A Behavioral Approach to Understanding the Git Experience

The Investigating and Archiving the Scholarly Git Experience (IASGE) project is multi-track study focused on understanding the uses of Git by students, faculty, and staff working in academic research institutions as well as the ways source code repositories and their associated contextual ephemera can be better preserved. This research, in turn, has implications regarding how to support Git in the scholarly process, how version control systems contribute to reproducibility, and how Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals can support Git through instruction and sustainability efforts. In this paper, we focus on a subset of our larger project and take a deep look at what code hosting platforms offer researchers in terms of productivity and collaboration. For this portion, a survey, focus groups, and user experience interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of how and why scholarly researchers use Version Control Systems (VCS) as well as some of the pain points in learning and using VCS for daily work

Ecosystem services in urban environments

This chapter presents a brief synthesis of recent literature on ecosystem services in urban environments. Different types of urban habitats generate different types of ecosystem service, including the supply of food, mitigation of air pollution, human health and well-being, and biodiversity. These services can play an important role in enhancing the resilience of cities to climate change, but only if urban planners and policy makers take into account the connectivity required by key ecological processes in order for their potential to be optimized. The economic valuation of urban ecosystem services is a useful tool for communicating with these stakeholders

Aquaponics and social enterprise

This chapter presents some examples of recent initiatives by social enterprises using aquaponics. Aquaponics offers an innovative form of therapeutic horticulture, which can provide employment and promote well-being for people with disabilities. If implemented as a program to be managed by local communities, aquaponic systems also have the potential to address issues such as food security and food sovereignty, especially in urban areas. Increasing public familiarity with aquaponics has seen a number of social ventures being set up around the world. However, the viability of these depends not only on stakeholder commitment, thorough market analysis, clear governance structures, and a robust business plan but also on external factors, such as the local political context and regulations

Using landscape assessment and participatory ecosystem assessment to investigate the impact of invasive Prosopis juliflora: a case study in North West India.

This project was initiated by concerns about the invasive Prosopis juliflora, originally introduced to Kachchh, Northern Gujarat, to prevent the Rann desert spreading. While arguably successful in this regard, it has spread widely due to its ability to withstand both drought and high levels of soil salinity. While the negative impacts on grassland ecology and as an agricultural ‘weed’ were well established, we began our investigation by asking if there any benefits associated with this plant. This involved initially carrying out landscape character assessment and then focusing on one region, the coastal plain, to develop this further into an ecosystem services assessment, involving focus group discussions with local villagers to incorporate indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge into the process. This enabled a ‘Natural Character Area Profile’ to be formulated as a resource for land use planners and decision makers, using the framework developed by Natural England in the ‘Access to Evidence’ project, with the aim of raising the profile of environmental attributes and local ecosystem services in policy development and decision making. We held a workshop to present this to stakeholders, including both decision makers and those who had shared their knowledge and experience with us. Despite concern voiced by ecologists about the need to eradicate P juliflora , this (impractical) view was not shared by villagers who, although finding it a ‘nuisance’ as a weed and with thorns could injure humans and livestock, valued it for fuel wood, fodder, honey and medicinal gum. Their key concerns were the need for fences and declining soil fertility, associated with increased salinity. We were able to respond to these concerns by experimenting with using this shrub to create ‘living fences’ and to make biochar as a soil improver

Investigation of Silicon Nanoparticle-Polystyrene Hybrids

Current LED lights are created with quantum dots made of metals like selenium, tellurium, and cadmium which can be toxic. Silicon is used as a non-toxic substance and is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust. When silicon is prepared at a nanometer size, unique luminesce optical properties emerge that can be tuned using sized surface chemistry. Therefore, silicon nanoparticles can be used as an alternative emitter for LED lights. To produce hydride-terminated silicon nanoparticles we must synthesize the particles. Hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) is processed at 1100 °C for one hour causing Si to cluster and form a SiO2 matrix, also known as the composite. The composite is then manually crushed in ethanol. The solution is further ground using glass beads, then filtered to get the composite powder. The final step is the HF etching. The hydride-terminated particles are then functionalized using three different methods to synthesize silicon nanoparticle-polystyrene hybrids, which determine the magnitude of luminosity and the quality of the hybrids. We spin coat each method and results were analyzed. Method 1 uses heat to functionalize hydride-terminated silicon nanoparticles with styrene. This process also causes styrene to attach to styrene to form a polystyrene chain. Method 1 gave a homogeneous mixture which yielded a consistent, bright and homogenous film. In method 2, dodecyl-terminated silicon nanoparticles are mixed with premade polystyrene. While this method gave better control of the amount of silicon nanoparticles inside the polymer hybrid, a homogeneous mixture was not created due to the different structures of polystyrene and dodecyl chains. Method 3 has dodecyl-terminated silicon with in-situ styrene polymerization. It generated a homogeneous mixture. The in-situ polymerization stabilizes the particles, allowing for brighter luminescence. Because of the stability and lower molecular weight, the mixture was easier to dissolve. We concluded that the different methods resulted in different polymer molecular weights and this created distinct properties between the polymer hybrids when spin-coating.   &nbsp

Biomechanical Foot Factors, Social Participation, and Self-Participation in Sedentary Versus Non-Sedentary Adults (Poster)

Purpose: Compare biomechanical foot factors, activity level, satisfaction with participation in social roles, and self-related level of activity between sedentary and non-sedentary adults Hypotheses: 1. Step count will positively correlate with: Medial longitudinal arch (MLA) recoil, intrinsic and extrinsic muscle strength, muscle CSA, neutral foot posture, satisfaction with participation in social roles, and self-efficacy 2. Step count will negatively correlate with: Plantar fascia thickness. self-reported pain interference, and BMI

Are biocrusts and xerophytic vegetation a viable green roof typology in a Mediterranean climate? A comparison between differently vegetated green roofs in water runoff and water quality

Green roofs can be an innovative and effective way of mitigating the environmental impact of urbanization by providing several important ecosystem services. However, it is known that the performance of green roofs varies depending on the type of vegetation and, in drier climates, without resorting to irrigation, these are limited to xerophytic plant species and biocrusts. The aim of this research was therefore to compare differently vegetated green roofs planted with this type of vegetation. A particular focus was their ability to hold water during intense stormwater events and also the quality of the harvested rainwater. Six test beds with different vegetation compositions were used on the roof of a building in Lisbon. Regarding stormwater retention, the results varied depending on the composition of the vegetation and the season. As for water quality, almost all the parameters tested were higher than the Drinking Water Directive from the European Union (EU) andWord Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for drinking-water quality standards for potable water. Based on our results, biocrusts and xerophytic vegetation are a viable green roof typology for slowing runoff during stormwater eventsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aqu@teach—the first aquaponics curriculum to be developed specifically for university students

Aquaponic food production requires a broad spectrum of knowledge in order to understand and manage the processes involved, and for commercial aquaponics to develop its full potential, it will require an appropriately trained workforce. Devised in collaboration as an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Higher Education, Aqu@teach covers the basics of aquaponics with a focus on transferable and entrepreneurial skills. The aquaponics curriculum can either be taught using blended learning—combining digital media and the internet with classroom formats that require the physical co-presence of the teacher and students—or as an e-learning course. The supplementary entrepreneurial skills module was devised on the basis of two surveys: of aquaponics companies around the world, in order to get a broad overview of the skills that are important in the early years of a business; and of European higher education institutions that teach subjects where aquaponics could be incorporated as an optional module. The entrepreneurial skills curriculum introduces the main processes involved in developing a business idea into a start-up company. All of the Aqu@teach resources—the e-learning modules, textbooks, module guides for students, curriculum guides for teachers, best practice guide for teaching aquaponics, and toolbox of innovative didactic practices—are open access