Audit and Certification of Digital Repositories: Creating a Mandate for the Digital Curation Centre (DCC)

The article examines the issues surrounding the audit and certification of digital repositories in light of the work that the RLG/NARA Task Force did to draw up guidelines and the need for these guidelines to be validated.

The Role of Evidence in Establishing Trust in Repositories

This article arises from work by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) Working Group examining mechanisms to roll out audit and certification services for digital repositories in the United Kingdom. Our attempt to develop a program for applying audit and certification processes and tools took as its starting point the RLG-NARA Audit Checklist for Certifying Digital Repositories. Our intention was to appraise critically the checklist and conceive a means of applying its mechanics within a diverse range of repository environments. We were struck by the realization that while a great deal of effort has been invested in determining the characteristics of a 'trusted digital repository', far less effort has concentrated on the ways in which the presence of the attributes can be demonstrated and their qualities measured. With this in mind we sought to explore the role of evidence within the certification process, and to identify examples of the types of evidence (e.g., documentary, observational, and testimonial) that might be desirable during the course of a repository audit.

Low frequency sound propagation in activated carbon

Activated carbon can adsorb and desorb gas molecules onto and off its surface. Research has examined whether this sorption affects low frequency sound waves, with pressures typical of audible sound, interacting with granular activated carbon. Impedance tube measurements were undertaken examining the resonant frequencies of Helmholtz resonators with different backing materials. It was found that the addition of activated carbon increased the compliance of the backing volume. The effect was observed up to the highest frequency measured (500 Hz), but was most significant at lower frequencies (at higher frequencies another phenomenon can explain the behavior). An apparatus was constructed to measure the effective porosity of the activated carbon as well as the number of moles adsorbed at sound pressures between 104 and 118 dB and low frequencies between 20 and 55 Hz. Whilst the results were consistent with adsorption affecting sound propagation, other phenomena cannot be ruled out. Measurements of sorption isotherms showed that additional energy losses can be caused by water vapor condensing onto and then evaporating from the surface of the material. However, the excess absorption measured for low frequency sound waves is primarily caused by decreases in surface reactance rather than changes in surface resistance

Academic Perspectives on the Impact of Custom Publishing On Curriculum Construction

Educators in the higher education marketplace recommend texts and digital resource suites for subjects they have designed. Within many higher education institutions this task has become complex. As the subjects are delivered to many cohorts of students dispersed sometimes across the globe, teaching teams rather than individuals conduct the classes. The external marketplace also demands upgrades to discipline and generic knowledge on a continuous basis, particularly in the Information Systems (IS) domain. It is therefore often hard to find traditional texts that reflect the chronological order of a proposed schedule for delivery of theory and concepts in a subject. Technology has enabled publishers to respond to these difficulties with custom publishing. Not only are linear solutions tailored to specific teaching and learning needs but tight alignment between learning objectives, activities and assessments are easier to construct for the academics. Technology has enabled publishers to open up their vast and rich library of content to provide fast construction of texts that are cheaper. The case discussed in this research-in-progress paper describes the impact of custom publishing on curriculum development for two subjects. The text in question, is ‘Working Communications’ a Business textbook designed for the Information Technology (IT) and end-user market. This paper describes the process used to align digital resources and the curriculum

Economic Impact of Cruise Tourism in Atlantic Canada: Is Cruise Passenger Spending exaggerated?

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CRUISE TOURISM IN ATLANTIC CANADA IS CRUISE PASSENGER SPENDING EXAGGERATED? Introduction Cruise tourism is of increasing importance in Atlantic Canada. Average annual growth during the 1990-2015 period in Halifax was 9.24% (Transport Canada, 2016). Total cruise ship visitors to Halifax has grown tenfold over the last two decades, from approximately 24,000 in 1990 to 238,217 in 2015 (Transport Canada, 2016). The number of cruise ship visitors to Newfoundland & Labrador increased from 10,000 in 2000 to 50,000 in 2015. The growth of cruise tourism in the last decades is accompanied by the expected growth of benefits for the hosting ports. On the surface, it is reasonable to expect the cruise tourism to generate economic benefits emanating from spending by various parties (passengers, cruise lines, tour providers, etc.). However, there is growing evidence that studies supported or done by the cruise industry (e.g., Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA)/Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)) which serve as the foundation for assessing the economic benefits of cruise tourism, may be exaggerated. Literature While the cruise industry reported economic impacts are significant, there are deficiencies in such self-reported/commissioned statistics by cruise associations such as BREA and CLIA (Larsen et. Al., 2013; Falkenhaug, 2012; Scarfe, 2011; Klein 2011; Brida and Zappata, 2011). Economic impact estimates reported by the cruise lines suffer from a variety of theoretical and empirical problems. Benefits, computed in the form of tourism spending by passengers, are commonly calculated by taking the average expenditure times the number of passengers. Ports are quick to claim that each cruise passenger spends more than $100 during a port call and then simply deduces that a cruise with 4000 passengers and 2000 crew generates revenue of$6 million (Brida and Zapata, 2010). However, as Stavanger (2012) demonstrates, 20-40% of the passengers do not leave the ship during a stop-over. Using average expenditure values from other studies (ports) is arbitrary, since expenses and their effects will differ depending upon: 1) Type of port function (turn around/port of call), which will impact length of stay, 2) Market segment in terms of ship type, passenger type and nationality, all of which can vary depending upon the time of year, and 3) Attractions/products/services offered in a specific area ( Klein 2011 and Torbianelli 2012). To the extent a data collection strategy of surveying cruise ship passengers and crew fails to account for these factors, the results will be biased and the economic impact results inaccurate. Method This study draws on data collected during the 2016 cruise season in the four major ports in Atlantic Canada (i.e., Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; and St. John’s, Newfoundland). Data was subsequently gathered in 2017, however for purposes here we draw mainly on the data for the Port of Halifax in 2016. The Halifax data includes cruise ship passengers visiting the port of Halifax between April 30th and October 28th. A total of 2,205 surveys were collected from 100 (75%) of the 133 cruise ships that visited the port. Passengers were randomly surveyed at the port area beginning 2 hours after the ship’s arrival and continuing until 1 hour before the ship’s departure. The 23 cruise lines visiting the port were divided for purposes of analysis into four groups; the Halifax Port Authority concurred with the categories. The largest number of passengers (42.5%) are brought by mass market cruises. Close behind are passengers on Premium cruise lines (41%), the remainder is split almost evenly between Luxury cruise lines and European cruise lines. This study attempts to understand the disparity between passenger spending figures produced by cruise industry supported studies, [specifically a 2017 study (2016 data) completed by Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA)) versus studies undertaken by other, often independent, researchers (specifically our study) for the same geographic (Atlantic Canada)) area. Average spending per person is compared between this study which uses a probability sampling method versus the BREA study issued in April 2017 that did not. A critical element in producing unbiased sample statistics is the degree to which the sample of respondents in the passenger spending survey correspond to the actual universe (all ship arrivals in the year) of cruise ship and cruise passenger visits. The risk of biased results is reduced if the collected sample is representative of the population. In the BREA study, Luxury and European cruise visitors constitute 16.8% of passengers landing in early Season, yet no respondents were drawn from this group. A further bias is introduced by Mass Market visitors making up 42.7% of the cruise passengers in early season yet they are 64.4% of the early season respondents to the BREA survey. In contrast, the data collected in this study is closely aligned with the proportions of cruise vessel visits. Because all cruise ships visiting in the early season were surveyed, the sample we drew was from the universe of cruise ships visiting Halifax and more closely aligns with actual cruise visitor numbers and proportions than those based on the ships sampled in the BREA study. Findings/Results From an economic perspective, the significance of having a biased sample across market segment is made relevant by the fact that passenger spending differed by market segment. Spending was significantly greater for Mass Market cruise visitors ($70.44) than visitors on Premium lines ($60.02), Luxury lines ($57.84) and European lines ($52.79). The effect of oversampling the cruise market category, where spending is highest, is to artificially increase the overall per passenger spending. The BREA’s sampling frame over-represents Mass Market cruise visitors by 50%. At the same time, this market segment spends per passenger 10% more than the population average; more than 15% greater than the Premium lines. There is a cumulative impact of these two conditions, which is likely to bias the derived average spending figure, which is then used as the basis for computing economic impact. The average spending per passenger in this study was $63.57; in the BREA study it was 31.5$83.84. The significance of this difference in per passenger spending can be illustrated for Halifax (Atlantic Canada’s largest port for cruise visits) which had 220,351 passenger visits in 2016. Using the BREA figure for average spending, total spending would be $18.4 million, using our estimate, total spending would be$14.0 million. The importance of potential factors that may influence the cruise passenger spending in a port are also investigated. More specifically, regression analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of potential explanatory variables on the cruise passenger spending in Halifax using our data from the 2016 cruise season. The dependent variable of the analysis is the per capita passenger spending in Halifax. Of particular interest is that passenger spending is dependent on demographic characteristics, cruise industry segment, precipitation/temperature and port order placement in cruise itinerary. Conclusion The research outlines the importance of using accepted methods of probability sampling. Results otherwise may be inaccurate and mislead per passenger spending. As shown, the sample of ships included in BREA’s study of passenger spending in Halifax overstated by 31.5% the amount spent. Our data suggests this is caused by oversampling mass market cruise passengers, who comparatively spend significantly more than all other cruise passengers visiting Halifax. The inflated number is then used in determining economic impact, which consequently is an overstatement. Finally, the regression analysis shows that passenger spending is influenced by socio-economic/demographic/weather/itinerary related variables. A cleared understanding of the variables driving visitors spending could allow ports to adopt strategies that can maximize the local economic benefits. The provision of benchmark data enables assessment of current and future policies related to cruise tourism. An economic perspective is important to the development and management of tourism resources and can play a key role in driving tourism initiatives that balance economic/social/cultural benefits and costs. References BREA. (2017). The Economic Contribution of the International Cruise Industry in Canada A Survey-based Analysis of the Impacts of Passenger, Crew and Cruise Line Spending (Accessed July 10, 2017) Brida, J.G., and Zapata, S. (2011). Cruise Tourism: Economic, Socio-cultural and Environmental impacts. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 1(3), 205-226. Falkenhaug, J. (2012). Where would we have been without cruise ships.? Retrieved from: https://web.retriever-info.com/services/archive.html?method=displayDocument&documentd=0200212120120827799347&serviceId=2 Klein, R.A. (2011). Responsible Cruise Tourism: Issues of Cruise Tourism and Sustainability. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 18, 107–116. Larsen, S., Wolff, K. Marnburg, E. and Ogaard, T. (2013). Tourism Management Perspectives. 6, 142-148. Scarfe, B.L. (2011). Victoria as a Port-of-Call: The Costs and Benefits of Cruise Ship Visits. A report prepared for the James Bay Neighbourhood Association. Stavanger, Aftenblad (2012). Butikkene kan takke cruiseturistene for 3 millioner kroner. Retrived from http://www.aftenbladet.no/nyheter/lokalt/stavanger/Butikkene-kantakke-cruiseturistene-for-3-millioner-kroner-2942999.html Torbianelli, V. (2012). The local economic impact of cruises: From figures to the active policies of the European harbor cities. Scientific Journal of Maritime Research, 1, 139-150. Transport Canada Press Release, October 26, 2016).

Clinical placement before or after simulated learning environments? A naturalistic study of clinical skills acquisition amongst early-stage paramedicine students

Background There is conflicting evidence surrounding the merit of clinical placements (CP) for early-stage health-profession students. Some contend early-stage CPs facilitate contextualisation of subsequently learned theory. Others argue attending CP before attaining skills competency is problematic and should only occur after training in simulated-learning environments (SLE). The evidentiary basis surrounding the extent to which either is true remains limited. Methods First-year paramedicine students (n=85) undertook three days of CP and SLEs as part of course requirements. Students undertook CP either before or after participation in SLEs creating two groups (Clin→Sim/Sim→Clin). Clinical skills acquisition was measured via objectively-structured clinical examinations (OSCE) conducted at four distinct time-points over the semester. Perceptions of difficulty of CP and the SLE were measured via the NASA-TLX. Results Students’ OSCE scores in both groups improved significantly from beginning to end of semester (+35%, pp=.021). Both groups found SLEs more demanding than CP (47.6% vs. 31.4%, pp=.003). Conclusions Differences in temporal demand suggest Clin→Sim students had fewer opportunities to practice clinical skills during CP than Sim→Clin students due to a more limited scope of practice. Sim→Clin students contextualised SLE within subsequent CP resulting in greater improvement in clinical competency by semester’s end in comparison to Clin→Sim students that were forced to contextualise skills retrospectively

Impact of Organizational Culture and Perceived Process Safety in the UAE Oil and Gas Industry

In the last few decades, there had been a lot of accidents in the oil and gas industry throughout the world. This article reports a qualitative study of 30 employees employed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) oil and gas industry. Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) culture is a concept which was studied in many researches. However, this research is set to examine how certain behaviors affect the safety performance in UAE’s oil and gas industry. Four core themes that were drawn from the interviewee discussions of how safety culture, leadership safety behaviors, supervisory safety behaviors, and employee training on safety affect the employee’s performance on safety. The emergent narratives on the safety culture showed that an employee was likely to perceive safety in the organization favorably if s/he believed that his/her role in ensuring process safety was critical. Moreover, results pertaining to supervisory safety culture showed that the safety culture promoted by a supervisor within his/her role often set the standard for his/her subordinates constituted the benchmark against which all his/her subordinates rated their own idea and practice of safety culture. In addition, the findings confirm the important role played by safety leadership, which entails leader-follower interactions where the former influences the achievement of safety goals. Lastly, it was emphasized that safety training stimulated employees with negative or indifferent attitudes towards safety to be more actively engaged in safety matters in the organization

Phytoestrogens

Collectively, plants contain several different families of natural products among which are compounds with weak estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity toward mammals. These compounds, termed phytoestrogens, include certain isoflavonoids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. The best-studied dietary phytoestrogens are the soy isoflavones and the flaxseed lignans. Their perceived health beneficial properties extend beyond hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis to include cognitive function, cardiovascular disease, immunity and inflammation, and reproduction and fertility. In the future, metabolic engineering of plants could generate novel and exquisitely controlled dietary sources with which to better assess the potential health beneficial effects of phytoestrogens

Primary source of income is associated with differences in HIV risk behaviors in street-recruited samples

BACKGROUND: The relationship between primary source of income and HIV risk behaviors and the racial/ethnic differences in risk behavior profiles among disadvantaged populations have not been fully explored. This is unusual given that the phenomenon of higher risk in more disadvantaged populations is well-known but the mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the relationship between primary source of income and differences in HIV risk behaviors among four racial/ethnic groups in the southern United States. METHODS: Self-reported data on primary source of income and HIV risk behaviors were collected from 1494 African American, Hispanic, Asian, and White men and women in places of public congregation in Houston, Texas. Data were analyzed using calculation of percentages and by chi-square tests with Yates correction for discontinuity where appropriate. RESULTS: Data revealed that a higher proportion of whites were involved in sex for money exchanges compared to the other racial groups in this sample. The data suggest that similar street sampling approaches are likely to recruit different proportions of people by primary income source and by ethnicity. It may be that the study locations sampled are likely to preferentially attract those involved in illegal activities, specifically the white population involved in sex for drug or money exchanges. Research evidence has shown that people construct highly evolved sexual marketplaces that are localized and most unlikely to cross racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic or geographical boundaries. Thus, the areas that we sampled may have straddled a white sexual marketplace more than that of the other groups, leading to an over-representation of sex exchange in this group. Drug use was highest among those with illegal primary sources of income (sex exchange and drug dealing and theft), and they were also those most likely to have injected drugs rather than administered them by any other route (p < 0.001). In addition, bisexual or homosexual identification was reported by more respondents in the sex exchange as primary source of income category. The number of sexual partners in the last three months followed a similar pattern, with those whose primary source of income was drug dealing or theft reporting relatively high partner numbers. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that social disadvantage is associated with HIV risk in part by its association with drug and sex work for survival, and offers one variable that may be associated with the concentration of disease among those at greatest disadvantage by having an illegal and unstable primary income source

Illusory perceptions of space and time preserve cross-saccadic perceptual continuity

When voluntary saccadic eye movements are made to a silently ticking clock, observers sometimes think that the second hand takes longer than normal to move to its next position. For a short period, the clock appears to have stopped (chronostasis). Here we show that the illusion occurs because the brain extends the percept of the saccadic target backwards in time to just before the onset of the saccade. This occurs every time we move the eyes but it is only perceived when an external time reference alerts us to the phenomenon. The illusion does not seem to depend on the shift of spatial attention that accompanies the saccade. However, if the target is moved unpredictably during the saccade, breaking perception of the target's spatial continuity, then the illusion disappears. We suggest that temporal extension of the target's percept is one of the mechanisms that 'fill in' the perceptual 'gap' during saccadic suppression. The effect is critically linked to perceptual mechanisms that identify a target's spatial stability