Screening of trees suited for growth on landfill sites

A field survey was conducted on the completed Gin Drinkers’ Bay (GDB) landfill. Hong Kong, to investigate the causes of adverse tree growth. Ten tree species, belonging to eight families, were transplanted to two sites there. One site had a high concentration of landfill gas in the cover soil (high-gas- site, HQS), while the other had a relatively low concentration of gas (low-gas-site, LGS). Besides gaseous composition, general soil properties in these sites were similar. A strong negative correlation between tree growth and landfill gas concentration was observed. A controlled laboratory simulation study was performed to study the influence of landfill gas on plants. The responses to gas varied greatly among species: some were very sensitive but others were tolerant. Generally, the growth of tap roots was reduced while the horizontal growth of adventitious roots was stimulated. The results indicate that landfill gas does not have acute toxic effects on trees. The excessive quantity of CO(_2) in cover soil limits the depth of the root system. Trees with a shallow root system become very susceptible to water stress. The effects of low O(_2) concentration in soil are less important. Trees suited for growth on sub-tropical completed landfill sites are listed, and their common characteristics are discussed

Cross-Sender Bit-Mixing Coding

Scheduling to avoid packet collisions is a long-standing challenge in networking, and has become even trickier in wireless networks with multiple senders and multiple receivers. In fact, researchers have proved that even {\em perfect} scheduling can only achieve $\mathbf{R} = O(\frac{1}{\ln N})$. Here $N$ is the number of nodes in the network, and $\mathbf{R}$ is the {\em medium utilization rate}. Ideally, one would hope to achieve $\mathbf{R} = \Theta(1)$, while avoiding all the complexities in scheduling. To this end, this paper proposes {\em cross-sender bit-mixing coding} ({\em BMC}), which does not rely on scheduling. Instead, users transmit simultaneously on suitably-chosen slots, and the amount of overlap in different user's slots is controlled via coding. We prove that in all possible network topologies, using BMC enables us to achieve $\mathbf{R}=\Theta(1)$. We also prove that the space and time complexities of BMC encoding/decoding are all low-order polynomials.Comment: Published in the International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), 201

A Spatial Analysis and Modeling System (SAMS) for environment management

This is a proposal to develop a uniform global environmental data gathering and distribution system to support the calibration and validation of remotely sensed data. SAMS is based on an enhanced version of FE MA's Integrated Emergency Management Information Systems and the Department of Defense's Air Land Battlefield Environment Software Systems. This system consists of state-of-the-art graphics and visualization techniques, simulation models, database management and expert systems for conducting environmental and disaster preparedness studies. This software package will be integrated into various Landsat and UNEP-GRID stations which are planned to become direct readout stations during the EOS timeframe. This system would be implemented as a pilot program to support the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). This will be a joint NASA-FEMA-University-Industry project

Building Ethnically Diverse Digital Collections

Building ethnically diverse collections has always been challenging -- either because minority communities do not see traditional institutions as keepers of their histories or librarians/archivists are not embedded sufficiently in the communities to recognize the value of their materials. And lastly, when communities do donate physical materials, processing and enabling access to these collections can often be slow, due to a myriad of reasons. The perception of a lack of public interest may lead to low processing priority, which only increases the potential for loss. Minority communities\u27 motivation may be negatively impacted, furthering mistrust of traditional institutions and harming any potential momentum in acquiring materials. Open access platforms provide libraries and librarians with new opportunities to develop ethnically diverse collections without donors having to donate and gift items. It also allows the nonspecial collection library from needing the required archival space and requirements to properly house physical materials. At the Cultural Heritage Center at San Jose State University (SJSU), we have been digitizing community and university materials from our race/ethnic communities. SJSU faculty, students, and alumni have been pleased with the discoveries of these collections, which include graduation programs and student publications. Most libraries have access to the common hardware and software that can offer a more inclusive perspective than the traditional Special Collections archives. We will demonstrate how a team of individuals can make libraries\u27 digital collections more inclusive and ethnically rich and diverse

Willingness to Pay for Cataract Surgery in Rural Southern China

This paper examines the willingness of patients in China to pay for cataract surgery

Moving from Binders to Bytes: Processing, Digitizing, and Publishing a Paper-Based Archive to an Institutional Repository

At San Jose State University, a paper-based archive centering on library and information science history is being processed, organized, and uploaded onto ScholarWorks, the campus institutional repository. Prior to its digitization, the presenters grappled with many questions. What platform should be used to house the archive? What entry points would researchers expect in order to access the collection? What research purposes would this collection satisfy? The presenters will discuss their rationale for their decision-making in transferring 300 binders to an open access, digital format. Among the individuals who are involved in making this detail-rich collection openly accessible online and searchable are a scholarly communications librarian, a cataloging and metadata specialist who is serving as the interim institutional repository coordinator, and a library and information science graduate student focusing on archival records and management. These individuals will discuss their varying perspectives and how each of their emphases contributes to the enterprise of making this paper-based archive discoverable, searchable, and digitally accessible in an ever-evolving institutional repository and scholarly communications environment

Perceptions and Barriers of Survivorship Care in Asia: Perceptions From Asian Breast Cancer Survivors.

PurposeWith the long-term goal to optimize post-treatment cancer care in Asia, we conducted a qualitative study to gather in-depth descriptions from multiethnic Asian breast cancer survivors on their perceptions and experiences of cancer survivorship and their perceived barriers to post-treatment follow-up.MethodsTwenty-four breast cancer survivors in Singapore participated in six structured focus group discussions. The focus group discussions were voice recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by thematic analysis.ResultsBreast cancer survivors were unfamiliar with and disliked the term "survivorship," because it implies that survivors had undergone hardship during their treatment. Cognitive impairment and peripheral neuropathy were physical symptoms that bothered survivors the most, and many indicated that they experienced emotional distress during survivorship, for which they turned to religion and peers as coping strategies. Survivors indicated lack of consultation time and fear of unplanned hospitalization as main barriers to optimal survivorship care. Furthermore, survivors indicated that they preferred receipt of survivorship care at the specialty cancer center.ConclusionBudding survivorship programs in Asia must take survivor perspectives into consideration to ensure that survivorship care is fully optimized within the community

Epidemic Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease Caused by Human Enterovirus 71, Singapore

Singapore experienced a large epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in 2000. After reviewing HFMD notifications from doctors and child-care centers, we found that the incidence of HFMD rose in September and declined at the end of October. During this period, 3,790 cases were reported. We performed enteroviral cultures on 311 and 157 specimens from 175 HFMD patients and 107 non-HFMD patients, respectively; human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) was the most frequently isolated virus from both groups. Most of the HFMD patients were <4 years of age. Three HFMD and two non-HFMD patients died. Specimens from two HFMD and both non-HFMD patients were culture positive for HEV71; a third patient was possibly associated with the virus. Autopsies performed on all three HFMD and one of the non-HFMD case-patients showed encephalitis, interstitial pneumonitis, and myocarditis. A preparedness plan for severe HFMD outbreaks provided for the prompt, coordinated actions needed to control the epidemic