Hell of a Life

This paper reflects on the work completed for the Storytelling and the Life of Faith Colloquium. It reflects on the author\u27s time in college, time abroad, life, and the course itself. It includes not only introspections on the course readings but also the larger course themes including the use of memory, and universal truths — be there any. It’s about struggle, the internal and the external, it’s an overview of a lot of realizations the author had during her college career. It’s about learning to be ok with the fluctuation called life

K3-surfaces with special symmetry

In this dissertation classification problems for K3-surfaces with finite group actions are considered. Special emphasis is put on K3-surfaces with antisymplectic involutions and compatible actions of symplectic transformations. Given a finite group $G$ it is investigated if it can act in a compatible fashion on a K3-surfaces $X$ with antisymplectic involution and to what extend the action of $G$ determines the geometry of $X$. If $G$ has large order or rich structure a precise description of $X$ as a branched double cover of a Del Pezzo surface is obtained. In particular, this leads to classification results for the complete list of eleven maximal finite groups of symplectic automorphisms of K3-surfaces. The remaining part of the thesis deals with generalizations to non-maximal groups and K3-surfaces with non-symplectic automorphisms of higher order. The classification relies on an equivariant minimal model program for surfaces, the study of finite group actions on Del Pezzo surfaces, and the combinatorial intersection geometry of naturally associated exceptional and fixed point curves.Comment: 106 pages, Dissertation (Ph.D. thesis

Biomass estimations of invasives Yaupon, Chinese Privet and Chinese Tallow in east Texas Hardwood and Pine Ecosystems

Forest understory fuels can have profound effects on fire behavior and crown fire initiation. Accurate fire behavior prediction in understory fuels is an essential component for estimating fire intensity and severity during wildfire and prescribed fire events. This study focused on estimating temporal and seasonal changes in fuel loading parameters associated with the expansion of invasive yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), and Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) in East Texas pine and hardwood ecosystems. Fuel loading data of invasive species infested sites indicated significant increases in understory biomass when compared to 1988 estimates, suggesting a clear need to revise regional fuel models. Multiple and simple regression biomass prediction equations were developed for all three-invasive species to facilitate fuel load estimates. These improved prediction equations will enhance fire management efforts as well as invasive species mitigation efforts in east Texas

Knowledge Generation in the Field of Grey Literature: A Review of Conference-based Research Results

Perhaps the most cost effective research carried out in information science today is in the field of grey literature. The published proceedings in the GL-Conference Series provide a record of impressive research results in this field of information. These results are based on various and diverse approaches and methodologies, whereby citation data, survey data, systems data, bibliographic and metadata, as well as other evidence based variables and indicators are compiled, processed, and analysed. Notwithstanding the fact that knowledge generation is an important measure of wealth in science and technology, the costs in human and material resources appropriated from research budgets must also weigh-in to determine real effectiveness. Only in this way can our initial rhetoric be transformed into a working hypothesis. This research project, which lies within the structure of the GL-Conference Series, seeks to analyse not only the benefits of research on grey literature but also the costs related to carrying-out and publishing research results. In order to gather evidence-based data, a Project Information Document (PID) Form similar to others that are in place and use elsewhere has been designed to accommodate GL research. The PID-Form will be distributed to those authors/researchers, who respond to the GL8 Call for Papers, as well as to authors/researchers from last year's conference in this series. Results gathered from these research resumes are expected to provide answers to relevant questions such as the percentage of research on the topic of grey literature that is formally funded, the ratio of ad hoc research, the ratio of individual to team research, average research costs and expenses, the duration of research projects, etc. This evidence-based data will then enable us to grasp the cost effectiveness of research on grey literature and compare other types of data compiled within a conference structure. And, in so doing, our results will help to demonstrate the power of grey literature to other information professionals as well as policy and decision makers, funding bodies and new investors. Furthermore, our results may be seen as indicative for other S&T conferences based on a call-for-papers.La communication analyse les rétombées et coûts des projets de recherche publiés dans les actes des conférences internationales sur la littérature grise (GL). Cette analyse est basée sur une enquête auprès des auteurs de ces publications

The implementation of Going Dynamic in Telenor from a management control perspective : why and how has Telenor gone Beyond Budgeting?

Today’s organization is striving in environments which frequently are characterized by uncertainties and rapid changes. The budget has been, and still is, a management tool most companies use to govern their activities. The critics of the budget have claimed that the budget has lost its relevance in today’s highly competitive environment. Beyond Budgeting is such a concept that claims that organizations needs to replace the budget due to its conflicting purposes. Telenor is one of the organizations which realized that the budget was inadequate for the company's needs because it did not always contribute in providing the optimal management information. Management realized that the budget was grasping for more than it could handle and introduced Going Dynamic – a management model inspired by the Beyond Budgeting philosophy. We have studied why and how Telenor introduced Going Dynamic by interviewing the project leader for Going Dynamic and employees in two market outlets. Telenor decided to introduce Going Dynamic in the Norwegian organization in 2006. The market outlets were separately responsible for introducing new designs that replaced the budget, which has resulted in some interesting similarities and differences. The study of how Going Dynamic has been introduced in the market outlets has been done from a management control perspective which includes targets, resource allocation and prognoses. The literature states that each organization’s journey to go Beyond Budgeting is unique, and our study confirms that this is the case even between divisions in a single organization. We found that the budget no longer provided management with the adequate information needed in Telenor’s rapid changing environment. The budget could no longer perform its multiple roles included target setting, resource allocation, and cost management in a way that enabled decision making and follow up. Telenor has separated the targets, resource allocation and prognoses as a result of this. The two market outlets have developed different mechanisms that allow a more dynamic resource allocation. The processes of making prognoses, which aim to reveal gaps towards the targets, are applied differently in the two market outlets. The prognoses have made processes more visible and the incentive structure has been changed. However, there are indications that the budget has not been fully deinstitutionalized yet and the budget-like fixed target setting process seems to hamper Telenor’s ability to allocate resources dynamically to a certain degree

Forbedrede udearealer i økologisk ægproduktion

Med henblik på at styrke forsknings- og udviklingsindsatsen inden for økologisk fjerkræproduktion, blev det muligt med finansiering fra Direktoratet for FødevareErhverv, i 2001 at påbegynde udviklingsprojektet ”Fjerkræets udearealer ved økologisk produktion”. Projektet tog udgangspunkt i en række interessetilkendegivelser fra fjerkræproducenter og andre interesserede indenfor økologisk fjerkræproduktion, og projektet blev planlagt i et samarbejde mellem • Brancheforeningen for Økologiske Æg- og Fjerkræproducenter • Dansk Erhvervsfjerkræ • Landsforeningen for Økologisk Jordbrug • Landskontoret for Fjerkrærådgivning og • Danmarks JordbrugsForskning som koordinerende partner Det var en grundlæggende ide i projektet at tage udgangspunkt i de medvirkende producenters allerede opbyggede erfaringsgrundlag og idéer til videre udvikling. En del af projektet tog udgangspunkt i en interessetilkendegivelse fra en gruppe ægproducenter, ”Hønsegården” A.m.b.a., der havde et samarbejde om videndeling og afsætning. Producenterne havde i samarbejde med Landskontoret for Fjerkrærådgivning identificeret udearealerne (hønsegårdene) som et centralt område, hvor der var behov for yderligere viden om den mest hensigtsmæssige indretning og drift i forhold til såvel hønernes produktivitet og velfærd som miljøeffekter. Rapporten beskriver de opnåede resultater fra denne del af projektet og på grundlag heraf gives anbefalinger til, hvorledes udearealerne mest hensigtsmæssigt bør indrettes

Acces to Grey Content: An Analysis of Grey Literature based on Citation and Survey Data: A Follow-up Study

Grey literature, an area of interest to special librarians and information professionals, can be traced back a half-century. However, grey literature as a specialized field in information studies is less than a decade old. At GL'97 in Luxembourg, grey literature was redefined “as information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishers (i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body).” The subject area was broadened and the need for continuing research and instruction pursued. The results of an online survey carried out in 2004 compared with survey results a decade prior indicate two changes: (1) a move to more specialization in the field of grey literature and (2) a move to more balance in activities related to research and teaching as compared with the processing and distribution of grey literature. It is not that the activities of processing and distribution are today of less concern, but technological advances and the Internet may have made them less labour intensive. The burden that grey literature poised to human resources and budgets appears to have been reduced enough that the benefits of the content of grey literature is discovered. And this discovery of a wealth of knowledge and information is the onset to further research and instruction in the field of grey literature. This research is a follow-up to two projects carried out in 2004. One was a citation analysis based on the published papers in the GL Conference Proceedings and the other was a general survey, which dealt with the response of information professionals to key issues and topics in the field of grey literature. In this study, we seek not only to update and integrate the data from the citation analysis but at the same time we introduce the instrument of an author survey in order to better assess the work and expectations of those who are actually doing research and authoring papers on the topic of grey literature. These are the meta-authors. The idea behind the method carried out in this study is that by using the same pool of authors survey data linked to citation data will allow for a clearer demonstration of the impact of their research, where only part of the impact is covered by citation analysis alone. Hopefully, the new combined results will provide a better profile of these meta-authors, who are also the source of GreyNet's knowledge and information base. This could lead to the subsequent development of information policies and services that are more in line with the needs of authors and researchers, whereby their results would become even more accessible well beyond the grey circuit.La communication présente les résultats d'une analyse des citations dans les communications des conférences internationales sur la littérature grise depuis 1995

Constraint-Based Heuristic On-line Test Generation from Non-deterministic I/O EFSMs

We are investigating on-line model-based test generation from non-deterministic output-observable Input/Output Extended Finite State Machine (I/O EFSM) models of Systems Under Test (SUTs). We propose a novel constraint-based heuristic approach (Heuristic Reactive Planning Tester (xRPT)) for on-line conformance testing non-deterministic SUTs. An indicative feature of xRPT is the capability of making reasonable decisions for achieving the test goals in the on-line testing process by using the results of off-line bounded static reachability analysis based on the SUT model and test goal specification. We present xRPT in detail and make performance comparison with other existing search strategies and approaches on examples with varying complexity.Comment: In Proceedings MBT 2012, arXiv:1202.582