareness about security issues—little evidence exists confirming to what extent they are achieving this goal. The paper concludes with suggestions for using outcome measurements to provide a reasonable indication of a campaign’s effectiveness by capturing the public’s response to a campaign

An Access Control Model for Protecting Provenance Graphs

Postprin

Phenotypic Plasticity of Grass Root Anatomy in Response to Light Intensity and Nutrient Supply

The phenotypic plasticity of axial root anatomy was investigated in response to the availability of above- and below-ground resources using eight grass species of the genera Bromus and Poa. In a 7-week garden experiment nutrients were varied by a factor of five and light treatments of 100, 30 and 5·5% daylight were applied. Both nutrients and light influenced root structure. The effect of nutrients was largely explained by plant size, but this was not the case for light. Shading to 30% daylight led to a higher proportion of stele, larger stelar cells and larger xylem vessels. This can be understood either as an increased need for high transport capacity in the shade, where leaf area is larger but root mass lower than in full daylight, or as an increased resistance against desiccation, which is more of a hazard in open sites. Under 5·5% daylight, tissue mass density was reduced due to a lower proportion of stele, though xylem characteristics were not influenced when a correction for the effect of root cross-sectional area was applied. This response may be interpreted as a mechanism to maintain root function with a lower investment in biomass when growth is limited by low irradiance. The results show that the response of a plant to resource limitation is not restricted to those organs responsible for the acquisition of that resource. Furthermore, the qualitative response to shading depends on the absolute level of irradiance. For this reason, care is needed when comparing the results of shading experiments conducted under different irradiances. Copyright 2001 Annals of Botany Compan

Simulating evolutionary responses of an introgressed insect resistance trait for ecological effect assessment of transgene flow: a model for supporting informed decisionmaking in environmental risk assessment

Predicting outcomes of transgene flow from arable crops requires a system perspective that considers ecological and evolutionary processes within a landscape context. In Europe, the arable weed Raphanus raphanistrum is a potential hybridization partner of oilseed rape, and the two species are ecologically linked through the common herbivores Meligethes spp. Observations in Switzerland show that high densities of Meligethes beetles maintained by oilseed rape crops can lead to considerable damage on R. raphanistrum. We asked how increased insect resistance in R. raphanistrum – as might be acquired through introgression from transgenic oilseed rape – would affect seed production under natural herbivore pressure. In simulation experiments, plants protected against Meligethes beetles produced about twice as many seeds as unprotected plants. All stages in the development of reproductive structures from buds to pods were negatively affected by the herbivore, with the transition from buds to flowers being the most vulnerable. We conclude that resistance to Meligethes beetles could confer a considerable selective advantage upon R. raphanistrum in regions where oilseed rape is widely grown

Historic Farmsteads: Preliminary Character Statement - East of England region

This document is one of eight Preliminary Character\ud Statements, which provide information on the\ud characteristics of traditional farm buildings in each\ud Region

African trypanosomiasis in travelers returning to the United Kingdom.

Two returning safari tourists with African trypanosomiasis were admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, in a 3-day period, compared with six cases in the previous 14 years. We describe the clinical features, diagnosis, and problems encountered in accessing appropriate therapy, and discuss the potential for emergence of this disease in increasingly adventurous international travelers

Influence of substrate miscut angle on surface morphology and luminescence properties of AlGaN

The influence of substrate miscut on Al0.5Ga0.5 N layers was investigated using cathodoluminescence (CL) hyperspectral imaging and secondary electron imaging in an environmental scanning electron microscope. The samples were also characterized using atomic force microscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction. It was found that small changes in substrate miscut have a strong influence on the morphology and luminescence properties of the AlGaN layers. Two different types are resolved. For low miscut angle, a crack-free morphology consisting of randomly sized domains is observed, between which there are notable shifts in the AlGaN near band edge emission energy. For high miscut angle, a morphology with step bunches and compositional inhomogeneities along the step bunches, evidenced by an additional CL peak along the step bunches, are observed

Designing a mobile augmented memory system for people with traumatic brain injuries

Augmented memory systems help people remember events in their lives. Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) often have memory impairments. We conducted a user study to learn about strategies individuals with TBI use to remember events in their lives. We explored what characteristics individuals with TBI expect of an augmented memory system. We then investigated these aspects in an initial mobile app design, and propose here a concept for a rehearsal application that addresses the issues found in our studies

Variation in the plant-mediated methane transport and its importance for methane emission from intact wetland peat mesocosms

Aims and Methods Vascular plants are known to influence the production, transport and oxidation of methane in wetland soils, but these processes are not well understood. Using plants grown in intact peat cores, we compared the influence upon methane emissions of 20 forb and graminoid species from European wetlands. We measured plant-mediated transport of methane (conduit or chimney effect) using a novel agar-sealing technique that prevented methane exchange from the bare soil to the atmosphere. Important Findings The plant-mediated transport (chimney effect) represented between 30% and almost 100% of the total methane flux, with graminoids exhibiting greater internal transport than forbs. In general, plants with less dense root tissues and a relatively larger root volume exhibited a larger chimney effect. Most species (12 out of 20) significantly reduced methane emissions compared to bare soil and only one species, Succisa pratensis, increased them. We suggest that characterising vegetation in terms of plant functional traits and plant processes offers an effective method for estimating methane emissions from wetlands. However, we found no correlation between the magnitude of the chimney effect and the overall influence of different plant species on methane emissions. Besides introducing a useful tool to study plant-mediated transport, this work suggests that characterising vegetation in terms of functional traits could improve estimates of methane emissions from wetlands, which in turn could help in designing mitigation strategies