Commercial energy efficiency and the environment

The production and use of energy create serious, extensive environmental affects at every level, in every country, argue the authors. That impact may be more serious in developing than in developed countries as developing countries depend more on natural resources and lack the economic strength to withstand environmental consequences. At the same time, a reliable energy supply is vital to economic growth and development. Energy consumption and economic growth have been somewhat delinked at high income levels, but increased energy consumption (especially of electricity) is inevitable with higher GDP. Greater energy efficiency in developing countries and Eastern Europe is a high-priority way to mitigate the harm to the environment of growing energy consumption, say the authors. They outline four advantages of greater energy efficiency. It requires measures that are in the economic self-interest of those regions. Political obstacles make these measures difficult, but there are well-established techniques for addressing concerns about low-income consumers (such as direct income support or life-line rates). It will help conserve the world supply of nonrenewable (especially fossil) fuels. It will encourage appropriate fuel switching. It addresses every level of concern, up to the global effects of global warming. Any strategy to make energy use and production more efficient must rely more extensively than before on markets that are allowed to function with less government interference. The crucial components of such a straetegy (also crucial to economic development generally) are: more domestic and external competition; the gradual elimination of energy pricing distortions; the reduction of macroeconomic and sectoral distortions (for example, in foreign exchange and credit markets); the reform of energy supply enterprises - reducing state interference, providing more financial autonomy and a greater role for the private sector; consumer incentives to select more efficient lights, space heating, and so on. The authors are not convinced of the need for nonmarket approaches beyond those geared to correct externalities, provide essential information, support basic research and development, and possibly promote pilot projects. They also conclude that a government is far more likely to take action to reduce an environmental externality if it captures benefits within its own national boundaries that exceed the cost of the action. Reducing the large difference between energy prices and economic costs in developing countries and Eastern Europe is a more immediate issue than carbon taxes. The developed countries, say the authors, have an indispensable role to play in improving energy efficiency in the developing countries and Eastern Europe. They can encourage the flow of efficient technology, they can increase conventional aid, and they must accept a greater share of the burden of protecting the global commonalities.Energy and Environment,Environmental Economics&Policies,Energy Demand,Transport and Environment,Power&Energy Conversion

The Danzón and Caribbean Musical Influences on Early Jazz [abstract only]

Music scholars have long lamented the lack of historical data describing the emergence of early jazz repertoire in New Orleans. Not only do no recordings of the music exist prior to 1917, but few written sources from the turn of the twentieth century make any mention of the emergent musical style. As a result, many studies describe jazz as the invention of a few almost mythical figures in isolation, with little reference to earlier performance practice. This paper uses an analysis of the earliest recordings of the Cuban danzón, dating from 1905, as a window into the formative years of jazz. The danzón is especially significant as the first African-American music ever recorded, and a style known to have been performed in New Orleans beginning in the late 1880s. Analysis suggests (1) that many parallels in form, rhythm, and style exist between the danzón and dixieland repertoire, and (2) that instrumentation associated with the final “hot” (partially improvised) sections of the danzón bear striking similarities to the clarinet-trumpet-trombone frontline of dixieland. The danzón may well have contributed directly to the development of jazz; danzón style ties jazz to broader regional developments, and underscores the fact that the histories of Latin American music and music in the United States are fundamentally intertwined

Challenge of the Century

Recently a study of 664 homemakers was undertaken in two upstate New York towns to determine how much nutritional knowledge these women used in feeding their family and whether this knowledge was related to various socio-economic factors. Nutritional knowledge was assessed at an interview by the answers to such simple questions as: \!\That should be included in the meals for the family each clay? What is a balanced diet? and What is the basic seven

Riktad metabolomik med 'Ultra Performans' Vätskekormatografi Mass Spekrometri (UPLC-MS) visar metaboliska skillnader i hälsosamma samt atopiska Staffordshire bullterrier efter två olika dieter : en pilotstudie

While anecdotal evidence has long claimed that a raw meat–based diet (RMBD) improves the metabolic health of canines, no rigorous scientific study has clarified this issue. Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) has also been linked to metabolic health, but its relation to diet remains poorly understood. This study investigates whether dietary choice is linked to metabolic health in healthy and CAD-diagnosed canines via targeted serum and urine metabolomic analysis of polar, non-ionic metabolites, as well as whether the underlying CAD condition modulates the response to nutritional intake. Serum metabolites of client-owned Staffordshire Bull Terriers, divided into CAD-diagnosed (n=14) and healthy (n=6) cohorts, were studied. Urine metabolites of a subset of the CAD-diagnosed canines (n=8) were also studied. The canines were split into two cohorts based on diet. The first cohort were fed a commercially available high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carbohydrate RMBD (n=11, CAD diagnosed n=8, healthy n=3). The second cohort were fed a commercially available moderate-fat, moderate-protein, high-carbohydrate kibble diet (KD) (n=9, CAD diagnosed n=6, healthy n=3). The diet intervention period lasted approximately 4.5 months (median 135d). Statistical analysis of the serum profiles across all dogs (n=20) and the urine profiles of the CAD-diagnosed subset (n=8) were performed. The KD cohort was found to have higher concentrations of methionine than the RMBD cohort, both in serum (all dogs, p<0.0001) and in urine (CAD-only cohort, p<0.0002), as well as cystathionine and 4-pyridoxic acid. Methionine plays important roles in homocysteine metabolism, and elevated levels have been implicated in various pathologies. The CAD (n=14) cohort dogs showed starker metabolic changes in response to diet regarding these pathways compared to the healthy (n=6) cohort. However, there was no significant change in CAD severity as a result of either diet. Likely due to the higher meat content of the RMBD, higher concentrations of several carnitines and creatine were found in the RMBD cohort. Citrulline was found in higher concentrations in the KD cohort. While the findings from this experiment provide insight into the relationship between diet and the serum and urine metabolite profiles of canines, they also suggest that neither diet significantly affected CAD severity.Anekdotiskt bevis har länge påstått att en rå köttbaserad diet (RKBD) förbättrar hundens metaboliska hälsa. Dock har ingen noggrann vetenskaplig studie klargjort denna fråga. Hund atopisk dermatit (HAD) har också kopplats till metabolisk hälsa, men dess förhållande till diet har ej studerats via studien av hundens metabolism tidigare. Denna studie undersöker om diet val är kopplade till metabolisk hälsa hos friska och HAD-diagnostiserade hundar genom att köra riktad blodserum- och urinmetabolomik analys av polära, icke-joniska metaboliter, samt för att svara huruvida det underliggande HAD-sjukdomen modulerar hur hunden reagerar till dess diet. Serum metaboliter från Staffordshire bullterrierrar som indelades till antingen HAD-diagnoserade (n=14) eller friska (n=6) studerades. Urinmetaboliter från en portion av de HAD-diagnoserade hundarna (n=8) studerades också. Hundarna indelades vidare till två dietgrupper. Förstå gruppen åt en kommersiell RKBD som hade låg kolhydrathat och högt protein samt fetthalt (n=11, HAD diagnoserade n=8, friska n=3). Andra gruppen (n=9, HAD diagnoserade n=6, friska n=3) åt ett kommersiellt torrfoder (TF) som hade hög kolhydrathalt, måttlig proteinhalt samt låg fetthalt. Dietinterventionen räckte cirka 4.5 månader (median=135d). Statistisk analys of hundarnas serum metabolitprofiler (n=20) samt urin metabolitprofiler från en del av HAD-diagnoserade hundarna (n=8) kördes och resultaten studerades. Efter dietinterventionen hade gruppen som åt TF dieten betydligt högre koncentrationer av metionin än RKBD gruppen, både i blodserum (alla hundar, n=9, p<0.0001) och i deras urin (HAD-gruppen, n=6, p<0.0002). I urinet fanns det också betydligt högre koncentrationer cystationin samt 4-pyridoxalsyra. Dess metaboliter spelar viktiga roller inom metaboliska rutten som bryter ner homocystein, där speciellt förhöjda metioninkoncentrationer har visats sig korrelera med diverse kroniska sjukdomar. Större ändringar i metabolitkoncentrationerna som påföljd av diet observerades i HAD-gruppen (n=14) jämfört med friska gruppen (n=6). Dock fanns det ingen betydlig ändring på deras HAD-symtom som påföljd av diet efter dietinterventionen avslutades. Högre hater av karnitiner samt kreatin hittades i RKBD-gruppens blodserum, antagligen på grund av höga kötthaltet i deras diet. Betydligt högre citrullinhalter hittades också i blodserumet från TF-gruppen. Resultaten från detta experiment ger insikt till hur diet och hundens blodserum samt urin metabolitprofiler påverkar varandra. Vidare visar resultatet att varken TF eller RKBD dieten betydligt ändrar på HAD-symtom

A Phenomenological Analysis of Information Security Reporting: A Paradoxical Perspective

Current information security research has focused on security threats, prevention of incidents, and federal regulations for reporting incidents. However, we know little about how the behavior of information security professionals impacts security. Against this backdrop, this dissertation seeks to understand the drivers of tensions that information security professionals encounter in the performance of their job functions, which result in paradoxical tensions while reporting on the security of organizational assets. The findings of this study reveal how information security professionals respond to inherent tensions as they become salient, and how these salient tensions often become paradoxical in nature as they are dealt with as part of a security professional’s everyday lived experience. The findings highlight the actions undertaken by security professionals to resolve these paradoxical tensions and, in doing so, often engage in deviant behaviors that are contrary to organizational policy and industry or governmental regulations. These findings thus allow for an improved understanding of the motivations of an individual and assist with the creation of policies and management oversight activities that are intended to reduce the likelihood of information security professionals becoming insider threats to their organizations. To that end, an analytical framing combining paradox theory and deterrence theory as complementary theoretical lenses was adopted in this study. Following an interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology, a series of three in-depth interviews, each with eight information security professionals, was conducted. This methodological approach helped the participants to reflect on the drivers of tensions that they perceived as part of their lived experiences. The participants were selected from a range of industries and across a wide spectrum of experiences to capture a broad diversity of lived experiences. Hence, by determining how the drivers of tensions lead to paradoxical tensions that impact or guide the motivations and behaviors of information security professionals responsible for security reporting, the study seeks to contribute to behavioral information security knowledge in the areas of improvement of information security compliance, separation of insider deviant behavior from insider misbehavior, and understanding insider deviant behavior under duress

Exploring Diverse Blended Families: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Hear Their Voices

It has been predicted that if you were born in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a one in two chanceof either living in a blended family as a child or as an adult (Coleman, Ganong, & Fine, 2000).In 1989, Glick predicted that in the 21st century, blended families would be the leading family form. Today in 2010, they are far from being a new phenomenon (Stewart, 2008). They are a rapidly growing part of the American population according to Census data and over half of American families may be blended, i.e., formed by (married or non-married) partners with children. This investigation is a small scale, exploratory, and descriptive study of diverse blended family couples who are formed from married parents, non-married parents, gay parents and lesbian parents with biological children who live in the residence and are the product of former relationships. The main focus was to investigate dominant cultural models of these families and given those constructs, how did the couples conform to, transform, resist or revoice dominant or alternate-cultural models? Five diverse blended family couples were recruited and interviewed in their homes. The small sample is not representative, but largely heterogeneous. Participants varied in terms of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, educational level, s socioeconomic background and family structure. Data analysis methods consisted of a 2-step process integrating Grounded Theory (Glaser 1998) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The interest was not only in what these families were saying, but how did they say it, and what identities they took on as they said it. The findings suggested that although the couples were unanimous in defining their relationships in positive and complementary ways, depending on various variables, some of the couples had overlapping and conflicting positioning. All five couples fit into three overlapping categories: (1) Resist-Transform: two couples; (2) Resist- Conform-Revoice: one couple; and (3) Resist-Transform-Revoice: two couples. The data is voluminous, providing numerous opportunities for additional investigation into the unique worlds of diverse blended families. A call for innovative approaches that define them positively and culturally variant studies that normalize their experiences with less comparable investigations are discussed

MCMC-ODPR : primer design optimization using Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling

Background Next generation sequencing technologies often require numerous primer designs that require good target coverage that can be financially costly. We aimed to develop a system that would implement primer reuse to design degenerate primers that could be designed around SNPs, thus find the fewest necessary primers and the lowest cost whilst maintaining an acceptable coverage and provide a cost effective solution. We have implemented Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte Carlo for optimizing primer reuse. We call it the Markov Chain Monte Carlo Optimized Degenerate Primer Reuse (MCMC-ODPR) algorithm. Results After repeating the program 1020 times to assess the variance, an average of 17.14% fewer primers were found to be necessary using MCMC-ODPR for an equivalent coverage without implementing primer reuse. The algorithm was able to reuse primers up to five times. We compared MCMC-ODPR with single sequence primer design programs Primer3 and Primer-BLAST and achieved a lower primer cost per amplicon base covered of 0.21 and 0.19 and 0.18 primer nucleotides on three separate gene sequences, respectively. With multiple sequences, MCMC-ODPR achieved a lower cost per base covered of 0.19 than programs BatchPrimer3 and PAMPS, which achieved 0.25 and 0.64 primer nucleotides, respectively. Conclusions MCMC-ODPR is a useful tool for designing primers at various melting temperatures at good target coverage. By combining degeneracy with optimal primer reuse the user may increase coverage of sequences amplified by the designed primers at significantly lower costs. Our analyses showed that overall MCMC-ODPR outperformed the other primer-design programs in our study in terms of cost per covered base

Development of Operational Excellence Strategies in a Custom Manufacturing Environment to Increase Profitability and Gain Competitive Advantage

This report discusses strategies used to improve operational excellence within a custom manufacturing company. These continuous improvement strategies were used to identify a tool that would improve overall performance and would allow the organization to be more competitive. The organization was threatened by global competition driving down market prices and weakened by a complacent culture and inefficient processes that resulted in millions of dollars in manufacturing variance. These factors contributed to the company’s loss of profit and competitive advantage in some key markets. The objective of this project was to evaluate, select and develop tools and techniques that would increase profitability and competitive advantage by increasing responsiveness, efficiencies and productivity while reducing manufacturing variance. This was to be achieved through the application of continuous improvement methodologies. The project identified nesting software as a tool that could greatly improve the current state of the plate cutting process. This tool allowed the organization to be responsive at the initial stages of the project. It also constructed a plan for optimizing the utilization of material and effectively displayed the nested layouts within the manufacturing documents in order to effectively communicate and execute the plan. Execution of the plan reduces material variance, rework costs and scrap which results in significant cost savings. For a custom manufacturer of this type, the key to increasing profitability and improving competitive advantage is to continuously improve internal capabilities

Sir Charles Wood's Indian Policy, 1853-1866.

Sir Charles Wood's presidency of the Board of Control (1853-1855) coincided with the dawning of an age of reform. Wood's Government of India Act reformed the Indian legislature, abolished the civil patronage and provided for establishing a law commission in England. Prompted by educationalists, Wood closed Haileybury College and opened the civil service to university graduates. Advised by reformers of long Indian experience, he issued his famous education despatch. Under pressure from the Manchester school, he prosecuted public works and railways vigorouslyland pursued a pacific diplomatic policy. As Secretary of State after the mutiny (1859-1866), Wood was faced with reconstructing the foundations of British rule. Regarding the reduction and improvement of the military forces as essential to financial and military stability, he demanded retrenchments and, though opposed by his Council and by Canning, abolished the Local European army. Partly to win the support of prominent Indians, he endorsed Canning's "conciliatory" policy - the "adoption despatch", the delegation of administrative functions to landlords, and the nomination of Indian legislative councillors. Seeking to avoid friction between Indians and English settlers, and having a Whiggish regard for liberty and property, he was concerned to safeguard civil rights and customary rights to land. He consolidated Britain's 121, and preserved Indians from exploitation, by exercising fully his overriding authority. However, he failed to provide adequately for social and economic regeneration. Though he favoured extending the permanent settlement and constructing irrigation works, his failure to establish a new and elastic source of revenue led him to retard these improvements. Again, his attachment to the doctrines of laissez-faire and self-help undermined his good intentions with regard to education and railways. His policy reflects many of the strengths and weaknesses of mid-Victorian Whiggery

CE 615 Syllabus: Group Therapy and Practice

In this course, students are introduced to the theory and practice of group counseling. The course will provide students with an academic/theoretical overview of groups and group work as well as the opportunity to develop group leadership skills through experiential learning activities