Value-driven partner search for <i>Energy from Waste</i> projects

Energy from Waste (EfW) projects require complex value chains to operate effectively. To identify business partners, plant operators need to network with organisations whose strategic objectives are aligned with their own. Supplier organisations need to work out where they fit in the value chain. Our aim is to support people in identifying potential business partners, based on their organisation’s interpretation of value. Value for an organisation should reflect its strategy and may be interpreted using key priorities and KPIs (key performance indicators). KPIs may comprise any or all of knowledge, operational, economic, social and convenience indicators. This paper presents an ontology for modelling and prioritising connections within the business environment, and in the process provides means for defining value and mapping these to corresponding KPIs. The ontology is used to guide the design of a visual representation of the environment to aid partner search

IM toolbox for the present and future to support data synthesis activities, An

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.This poster displays four examples of topics and tools currently being implemented and developed by information management staff at the Shortgrass Steppe LTER, across the LTER Network and within USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). These tools are necessary in order to synthesize similar data sets from different researchers, agencies, and institutions. These tools were designed provide to support to Principal Investigators, educators, students, and policy makers that need to synthesize information to make better decisions about planning their research, coursework and land management strategies. The four areas to be presented are Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing, standardization of metadata using Ecological Metadata Language (EML), integration of relational database management systems for different agencies, and the creation of useful dynamic web pages. GIS and Remote Sensing are powerful tools that allow researchers to analyze, model, and predict ecological factors and outcomes that shape the shortgrass steppe by integrating spatial and non-spatial data collected at the field site. EML consists of a number of modules that define an extensible mark-up language (XML) that creates a standard syntax for ecological metadata. This concept allows for sharing of standard metadata and data across not only the LTER Network, but throughout the broader ecological community. SGS is researching new database technologies to managing the growing amount of standard non-spatial data from the ARS and LTER as well as GIS and Remote Sensed data. This also will address the need for multi-user data access and database integration with the SGS website. An SGS Website was launched 8 years ago to provide general site information as well as detailed research information. The web site will be enhanced over the next year to improve query tools, submit metadata online, improve integration with various ecological research databases, and implement the EML standards

An Evaluation of the Possible Protective Effects of Neonatal Striatal Transplants Against Kainic Acid-Induced Lesions

The present study examined the recent report that transplantation of neonatal striatal tissue into kainic acid (KA) lesioned striatum protected the contralateral striatum from a subsequent KA lesion. We did not find a significant difference in the survival rate of animals that received neonatal striatal transplants into a KA lesioned striatum followed by a subsequent lesion of the contralateral striatum compared to those animals that received bilateral KA-induced striatal lesions alone. The tissue transplants did not protect against the degeneration of striatal neurons induced by KA. Indeed, the survival rate was very low (25%) in the transplant groups. A second experiment was also performed to examine whether a neonatal striatal transplant might reduce the severe syndrome of aphagia and adipsia associated with KA lesions of the striatum. Animals that received the neonatal striatal transplants showed increased aphagia and adipsia compared to animals only receiving the KA lesion. Again, the transplant group had a very low survival rate (10%). The present study was unable to confirm that neonatal striatal transplants protect against KA lesions either by themselves or in conjunction with a recent KA lesion

Surface Tension between Kaon Condensate and Normal Nuclear Matter Phase

We calculate for the first time the surface tension and curvature coefficient of a first order phase transition between two possible phases of cold nuclear matter, a normal nuclear matter phase in equilibrium with a kaon condensed phase, at densities a few times the saturation density. We find the surface tension is proportional to the difference in energy density between the two phases squared. Furthermore, we show the consequences for the geometrical structures of the mixed phase region in a neutron star.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures (Latex

Through the looking glass: what do we see, what have we learned, what can we share? Information management at the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research site

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.This poster displays the development of a successful information management system at a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site that has a rich history of data collection and management. Over sixty years of data from three separate projects are incorporated into the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) LTER information management system and databases. People with different strengths and expertise ranging from clerical administrator, programmer, to ecologist, have filled the role of Information Manager (IM) at the SGS-LTER. Today the information management needs of the SGS are provided by a team of IMs with various levels of expertise in a wide variety of domains from information technology administration to education and outreach. It is critical for IMs at any long-term research site to understand how information and data were managed in the past and what recent changes have been added to the system, in order to effectively implement a management plan for the future. We are able to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches to information management and have a commitment to share our successes with the information management community

An Analysis of the Dynamics of Mammalian Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Evolution&apos;

The dynamics of the substitution process for mammalian mitochondrial DNA have been modeled. The temporal behavior of several quantities has been studied and the model&apos;s predictions have been compared with estimates obtained from recent mtDNA sequence data for an increasingly divergent series of primates, the mouse and the cow (Anderson et al. 1981, Bibb et al. 1981. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the decrease in the proportion of transitions observed as divergence increases is a consequence of the highly biased substitution process. In addition, the results support the hypothesis that, although a portion of the mtDNA molecule evolves at an extremely rapid rate, a significant portion of the molecule is under strong selective constraints

The great outdoors? Exploring the mental health benefits of natural environments

There is growing evidence to suggest that exposure to natural environments can be associated with mental health benefits. Proximity to greenspace has been associated with lower levels of stress (Thompson et al., 2012) and reduced symptomology for depression and anxiety (Beyer et al., 2014), while interacting with nature can improve cognition for children with attention deficits (Taylor and Kuo, 2009) and individuals with depression (Berman et al., 2012). A recent epidemiological study has shown that people who move to greener urban areas benefit from sustained improvements in their mental health (Alcock et al., 2014). In this paper we critically review evidence indicating that such mental health benefits are associated with the so-called “restorative” properties of natural environments. In particular we focus on the claim that interaction with (or just passive perception of) natural scene content can be linked to the restoration of limited-capacity attentional resources, in comparison to similar exposure to urban or built scene content

The Statistics of Supersonic Isothermal Turbulence

We present results of large-scale three-dimensional simulations of supersonic Euler turbulence with the piecewise parabolic method and multiple grid resolutions up to 2048^3 points. Our numerical experiments describe non-magnetized driven turbulent flows with an isothermal equation of state and an rms Mach number of 6. We discuss numerical resolution issues and demonstrate convergence, in a statistical sense, of the inertial range dynamics in simulations on grids larger than 512^3 points. The simulations allowed us to measure the absolute velocity scaling exponents for the first time. The inertial range velocity scaling in this strongly compressible regime deviates substantially from the incompressible Kolmogorov laws. The slope of the velocity power spectrum, for instance, is -1.95 compared to -5/3 in the incompressible case. The exponent of the third-order velocity structure function is 1.28, while in incompressible turbulence it is known to be unity. We propose a natural extension of Kolmogorov's phenomenology that takes into account compressibility by mixing the velocity and density statistics and preserves the Kolmogorov scaling of the power spectrum and structure functions of the density-weighted velocity v=\rho^{1/3}u. The low-order statistics of v appear to be invariant with respect to changes in the Mach number. For instance, at Mach 6 the slope of the power spectrum of v is -1.69, and the exponent of the third-order structure function of v is unity. We also directly measure the mass dimension of the "fractal" density distribution in the inertial subrange, D_m = 2.4, which is similar to the observed fractal dimension of molecular clouds and agrees well with the cascade phenomenology.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures, ApJ v665, n2, 200

Kaon Condensation and Dynamical Nucleons in Neutron Stars

We discuss the nature of the kaon condensation phase transition. We find several features which, if kaons condense in neutron stars, are not only remarkable, but must surely effect such properties as superfluidity and transport properties, which in turn are relevant to the glitch phenomenon and cooling rates of neutron stars. The mixed phase, because of the extensive pressure range that it spans, will occupy a broad radial extent in a neutron star. This region is permeated with microscopic drops (and other configurations) located at lattice sites of one phase immersed in the background of the other phase. The electric charge on drops is opposite to that of the background phase {\sl and} nucleons have a mass approximately a factor two different depending on whether they are in the drops or the background phase. A large part of the stellar interior has this highly non-homogeneous structure.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, revtex. Physical Review Letters (accepted