Effect analysis of transient scenarios for successful water management strategies

Recent scenario studies on water management focus on one or two projection years and the effects on the water system and functions. The future is however more complex and dynamic. Therefore, we analyse transient scenarios in order to evaluate the performance of water management strategies. Current available simulation tools are not suitable for this purpose. Therefore, we have developed and used a tool to simulate 50-100 year long time series and that is good and fast enough to simulate the effects of these scenarios and strategies on the water system and the interaction with the human system. We present the first step by means of a case study

Oncogenic senescence: a multi-functional perspective.

Cellular senescence is defined as an irreversible growth arrest with the acquisition of a distinctive secretome. The growth arrest is a potent anticancer mechanism whereas the secretome facilitates wound healing, tissue repair, and development. The senescence response has also become increasingly recognized as an important contributor to aging and age-related diseases, including cancer. Although oncogenic mutations are capable of inducing a beneficial senescence response that prevents the growth of premalignant cells and promotes cancer immune-surveillance, the secretome of senescent cells also includes factors with pro-tumorigenic properties. On June 23rd and 24th, 2016, the Division of Cancer Biology of the National Cancer Institute sponsored a workshop to discuss the complex role of cellular senescence in tumorigenesis with the goal to define the major challenges and opportunities within this important field of cancer research. Additionally, it was noted how the development of novel tools and technologies are required to accelerate research into a mechanistic understanding of senescent cells in carcinogenesis in order to overcome the current limitations in this exciting, yet ill-defined area

In-flight measurements of energetic radiation from lightning and thunderclouds

In the certification procedure aircraft builders carry out so-called icing tests flights, where the zero degree Celsius altitude is deliberately sought and crossed in or under thunderstorms. Airbus also used these flights to test ILDAS, a system aimed to determine lightning severity and attachment points during flight from high speed data on the electric and magnetic field at the aircraft surface. We used this unique opportunity to enhance the ILDAS systems with two x-ray detectors coupled to high speed data recorders in an attempt to determine the x-rays produced by lightning in-situ, with synchronous determination of the lightning current distribution and electric field at the aircraft. Such data are of interest in a study of lightning physics. In addition, the data may provide clues to the x-ray dose for personnel and equipment during flights. The icing campaign ran in April 2014; in six flights we collected data of 61 lightning strikes on an Airbus test aircraft. In this communication we briefly describe ILDAS and present selected results on three strikes, two aircraft initiated and one intercepted. Most of the x-rays have been observed synchronous with initiating negative leader steps, and as bursts immediately preceding the current of the recoil process. Those processes include the return stroke. The bursts last one to four micro-second and attain x-ray energies up to 10 MeV. Intensity and spectral distribution of the x-rays and the association with the current distribution are discussed. ILDAS also continuously records x-rays at low resolution in time and amplitude.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure

Do the rich get digitally richer? Quantity and quality of support for digital engagement

This paper asks what predicts having access to and using social support networks that might help an individual in using the Internet. Following the course taking by digital divide or digital inclusion research, this paper uses socio-cultural, socio-economic, social, and digital indicators to predict access to and the type of potential and actual social support networks that might help an individual in using the Internet. In addition, the paper examines the quality of the support received which is neglected in most investigations that mainly focus on quantitative indicators of support. The study draws on a representative survey conducted in the Netherlands; 1,149 responses were obtained. The results show that while there are no real inequalities in access to and use of support, the quality of the support that people access is unequally distributed replicating existing patterns of disadvantage. Thus, access to support is another level at which the digital divide manifests and strengthens itself. Those who experience most problems online also seem to have the most difficulty obtaining high quality support even when it is available, creating an even larger ‘gap’ between those who do and do not need support

The Introduction of Clerp 9 Audit Regulation and its Impact on the Auditing Profession

This study examines the introduction of legally enforceable Australian Auditing Standards (ASAs) and the impact on the audit profession after their first year of implementation. This study is informed by regulation theories and potential costs, benefits and other impacts of the new regulatory regime identified by the Australian government’s April 2006 Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). This study collected relevant data through semi-structured in-depth interviews with the same key stakeholders as RIS (accounting firms, professional bodies and regulatory bodies). The results indicate significant differences to the government’s pre-implementation RIS expectations, as well as differences between stakeholder groups. Overall the accounting profession does not consider that the extra burden of demonstrating compliance with the legally enforceable ASAs has changed the audit process or audit outcomes. The auditing profession does not consider the extra burden of the new regime justifiable as it has not increased audit quality or public confidence, which were the main aims of the government’s regulatory intervention

Collateral benefits of Internet use: explaining the diverse outcomes of engaging with the Internet

This article examines the extent to which economic, cultural, social, and personal types of engagement with the Internet result in a variety of economic, cultural, social, and personal outcomes. Data from a representative survey of the Dutch population are analyzed to test whether engagement with a certain type of activity is related to “collateral” benefits in different domains of activities, independent from the socioeconomic or sociocultural characteristics of the person. The results show that what people do online and the skills they have affect outcomes in other domains and that this is independent of the characteristics of the person. This means that policy and interventions could potentially overcome digital inequalities in outcomes through skills training and providing opportunities to engage online in a broad variety of ways. A semiologic rather than an economistic approach is more likely to be effective in thinking about and tackling digital inequalities

Development and validation of the Internet Skills Scale (ISS)

Although a number of instruments have been used to measure Internet skills in nationally representative surveys, there are several challenges with the measures available: incompleteness and over-simplification, conceptual ambiguity, and the use of self-reports. Here, we aim to overcome these challenges by developing a set of reliable measures for use in research, practice, and policy evaluations based on a strong conceptual framework. To achieve this goal, we carried out a literature review of skills-related studies to develop the initial Internet skills framework and associated instrument. After the development of this instrument, we used a three-fold approach to test the validity and reliability of the latent skill constructs and the corresponding items. The first step consisted of cognitive interviews held in both the UK and the Netherlands. Based on the cognitive interview results, we made several amendments to the proposed skill items to improve clarity. The second step consisted of a pilot survey of digital skills, both in the UK and in the Netherlands. During the final step, we examined the consistency of the five Internet skill scales and their characteristics when measured in a representative sample survey of Dutch Internet users. The result is a theoretical, empirically and cross-nationally consistent instrument consisting of five types of Internet skills: operational, navigation information, social, creative, and mobile

Tangible outcomes of Internet use: from digital skills to tangible outcomes project report

In the past decade, digital divide discussions have moved from discussions of use or non-use, to a more nuanced recognition of different types and levels of access, motivation, skills and Internet use in a discourse that centres around digital inclusion and inequality. However, there remain challenges in measurement and conceptualisation. In 2014, the authors of this report started a project with the main objective to develop theoretically informed measures that can be used to explain how people use the Internet and what the benefits might be. A first report (van Deursen, Helsper & Eynon, 2014) looked at how to measure digital skills, an area in which a good amount of research has been done, although good measures with a solid theoretical grounding are scarce. In the current report, the authors move towards a research area that is very underdeveloped: the tangible outcomes that Internet use might result in. Most research in this area focuses on measuring engagement or different uses of the Internet and then assumes that activities performed online result in the corresponding outcomes. An unequal distribution of these types of engagement in turn is assumed to reinforce existing levels of social inequality. In this report, the framework used to design measures of engagement and related outcomes starts from the premise that outcomes of Internet use can be mapped onto different types of offline resources. It argues that a clear separation needs to be made between undertaking different kinds of activities in the digital sphere (i.e. digital resource fields) and the tangible outcomes in different spheres of everyday life (i.e. offline resource fields) that result from this engagement. &nbsp

Analytical expressions for the conductance noise measured with four circular contacts placed in a square array

In the ideal case, noise measurements with four contacts minimize the contribution of the contact interface. There is a need to characterize conductance noise and noise correction factors for the different geometries provided with four contacts, as already is the case for resistivity measurements with van der Pauw structures. Here, we calculate the noise correction factors for two geometries with a pair of sensors and a pair of current driver electrodes placed in a square array. The first geometry investigated is a very large film compared to the distance L between four circular electrodes, which are placed in a square array far away from the borders of the film. The second is a square-shaped conductive film with side length L and provided with four quarter-circle corner contacts with radius l. The effect of the conductance noise in the film can be observed between current free sensors in a four-point measurement or between current carrying drivers in a two-point measurement. Our analytical expressions are based on approximations to solve the integrals (J·)2dA and |J|4dA for the voltage noise measured across a pair of sensors, SVQ, and across the drivers, SVD, respectively. The first and second integrands represent the squared dot product of the current density and adjoint current density and the modulus of the current density to the fourth power, respectively. The current density J in the samples is due to the current I passing through the driver contacts. The calculated expressions are applicable to samples with thickness tl0.1L. Hence, the disturbances in the neighborhood of the sensors on J and of the drivers on are ignored. Noise correction factors for two- and four-point measurements are calculated for sensors on an equipotential (transversal noise) with the driver contacts on the diagonal of a square and for sensors next to each other on one side of the square with the drivers next to each other on the other side of the square (longitudinal noise). In all cases the noise between the sensors is smaller and less sensitive to the contact size 2l/L than the noise between the drivers. The ratio SVQ/SVD becomes smaller with smaller contact radius l. Smaller sensors give a better suppression of interface noise at the contacts. But overly low 2l/L values result in overly high resistance between the sensors and too strong a contribution of thermal noise at the sensors. Therefore, equations are derived to calculate the current level needed to observe 1/f conductance fluctuations on top of the thermal noise. The results from the calculated analytical expressions show good agreement with experimental results obtained from the noise in carbon sheet resistance and numerical results. Transversal noise measurements on a square sample with corner contacts are recommended to characterize the 1/f noise of the layer. This is due to the increased current densities in the sample compared to the open structure, which result in easier detection of the 1/f on top of the thermal noise. ©2007 American Institute of Physic