Identifying the task variables that predict object assembly difficulty.

We investigated the physical attributes of an object that influence the difficulty of its assembly. Identifying attributes that contribute to assembly difficulty will provide a method for predicting assembly complexity

The Graaskamp Legacy

James A. Graaskamp\u27s perspective on classroom education and his alternative research paradigm pioneered or greatly enhanced several real estate principles that are more relevant today than during his life. These principles are summarized and presented in 5 sections: A Different Brand of Research, The Development Feasibility, How Appraisers Value, Who\u27s Watching the Chicken Coop, and Teaching an Ethical Vision

Influential Article Review - Towards a Trade Gateway Channel of Free Ports

This paper examines logistics. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: Free ports are a form of territorial exceptionalism that has existed for centuries and become an important paradigm of globalization. In the contemporary setting, they act as transportation, logistics and trade platforms, using their territorial exceptionalism as a competitive advantage. Free ports such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai are among the world’s leading commercial gateways, offering a form of leverage to transactions, transportation and the transformation of material goods. The historical evolution of free ports underlines a growing complexification and specialization that has led to a multitude of models, each fitting a specific regulatory and operational framework. This paper aims rationalizing the complexity of free ports. It is based on a wide array of empirical observations and an analysis of structure, function and evolution of free ports. Collected free ports data enabled the identification of three constitutive factors of evolution: an external factor (the jurisdiction), an internal factor (the services provided) and a linking factor (the orientation of flows). Based on these three factors a model of free ports was designed with a typology of thirteen types of free ports, an explanation of their evolution, and their future prospects. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

Assessing the comparative risk of plant protection products to honey bees, non-target arthropods and non-Apis bees

Background: In the European Union the placing of pesticides on the market requires as a prerequisite that a risk assessment demonstrates low risks to human health and the environment, among which includes pollinators. Currently risks are evaluated for honey bees and for non-target arthropods (NTA) of cultivated ecosystems. The actual protection of pollinators other than the honey bees, as for example for non-Apis bees, in relation to these risk assessments has recently been questioned and requires further investigation. We present the findings from a comparison of Hazard Quotient (HQ) value calculations to assess the risk to honey bees, non-target arthropods and to non-Apis bees (with the application of an additional safety factor of 10). Calculations were based on publicly available ecotoxicological data. Results: The risk to NTA, honey bees and non-Apis bees, as depicted by HQ values, indicated a higher fail rate for NTA than for bees, but a similar pass / fail rate for non-Apis bees when compared to the NTA scheme. Outcome of the risk assessment for NTA using extended laboratory tests gave similar pass/fail rates compared to the screening step for honey bees. Conclusion: A screening step for non-Apis bees could be developed based on data available on honey bees and NTAs. Keywords: risk assessment, non-Apis bees, pollinators, pesticides, non-target arthropod

Exposure of honey bees and other pollinating species to pesticides

Background: When considering the risk to bees a thorough understanding of the relevant routes of exposure and the magnitude of exposure is necessary.Results: Bees forage on plants and in particular flowers to obtain food for themselves and for provisioning their young. Foliar applications during flowering will present the most extreme acute exposure situation. Bees can be exposed to direct spray and also to contaminated pollen and nectar taken back to the colony. Spray applications before flowering may lead to exposure in pollen and nectar if the substance has systemic properties and is persistent. For soil/seed treatments exposure may occur in for systemic products due to translocation from the seed or soil to the upper parts of the plant (e.g. nectar and pollen). Other possible routes for soil/seed treatments include dust-off at sowing and guttation water. Conclusion: Risk assessment requires that relevant routes of exposure for worker bees, hive bees and young should be considered in the risk assessment for both foliar applied and seed/soil treatment pesticides. The availability of exposure models would assist in the development of honey bee and pollinator risk assessment schemes.Keywords: honey bee, pesticide, risk assessment, exposur

VRML Virtual Worlds - An Alternative to the Desktop Metaphor for GUI's?

Metaphors are commonly used by software developers in the creation of GUI's. This paper looks at the use of multi-user VRML to create virtual metaphors, developing a conceptual design tool that can be used intuitively with little or no training

1.18 Linking protection goals to trigger values using compound specific properties: Chronic risks to bees

In the EFSA guidance document for the assessment of risk of plant protection products for bees the screening and tier I trigger for chronic risk to bees is linked to a trigger value which is intended to meet a certain level of protection. However, the methods used to derive the trigger of 0.03 do not take into account several factors including the shape and nature of the dose-repose used to generate the endpoint. This means that the resultant proposed trigger leads to a large over estimation of risk with a large number of compounds failing the risk assessment and being incorrectly identified as a higher chronic risk to honey bees. We analyzed the methods used in the selection of the trigger of 0.03 and propose simple adaptations to evaluate all active substances to the same level of protection by taking into account the type of endpoint and the dose response relationship. We found that by using the correct dose-response relationships we could accurately ensure that the desired level of protection was met. We checked our proposal using real-life examples of seven substances registered for use within the European Union and discuss how these proposals could be used to inform risk assessors and risk managers as well as potentially reducing the number of false positive and negatives in a risk assessment.In the EFSA guidance document for the assessment of risk of plant protection products for bees the screening and tier I trigger for chronic risk to bees is linked to a trigger value which is intended to meet a certain level of protection. However, the methods used to derive the trigger of 0.03 do not take into account several factors including the shape and nature of the dose-repose used to generate the endpoint. This means that the resultant proposed trigger leads to a large over estimation of risk with a large number of compounds failing the risk assessment and being incorrectly identified as a higher chronic risk to honey bees. We analyzed the methods used in the selection of the trigger of 0.03 and propose simple adaptations to evaluate all active substances to the same level of protection by taking into account the type of endpoint and the dose response relationship. We found that by using the correct dose-response relationships we could accurately ensure that the desired level of protection was met. We checked our proposal using real-life examples of seven substances registered for use within the European Union and discuss how these proposals could be used to inform risk assessors and risk managers as well as potentially reducing the number of false positive and negatives in a risk assessment

1.6 Simple modelling approaches to refine exposure for bee risk assessment based on worst case assumptions

The risk assessment for plant protection products to bees has attracted a lot of attention over the past five years or more. Current estimates of exposure (e.g. EFSA, 2013) are based on 90th percentile concentrations of active substances present in pollen and nectar in the field. Although suitable for acute risks, in field concentrations are not suitable for chronic assessment especially for honey bees which feed from colony stores before making foraging flights or for larvae which are fed from in-hive food stores via nurse bees. Other areas of exposure such as to pollen and nectar in following crops or to guttation may also be better estimated by use of simple exposure models.We will present simple methods based worst case assumptions to model chronic adult and larval honey bee exposure to spray applications of plant protection products (PPP) which take into account in-hive storage of pollen and nectar and also approaches to model exposure levels in succeeding crops and guttation water.Case studies will be presented demonstrating how these worst case model exposure estimates can be used in refining the risk assessment for bees offering a robust, worst case and cost effective alternative to field studies. Having better robust modelled exposure estimates for in-hive food reserves can aid in the assessment of both single PPP stressors and interactions with multiple stressors (e.g. disease and Varroa mites).The risk assessment for plant protection products to bees has attracted a lot of attention over the past five years or more. Current estimates of exposure (e.g. EFSA, 2013) are based on 90th percentile concentrations of active substances present in pollen and nectar in the field. Although suitable for acute risks, in field concentrations are not suitable for chronic assessment especially for honey bees which feed from colony stores before making foraging flights or for larvae which are fed from in-hive food stores via nurse bees. Other areas of exposure such as to pollen and nectar in following crops or to guttation may also be better estimated by use of simple exposure models.We will present simple methods based worst case assumptions to model chronic adult and larval honey bee exposure to spray applications of plant protection products (PPP) which take into account in-hive storage of pollen and nectar and also approaches to model exposure levels in succeeding crops and guttation water.Case studies will be presented demonstrating how these worst case model exposure estimates can be used in refining the risk assessment for bees offering a robust, worst case and cost effective alternative to field studies. Having better robust modelled exposure estimates for in-hive food reserves can aid in the assessment of both single PPP stressors and interactions with multiple stressors (e.g. disease and Varroa mites)