Design criteria for public emergency warning systems

This paper describes the development of a public emergency messaging system in Western Australia. A set of design criteria were identified by a review of relevant published literature, a survey of current practice in Australia, and consultation with local stakeholders. The system should support: Multiple Recipients, Multiple Channels, Multiple Hazards, Multiple Stakeholders, Multiple Senders, Multiple Platforms, and Write Once Message Composition. A prototype system was built according to these design criteria, based on the Common Alerting Protocol version 1.0. The design was validated in trials simulating messages sent during a tropical cyclone and a bushfire. A total of 56 trial participants from identified stakeholder groups were surveyed with regard to their experience of the prototype system. Overall, the prototype system functioned successfully and participants reported high levels of satisfaction. The paper describes this research project and the initial stages of the subsequent development of a production system, called APECS

Aquadi-u-chloro-bis(diethylenetriamine)dicopper(11) dichloride: A redetermination at 180 K

The structure of the title compound, [Cu2Cl2(C4H13N3)2(H2O)]Cl2, at 180 K is described in space group P21/n with a unit-cell volume twice that reported previously for the structure at 293 K [Willett (2001[Willett, R. D. (2001). Acta Cryst. E57, m605-m606.]). Acta Cryst. E57, m605-m606]. In the smaller unit cell, in space group P21/m, the complex has imposed mirror symmetry and unusually elongated displacement ellipsoids. At 180 K, refinement in the larger unit cell with no imposed symmetry resolves this issue. With room-temperature data collected from the same crystal, however, refinement using the larger unit cell gives no significant improvement, and the previously reported structure is considered to be most appropriate

Low cost TV based messaging for remote desert communities

In recent years telecommunications services in remote Australia have received considerable attention, with services for indigenous desert communities a key focus. This project, known as Desert Interactive Remote Television (DIRT), uses existing community rebroadcast TV infrastructure to provide low cost multimedia messaging services for remote desert communities. The system architecture, key applications, and field trial outcomes are described

Towards durable multistakeholder-generated solutions: The pilot application of a problem-oriented policy learning protocol to legality verification and community rights in Peru

This paper reports and reflects on the pilot application of an 11-step policy learning protocol that was developed by Cashore and Lupberger (2015) based on several years of Cashore’s multi-author collaborations. The protocol was applied for the first time in Peru in 2015 and 2016 by the IUFRO Working Party on Forest Policy Learning Architectures (hereinafter referred to as the project team). The protocol integrates insights from policy learning scholarship (Hall 1993, Sabatier 1999) with Bernstein and Cashore’s (2000, 2012) four pathways of influence framework. The pilot implementation in Peru focused on how global timber legality verification interventions might be harnessed to promote local land rights. Legality verification focuses attention on the checking and auditing of forest management units in order to verify that timber is harvested and traded in compliance with the law. We specifically asked: How can community legal ownership of, and access to, forestland and forest resources be enhanced? The protocol was designed as a dynamic tool, the implementation of which fosters iterative rather than linear processes. It directly integrated two objectives: 1) identifying the causal processes through which global governance initiatives might be harnessed to produce durable results ‘on the ground’; 2) generating insights and strategies in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. This paper reviews and critically evaluates our work in designing and piloting the protocol. We assess what seemed to work well and suggest modifications, including an original diagnostic framework for nurturing durable change. We also assess the implications of the pilot application of the protocol for policy implementation that works to enhance the influence of existing international policy instruments, rather than contributing to fragmentation and incoherence by creating new ones

Wall turbulence control

A variety of wall turbulence control devices which were experimentally investigated are discussed; these include devices for burst control, alteration of outer flow structures, large eddy substitution, increased heat transfer efficiency, and reduction of wall pressure fluctuations. Control of pre-burst flow was demonstrated with a single, traveling surface depression which is phase-locked to elements of the burst production process. Another approach to wall turbulence control is to interfere with the outer layer coherent structures. A device in the outer part of a boundary layer was shown to suppress turbulence and reduce drag by opposing both the mean and unsteady vorticity in the boundary layer. Large eddy substitution is a method in which streamline curvature is introduced into the boundary layer in the form of streamwise vortices. Riblets, which were already shown to reduce turbulent drag, were also shown to exhibit superior heat transfer characteristics. Heat transfer efficiency as measured by the Reynolds Analogy Factor was shown to be as much as 36 percent greater than a smooth flat plate in a turbulent boundary layer. Large Eddy Break-Up (LEBU) which are also known to reduce turbulent drag were shown to reduce turbulent wall pressure fluctuation

A diagnostic study of cyclogenesis in the lee of the Alps.

Evaluation of energy transformations show that mean kinetic energy^within the volume (K), is converted to perturbation kinetic energy (K'), (' )^during the orographic phase. Mean available potential energy (A), is(' )^converted to perturbation available potential energy (A'), during the^frontal strengthening phase. During rapid development, barotropic(, )^processes (K (--->) K') dominate the baroclinic processes (A' (--->) K'), however both contribute to development. During the transition stage, (A' (--->) K') is the primary conversion although barotropic processes still play a role in increasing K'.The lee cyclone passes through distinct stages during its life. These are: (1)Orographic stage, which is related to conservation of potential vorticity and production of shallow circulations. (2)Rapid development stage, where dynamically forced upward motion and terrain produced downward motion combine to concentrate vorticity at middle levels. (3)Transition stage, where increased thermal advection and movement away from the mountains allows the storm to grow baroclinically.The blocking effect on the cooler air and externally forced vertical motions are shown to increase the mean frontal zone strength as the wave interacts with the Alps.Rawinsonde and satellite data are assimilated in a three dimensional analysis scheme which couples mass and momentum, and allows computation of vertical motion. This scheme is used to diagnose the characteristics of cyclone development in the lee of the Alps. By allowing the dimensions of the terrain and the data to define the appropriate magnitude of ageostrophic flow and vertical scale, we can obtain horizontal and vertical motion fields which reflect the proper ratio of flow around versus over the Alps. Using quasi-Lagrangian volumes moving with the upper wave and associated baroclinic zone, the evolution of frontal strength, vorticity, and energy is examined for two lee cyclone episodes

Cortical Membrane Potential Signature of Optimal States for Sensory Signal Detection

SummaryThe neural correlates of optimal states for signal detection task performance are largely unknown. One hypothesis holds that optimal states exhibit tonically depolarized cortical neurons with enhanced spiking activity, such as occur during movement. We recorded membrane potentials of auditory cortical neurons in mice trained on a challenging tone-in-noise detection task while assessing arousal with simultaneous pupillometry and hippocampal recordings. Arousal measures accurately predicted multiple modes of membrane potential activity, including rhythmic slow oscillations at low arousal, stable hyperpolarization at intermediate arousal, and depolarization during phasic or tonic periods of hyper-arousal. Walking always occurred during hyper-arousal. Optimal signal detection behavior and sound-evoked responses, at both sub-threshold and spiking levels, occurred at intermediate arousal when pre-decision membrane potentials were stably hyperpolarized. These results reveal a cortical physiological signature of the classically observed inverted-U relationship between task performance and arousal and that optimal detection exhibits enhanced sensory-evoked responses and reduced background synaptic activity.Video Abstrac

Targeted messages on TV screens in remote Indigenous communities

This paper describes a research project to enhance the viability of remote Indigenous communities through culturally-appropriate use of information and communications technologies (ICT). The project investigated the use of community rebroadcast TV infrastructure for new low cost communications services. A key part of the project was establishment of trusting relationships with the Ngaanyatjaara Lands communities of Irrunytju and Kanpa. Community members,administrative staff, and external service providers were involved in investigations into current communication problems and potential solutions. A working prototype of a messaging system using satellite broadcasting infrastructure to send multimedia messages to TV sets within remote communities was developed and evaluated. Such a system could be used by government agencies or remote communities themselves to deliver messages about visitors to the community (e.g.health workers), emergencies (e.g. bushfire); cultural business, sporting events, etc. The expected outcomes of such a system are increased social capital within the region, developed through more efficient and effective communication, leading to enhanced viability and sustainability of remote communities

Rational Triumph: or the Dangers of Victory

Full title: Rational triumph: or the dangers of victory : a discourse delivered in the Congregational Church of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, upon the occasion of the Federal triumphs over the victories of February, 1862, and in view of ultimate victory. by William A. McGinleyhttps://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/pamphlet_collection/1093/thumbnail.jp

Novel Calixarene-Schiff Bases that Bind Silver(I) Ion

Two novel calix[4]arene-Schiff base receptors have been synthesized. One of the new compounds has two pendant aldimines, while the second has been prepared by two-point attachment of a calixarene-dialdehyde onto a calixarene-diamine to form a “calix-tube”. Preliminary binding studies with AgClO4 show large complexation-induced shifts in 1H NMR positions