Hedonic Prices for Co-operative Flats in the City of Umeå estimated with Spatial Autoregressive GMM

This paper explains the hedonic prices for co-operative flats in the city of Umeå, Sweden during 1998 and 1999. Structural and neighbourhood characteristics together with accessibility measures are used as attributes in the hedonic price function. Since there are indications of spatial dependence the OLS model is inappropriate. Instead a spatial econometric approach with Spatial Autoregressive GMM estimation is used. Two attractive nodes are found in the city. Thus there are sign supporting the view that Umeå has developed into a multi-nodal structure. Keywords: Hedonic prices, Co-operative flats, Spatial dependence, SAR-GMM JEL Classification: D46, D61, R20, R21

Vibration induced damage due to construction work – Effect of vibrations on slope stability

A landslide-triggered tsunami caused extensive material damage at Statland, Norway in 2014. Other landslides in Sweden and US have also been triggered by man-made vibrations. To understand better how vibrations from vibratory compaction affect slope stability a numerical tool has been extended to account for realistic non-linear soil behaviour. The tool is validated by comparison field experiments of vibratory compaction. The nonlinear analysis is believed to have captured the essential behaviour of the vibratory compaction and the response of the slope. The peak response at the frequency is close to the one stated by the operator of the vibratory roller and the manufacturer's data sheet. The numerical analysis and evaluations strongly indicate vibratory compaction can have contributed to triggering the slide at Statland. To perform compaction in the vicinity of slopes with low stability near the shoreline with vibration susceptible soils we suggest: • Using lighter equipment and/or higher loading frequencies or performing compaction without vibration. Avoiding excessive jumping of the vibratory roller drum is imperative. • Applying thinner layers and more time between compaction passes. Allowing for more time between placing of layers reduces the number of load cycle sensed by the soil and allows for drainage of potential built up pore pressures. • Monitor slope horizontal and vertical displacements at some critical points. • Monitor pore pressures at critical points if possible. Further work with and possible extension of the numerical tool is needed to capture better, theNorges Forskningsråd The Research Council of Norwa

Will sympatric speciation fail due to stochastic competitive exclusion?

Sympatric speciation requires coexistence of the newly formed species. If divergence proceeds by small mutational steps, the new species utilize almost the same resources initially, and full speciation may be impeded by competitive exclusion in stochastic environments. We investigate this primarily ecological problem of sympatric speciation by studying the population dynamics of a diverging asexual population in a fluctuating environment. Correlation between species responses to environmental fluctuation is assumed to decrease with distance in trait space. Rapidly declining correlation in combination with high environmental variability may delay full speciation or even render it impossible. Stochastic extinctions impeding speciation are most likely when correlation decays faster than competition, for example, when demographic stochasticity is strong or when divergence is not accompanied by niche separation, such as in speciation driven entirely by sexual selection. Our general theoretical results show an interesting connection between short-term ecological dynamics and long-term, large-scale evolution

Researching ‘with’ not ‘on’: Engaging Foundation GNVQ students in the research process - emerging themes from the study

This paper discusses practical and methodological issues arising from ongoing case study research exploring the hopes, aspirations and learning identity of 4 cohorts of GNVQ Foundation (level 1) students in 2 English General Further Education (FE) colleges. This paper focuses on work with the student participants in the study and poses a number of questions. How can young people be engaged with a research process? How can that process be meaningful to them in the context of their lives and experiences? How can the significant ethical issues involved with working with these students be addressed? Part of the thesis for this work has been the lack of value placed on students enrolled on Foundation level programmes. Therefore, it was important to demonstrate value for them throughout this process, and one way in which this was achieved was by engaging the young people with the research process as actively as possible. Working within a Social Justice theoretical framework, and specifically considering the notion of knowledge/power relationships the paper outlines the participative approach which was taken in the development of interview questions, informed by the ‘arenas of action and centres of choice’ described by Ball et. al (2000:148). Further, it explores the practical issues and ethical tensions which arose associated with respecting the young people and facilitating their involvement in the research process whilst working within the constraints placed by their level of experience and understanding, and discusses some of the unanticipated challenges that arose from this process. The paper concludes with a discussion of the way the research has evolved in response to these issues and of the ‘added value’ to the research which has arisen from the participants’ engagement with the process

Influence of Foundation Damping on Offshore Wind Turbine Monopile Design Loads

The dynamic behavior of offshore wind turbines (OWTs) must be designed considering stochastic load amplitudes and frequencies from waves and mechanical loads associated with the spinning rotor during power production. The proximity of the OWT natural frequency to excitation frequencies combined with low damping necessitates a thorough analysis of sources of damping; of these sources of damping, least is known about the contributions of damping from soil-structure interaction (foundation damping). This paper studies the influence of foundation damping on cyclic load demand for monopile-supported OWTs considering the design situations of power production, emergency shutdown, and parked conditions. The NREL 5 MW Reference Turbine was modeled using the aero-hydro-elastic software FAST and included equivalent linear foundation stiffness and damping matrices. These matrices were determined using an iterative approach with FAST mudline loads as input to a soil-pile finite element software which calculates hysteretic material damping. Accounting for foundation damping in time history analysis can reduce cyclic foundation moment demand by as much as 30% during parked conditions, 25–33% during emergency shutdown, but only 2–3% reduction during power production without wave and wind misalignment. The calculated foundation damping from the emergency shutdown cases agreed with experimental testing performed in similar site conditions

Хирургические аспекты язвенного гастродуоденального кровотечения

ГЕМОРРАГИИ /хирГЕМОСТАЗ ЭНДОСКОПИЧЕСКИЙПЕПТИЧЕСКАЯ ЯЗВА /хи

A Method to Measure Saw-Chain Lubrication

A saw-bar with a saw-chain is a common tool in both mechanized and motor-manual harvesting operations. The friction between the saw-bar and the saw-chain must be reduced by lubrication. A precise oil flow control can reduce the amount of oil needed. Traditionally, mineral oils have been used, but the use of biodegradable vegetable-based oils has increased. The goal of this study was to evaluate the lubrication characteristics at different oil flows of two vegetable-based and one mineral-based saw-chain oil. The study was done on an experimental rig with a saw-chain speed of 23 m/s and with pressure between the saw-chain and a rotating rubber roller. The temperature of the saw-bar was used as an indicator of the lubrication efficiency. The saw-chain tension was constant and independent of temperature. In general, increased oil flow resulted in a lower temperature. For rapeseed oil and pine oils, the results were consistently significant between oil flows of 2 and 6 ml/min. At an oil flow of 2 ml/min and 5 minute test time, pine oil resulted in the highest temperature (121°C, standard deviation [SD] 6.4) and at 6 ml/min the lowest temperature (99°C, SD 1.1) compared with the other oils. No difference in temperature was found between mineral oil and rapeseed oils at oil flows of 2 or 6 ml/min. An oil flow of 2 ml/min was found to be enough to prevent high temperatures for all oil types. The study method, with an adjustable experimental rig as the tool, was found to be suitable for studies on lubrication of the saw-bar and saw-chain

Инструменты мотивации персонала в практике управления белорусской организацией

Vilka möjligheter till verksamhetsutveckling ser kommunerna i de fyra berörda länen (Blekinge, Kalmar, Kronoberg och Skåne)? Vilka vinster kan kommunerna göra om länen slås samman och kommunerna får ett inflytande över den nya regionorganisationen? Vilka samverkansmöjlig-heter finns mellan kommunerna och mellan kommun och region? Vilken organisationsform krävs för att samverkan ska utvecklas på ett positivt sätt? Vi vill med andra ord analysera hur kommunerna förhåller sig till en uppväxlad regional nivå, i synnerhet inom tillväxtpolitikens område. Vi är intresserade både av frågor som rör organiseringen av regionnivån, och kommunernas roll i denna, och av hur kommunerna tror att en storregionreform kommer att påverka kommunernas handlingsutrymme och samverkan med varandra. När Region Skåne bildades var det en viktig utgångspunkt att kommunerna fick ett inflytande i den nya organisation (landstinget) som övertog det regionala utvecklingsansvaret. I många län sker nu ett samgående mellan landsting och regionförbund med utvecklingsansvar, vilket väcker frågan om vilken roll kommunerna bör få i förhållande till den nya regionorganisationen, ibland kallad regionkommun. Frågan gäller den nya Region Kronoberg men kan ställas om alla fyra berörda län vid en eventuell sammanslagning

Complete genome sequence of the uropathogenic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain MRSA-1369

MRSA-1369 is a uropathogenic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of MRSA-1369, which consists of one chromosome (2.87 Mb) and two plasmids (16.68 kb and 3.13 kb). This will serve as a reference genome for future Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis and multiomic studies