La catedral metropolitana de Cristo Rey, en Liverpool, Gran Bretaña

The main nave of the cathedral is round and can normally accommodate 800 people, though this capacity can be increased to 2,000. Besides, there are 140 seats on the balconies over the East and West entrances, and 58 seats at the choir - Chapels of the Holy Sacrement, the Holy Virgin and eight others, each devoted to one saint, as well as the baptistry and the porch entrances, are located round the central nave - At the centre of the cathedral, as main focal feature, is the presbitry, and the main altar. The adoption of a circular planform in the design at a church is meant to emphasize the natural tendency of the congregation to surround and be as close as possible in a physical sense to the main altar, so that all can participate more intimately and collectively in the act of worship and prayer.La nave principal tiene planta circular. Su capacidad es de 800 personas sentadas, ampliables hasta 2.000; además existen 140 asientos en las entreplantas que hay sobre los pórticos oriental y occidental y 58 en el recinto del coro. Concéntricamente a dicha nave han sido desarrolladas las diversas capillas: del Santísimo Sacramento, la destinada a la Virgen y ocho más dedicadas cada una a un santo; el baptisterio y los pórticos. En el centro de la nave y como foco dominante se halla la plataforma del presbiterio y sobre ella el altar mayor. La ventaja que ofrece la planta circular, es que sugiere la idea de una agrupación natural en la que hay un sentido de proximidad física con respecto al centro de actividades y un enlace entre personas que vigorizan el aspecto comunitario del culto

An On-Farm experimental philosophy for farmer-centric digital innovation

In this paper, we review learnings gained from early On-Farm Experiments (OFE) conducted in the broad acre Australian grain industry from the 1990s to the present day. Although the initiative was originally centered around the possibilities of new data and analytics in precision agriculture, we discovered that OFEs could represent a platform for engaging farmers around digital technologies and innovation. Insight from interacting closely with farmers and advisors leads us to argue for a change in the ways we approach OFE research. Acknowledging that conditions have changed and drawing from business and social sciences, we suggest that OFE approaches today should develop aspects related to skill development, value generation and value sharing, the social dimension of change, and a renewed focus on farmer-centric research to better bridge industry requirements and scientist inputs

Long-Time Tails and Anomalous Slowing Down in the Relaxation of Spatially Inhomogeneous Excitations in Quantum Spin Chains

Exact analytic calculations in spin-1/2 XY chains, show the presence of long-time tails in the asymptotic dynamics of spatially inhomogeneous excitations. The decay of inhomogeneities, for $t\to \infty$, is given in the form of a power law $$(t/\tau_{Q}) ^{-\nu_{Q}}$$ where the relaxation time $\tau_{Q}$ and the exponent $\nu_{Q}$ depend on the wave vector $Q$, characterizing the spatial modulation of the initial excitation. We consider several variants of the XY model (dimerized, with staggered magnetic field, with bond alternation, and with isotropic and uniform interactions), that are grouped into two families, whether the energy spectrum has a gap or not. Once the initial condition is given, the non-equilibrium problem for the magnetization is solved in closed form, without any other assumption. The long-time behavior for $t\to \infty$ can be obtained systematically in a form of an asymptotic series through the stationary phase method. We found that gapped models show critical behavior with respect to $Q$, in the sense that there exist critical values $Q_{c}$, where the relaxation time $\tau_{Q}$ diverges and the exponent $\nu_{Q}$ changes discontinuously. At those points, a slowing down of the relaxation process is induced, similarly to phenomena occurring near phase transitions. Long-lived excitations are identified as incommensurate spin density waves that emerge in systems undergoing the Peierls transition. In contrast, gapless models do not present the above anomalies as a function of the wave vector $Q$.Comment: 25 pages, 2 postscript figures. Manuscript submitted to Physical Review

Responses of grape berry anthocyanin and tritratable acidity to the projected climate change across the Western Australian wine regions

More than a century of observations has established that climate influences grape berry composition. Accordingly, the projected global climate change is expected to impact on grape berry composition although the magnitude and direction of impact at regional and subregional scales are not fully known. The aim of this study was to assess potential impacts of climate change on levels of berry anthocyanin and titratable acidity (TA) of the major grapevine varieties grown across all of the Western Australian (WA) wine regions. Grape berry anthocyanin and TA responses across all WA wine regions were projected for 2030, 2050 and 2070 by utilising empirical models that link these berry attributes and climate data downscaled (to ∼5 km resolution) from the csiro_mk3_5 and miroc3_2_medres global climate model outputs under IPCC SRES A2 emissions scenario. Due to the dependence of berry composition on maturity, climate impacts on anthocyanin and TA levels were assessed at a common maturity of 22 °Brix total soluble solids (TSS), which necessitated the determination of when this maturity will be reached for each variety, region and warming scenario, and future period.The results indicate that both anthocyanin and TA levels will be affected negatively by a warming climate, but the magnitude of the impacts will differ between varieties and wine regions. Compared to 1990 levels, median anthocyanins concentrations are projected to decrease, depending on global climate model, by up to 3–12 % and 9–33 % for the northern wine regions by 2030 and 2070, respectively while 2–18 % reductions are projected in the southern wine regions for the same time periods. Patterns of reductions in the median Shiraz berry anthocyanin concentrations are similar to that of Cabernet Sauvignon; however, the magnitude is lower (up to 9–18 % in southern and northern wine regions respectively by 2070). Similarly, uneven declines in TA levels are projected across the study regions. The largest reductions in median TA are likely to occur in the present day warmer wine regions, up to 40 % for Chardonnay followed by 15 % and 12 % for Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively, by 2070 under the high warming projection (csiro_mk3_5). It is concluded that, under existing management practices, some of the key grape attributes that are integral to premium wine production will be affected negatively by a warming climate, but the magnitudes of the impacts vary across the established wine regions, varieties, the magnitude of warming and future periods considered

An effectiveness analysis of healthcare systems using a systems theoretic approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of accreditation and quality measurement and reporting to improve healthcare quality and patient safety has been widespread across many countries. A review of the literature reveals no association between the accreditation system and the quality measurement and reporting systems, even when hospital compliance with these systems is satisfactory. Improvement of health care outcomes needs to be based on an appreciation of the whole system that contributes to those outcomes. The research literature currently lacks an appropriate analysis and is fragmented among activities. This paper aims to propose an integrated research model of these two systems and to demonstrate the usefulness of the resulting model for strategic research planning.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>To achieve these aims, a systematic integration of the healthcare accreditation and quality measurement/reporting systems is structured hierarchically. A holistic systems relationship model of the administration segment is developed to act as an investigation framework. A literature-based empirical study is used to validate the proposed relationships derived from the model. Australian experiences are used as evidence for the system effectiveness analysis and design base for an adaptive-control study proposal to show the usefulness of the system model for guiding strategic research.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three basic relationships were revealed and validated from the research literature. The systemic weaknesses of the accreditation system and quality measurement/reporting system from a system flow perspective were examined. The approach provides a system thinking structure to assist the design of quality improvement strategies. The proposed model discovers a fourth implicit relationship, a feedback between quality performance reporting components and choice of accreditation components that is likely to play an important role in health care outcomes. An example involving accreditation surveyors is developed that provides a systematic search for improving the impact of accreditation on quality of care and hence on the accreditation/performance correlation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is clear value in developing a theoretical systems approach to achieving quality in health care. The introduction of the systematic surveyor-based search for improvements creates an adaptive-control system to optimize health care quality. It is hoped that these outcomes will stimulate further research in the development of strategic planning using systems theoretic approach for the improvement of quality in health care.</p

Centro politécnico de Bath, Inglaterra

The general plan called for the construction of six buildings, each having a specific function, though all mutually connected. The main block contains the lecture halls and rooms for study and research. The ground floor is devoted to public rooms for the students. The first floor contains the studies of professors and the management. The library occupies the 4th and 5th floors. On the right is a block with the laboratories, and on the opposite side the gymnasium, whilst the workshops are behind the main buildings. This centre has achieved its initial aim: a modern construction within a well established urban environment having a given and well differentiated character.En la ordenación del terreno figuraba la construcción de seis edificios; cada uno de ellos destinado a desempeñar una función específica, pero enlazados entre sí. En el bloque principal se distribuyen las aulas y locales para estudio e investigación. Su planta baja aloja los salones en los que se desarrolla la vida de relación de los estudiantes. En la 1.ª planta están las salas de profesores y directivos. Las plantas 4.ª y 5.ª se dedican a biblioteca. A su derecha se alza el bloque que alberga los laboratorios; en el lado opuesto, el gimnasio, y detrás de los edificios principales están los bloques de talleres. Este nuevo Centro ha solucionado acertadamente el problema que se planteó: construir un edificio moderno en medio de un entorno urbanístico ya establecido, con un determinado y marcado carácter