HILT : a terminology mapping service with a DDC spine

The role of DDC in the ongoing HILT (High-level Thesaurus) project is discussed. A phased initiative, funded by JISC in the UK, HILT addresses an issue of likely interest to anyone serving users wishing to cross-search or cross-browse groups of networked information services, whether at regional, national or international level - the problem of subject-based retrieval from multiple sources using different subject schemes for resource description. Although all three phases of HILT to date are covered, the primary concern is with the subject interoperability solution piloted in phase II, and with the use of DDC as a spine in that approach

Altruism and alcohol dependence: is there a relationship between helping others and recovery?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the Twelve Steps have been instrumental in the recovery of numerous persons who are alcohol dependent. Altruism has been found to have a positive effect on physical and psychological functioning in diverse populations. A key component of AA is altruistic helping and service to others to recover from alcohol dependency. The current study explores the relationship between altruism and recovery from alcohol dependency. Self-report survey data focusing on altruism, AA altruistic activities, and recovery from alcohol dependence was collected from 92 AA members and analyzed to assess for correlations between altruism and recovery. No statistically significant relationship between altruism and recovery from alcohol dependence emerged. Therefore, altruism should not be utilized as a primary mode of treatment for alcohol dependence until further evidence demonstrates the positive effect of altruism on recovery

Freight Transport Modal Shift in NZ: Building Understanding of Shippers’ Mode Choice based on RP (revealed preference)/ SP (stated preference) surveys

The main objectives of this study are to identify the constraints on shifting freight in New Zealand (NZ) from road to rail and/or coastal shipping, and to quantify the trade-off between factors affecting shippers’ perceptions, to assist in increasing the share of freight moved by non-road transport modes. This was done by three logistic regression methods. The ranked logit results show that NZ shippers ranked transport time as the most significant constraint upon distributing goods by rail, while accessibility and load size were the most significant constraints upon using coastal shipping. The study also identifies how NZ shippers’ modal shift constraints vary according to the firm’s individual or logistical characteristics (e.g. their use of logistics facilities, lead time, and delivery distance). Mode choice models, consistent with econometric theory and based on transport cost, time, reliability and modal frequency, are developed. Multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) models are estimated, to identify the factors influencing the choice between road, rail and coastal shipping, for domestic inter-island freight flows. Finally, the models are used, with empirical data on transport cost, time and reliability, to estimate the effect (on mode split) of policies to alter the values of these variables

Modal shift for New Zealand shippers for various policy scenarios

Increasing transport problems caused by high dependency on road transport, has brought us to investigate various policy scenarios to promote a greater use of rail and coastal transport for freight transport in New Zealand. For this, we examined how factors associated with freight transport (e.g. cost and reliability) influenced the transport decisions of shippers with various operation types. Online stated preference surveys were developed and mixed-logit models were estimated from the data provided by 233 shippers. These models were used to calculate the base mode shares, and subsequently, to test various hypothetical policy options for promoting greater use of rail and coastal transport. The results show that a substantial improvement in reliability of both the rail and coastal freight transport services will lead to a substantial decline in the share of road transport, especially for shippers with short-haul and long-haul operations, transporting either large or small shipment volume

Analysing freight shippers' mode choice preference heterogeneity using latent class modelling

This paper describes a study to improve understanding of the decision-making process of New Zealand firms, freight shippers and agents when making freight transport mode choice decisions. Such studies, despite their importance, are relatively scarce due to issues related to data confidentiality, restraining firms from taking part in such studies. To achieve the objective, we use latent class (LC) modelling, which postulates that firms’ behaviour depends on two components: 1) some observable attributes, such as travel distance and size of operations; and 2) unobserved latent heterogeneity. The latter is taken into account by sorting firms into a number of classes based on similarities in their characteristics. Subsequently, the behaviour of firms in each class is explained by a set of parameter estimates, which differs from the sets assigned to other classes. In this study, data were gathered using stated preference surveys from 190 NZ firms, freight shippers and agents. Based on their freight operations, participants were grouped into: 1) long-haul and large shipments and 2) long-haul and small shipments. Furthermore, as each participant evaluated 18 choice scenarios, the data set contains 3,420 choice records. The results of the LC modelling allow policy makers to design more appropriate strategies and policies for different segments of the population to improve intermodal transport and to attract the largest latent class for both cases. In addition, the LC model indicates that the potential improvement in modal shift, which can be achieved by applying different policy options, varies with both transport distance and the size of shipments. Furthermore, in order to promote sustainable freight transport, one policy would be to increase the reliability of both the rail and sea freight transport services

Recognising diversity in older adults' cybersecurity needs

Older adults continue to be targeted by cybersecurity attacks: a trend which shows no signs of slowing, and one that has become even more problematic given that many older adults adopted new digital technologies during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Yet there remains a scarcity of solutions designed to help older adults protect themselves online. In part, this is due to a lack of understanding of the specific needs of older adults, who are the fastest growing, and arguably most technologically diverse population on the internet. This study draws upon recent qualitative research to identify key dimensions which are likely to influence older adult cybersecurity behaviour and subsequent vulnerability. We show how these dimensions can be used, for example, to develop a wide range of personas that help illustrate the range of abilities and attitudes in the older adult population. The dimensions outlined here can be used to help researchers, designers, and developers better understand the diverse needs of older adult users when developing digital or security solutions for this population

Second Set of Spaces

This document describes the Gloss infrastructure supporting implementation of location-aware services. The document is in two parts. The first part describes software architecture for the smart space. As described in D8, a local architecture provides a framework for constructing Gloss applications, termed assemblies, that run on individual physical nodes, whereas a global architecture defines an overlay network for linking individual assemblies. The second part outlines the hardware installation for local sensing. This describes the first phase of the installation in Strathclyde University

Mode Choice in Freight Transport in New Zealand: Findings of a Revealed Preference (RP) Survey of Shippers

Transport mode choice for freight plays an important role in the logistics process. Mode choice for freight transport is influenced by company’s transportation demand, logistical actives, as well as supply chain characteristics. Due to the great heterogeneity of companies and due to questions of confidentiality and reliability of data, considerably less research have been done on modelling freight transport demand in New Zealand. Freight transport demand characteristics, such as the attributes of the shipper or consigner, the attributes of the commodities to be transported, and the spatial attributes of shipments, strongly influence mode choice. In this paper, we use a revealed preference (RP) experiment to explore the relative importance of six transport mode choice attributes based on a sample of nearly 200 companies across a range of industries in New Zealand. The results show several distinct types of transport mode choice behaviour, and that the preferences for timeliness, cost, accessibility, restitution, customer service, and suitability vary greatly between industry groups and business types. We also tested seven factors that may hinder the use of rail or shipping by companies in New Zealand as transport mode for domestic and international shipments. The practical importance of this research is that we provide a logical starting point for modelling freight transport mode choice in New Zealand

Conformational Studies of Gram-Negative Bacterial Quorum Sensing 3-oxo N-acyl Homoserine Lactone Molecules

In their 1H NMR spectra in CDCl3 3-oxo-N-acyl homoserine lactones (OHLs) show significant downfield chemical shifts of the amide N-H proton when compared to the parent N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs). NMR spectroscopic and DFT calculation studies have shown that this is most likely due to the presence of a stabilising intramolecular H-bond from the N-H to the 3-oxo group. The 1H NMR spectra also show evidence for the enol tautomers and that the amount of enol present for a range of OHLs is 4.1-4.5% in CDCl3 and 6.5-7.2% in CD3CN. In contrast, DFT calculations show that the lowest energy enol tautomer and the keto tautomer are of equal energy in the gas phase, but that the keto tautomer is more stable in chloroform, acetonitrile and water solution. The calculations also show that there is no evidence for any n→p* or C5 H-bonding interactions being present in either the lowest energy keto or enol tautomer of the OHLs in solution or the gas phase, which is in contrast to the reported solid-state structure