HESPER web - development and reliability evaluation of a web-based version of the humanitarian emergency settings perceived needs scale

Background: The Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs Scale (HESPER) assesses a wide range of physical, psychological and social perceived needs across 26 questions, and can be used in humanitarian emergencies and disasters for needs assessment or research studies. The original HESPER collects data through individual interviews. Today, a large number of people have access to the internet, including in humanitarian emergencies and disasters. Therefore, this paper aimed to report the development, reliability evaluation and feasibility evaluation of the HESPER Web. Methods: First, the original HESPER was developed into a web based survey. Thereafter, alternate forms reliability between the HESPER and HESPER Web, and test-retest reliability for the HESPER Web, was evaluated using a study sample of 85 asylum seekers in Sweden in total. Results: The alternate forms reliability evaluation showed that the HESPER Web was a reliable instrument to assess perceived needs. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for total number of serious needs was 0.96 (CI 0.93–09.98, p <0.001). Cohen’s κ was used to analyse the alternate forms reliability between the HESPER and HESPER Web item per item; the correspondence between HESPER and HESPER Web varied between 0.54 and 1.0 for the 26 questions. There was a strong nominal association in first priority need between the HESPER and HESPER Web (Cramer’sV 0.845, p <0.001). In the test-retest reliability evaluation of HESPER Web, ICC was 0.98 (CI 0.97–0.99, p <0.001), and Cohen’s κ varied between 0.53 and 1.0. There was a strong nominal association in first priority need between test and re-test (Cramer’s V 0.93, p <0.001). The HESPER Web was experienced as easy and safe to use and was found less time consuming than the original HESPER interview, according to the study participants. Conclusion: The HESPER Web is a reliable and usable instrument to assess perceived needs. It can reduce a number of practical challenges both for needs assessment in disasters or humanitarian emergencies as well as in research

Overview and Comparison of Nonlinear Interference Modelling Approaches in Ultra-Wideband Optical Transmission Systems

The recent advances in modelling nonlinear interference of systems operating beyond the C-band are discussed. Estimation accuracy as well as computational complexity of current approaches are compared and addressed

The ISRS GN Model, an Efficient Tool in Modeling Ultra-Wideband Transmission in Point-to-Point and Network Scenarios

An analytical model to estimate nonlinear performance in ultra-wideband optical transmission networks is presented. The model accurately accounts for inter-channel stimulated Raman scattering, variably loaded fibre spans and is validated through C+L band simulations for uniform and probabilistically shaped 64-QAM

De same ole Huck – America’s speculum meditantis. A (p)re-view

By common agreement, Huckleberry Finn is not only the most American boy in literature, but is also the character with whom American readers of all ages tend to identify most readily and most intimately. Against ready-made assumptions, the paper investigates the protagonist’s unique constitution, modus operandi, and existential appeal. As a passe-partout to the text, it is suggested that Huck is at one and the same time, and as a primary rather than a secondary phenomenon, a small boy as well as a full-grown man. An apparent repository of classically definable unnecessary desires, informed by a combined Carlylean-Melvillean-Whitmanesque discourse of the (magical) mirror, Twain’s figure in the carpet emerges as a nuanced negotiation and transposition: speculum meditantis – mirror of one meditating, speculum vitae humanae – mirror of human life, speculum totis paria corporibus – mirror equal to the body of the country at large, and ultimately hyperbolically as utilitarian speculum humanae salvationis

Between habits of the heart and copulation of clichés: Some popular American stories, mores and shibboleths

From the very beginning, all manner of ideas, concepts and conceits have been advanced to explain America and Americans – as much to themselves as to others. The paper presents a historical- literary compilation of popular notions of ‘Americanness’ in the guise of random de Tocquevillian observations in general circulation. This is to provoke the question about the degree to which this kind of pervasive discourse may reflect the so-called habits of the heart, as against how at a certain point it may lapse into a Nabokovian copulation of clichés

Vertiginous pull of negative rhetoric: The American “No! In Thunder”

The paper presents a sample historical-literary survey of a specific popular idea of the gist of ‘Americanness’ in the guise of condensed observations in broad cultural circulation. This is to provoke the question about the degree to which this kind of discourse may reflect the so-called habits of the heart (de Tocqueville [1835-1840] 1966: 264), as against how at a certain point it may explode – to borrow from Paul de Man (1979: 10) – into “vertiginous possibilities of referential aberration”

Dynamic modeling and characterization of a wind turbine system leading to controls development

With the growing energy demand and need to decrease greenhouse gas emissions there has been a rise in the popularity of renewable energy systems. One of the most popular renewable energy systems over the past decade has been the wind turbine. Technological advances in modeling, prediction, sensing and control combined with the current shift towards decentralized power have prompted development of wind energy systems. Decentralized distribution allows for lower transmission losses because of the closer proximity to the consumer and greater regional control. The wind turbine has positioned itself as the leading energy system to serve as a cornerstone in the development of decentralized energy distribution. This research focuses on the development of a nonlinear dynamic model of a variable speed wind turbine. The modeling effort is followed by model validation against published data. Subsequently, benchmark control problems and existing control strategies are reviewed from literature. Emphasis is placed on variable speed form of operation. Control strategies are studied for two different operating modes of a wind turbine, namely operations below and above the rated-speed. For the former case control design is based on power maximization and for the latter the control design is based on power regulation. For each case, standard control strategies appearing in literature for individual operating regimes are implemented, and thereafter focus is placed on robust performance. Subsequently attempts are made to design new and/or improved strategies. The new control strategies proposed in this research are based on principles from nonlinear control. Furthermore, the research attempts to apply certain relatively new techniques such as extremum-seeking-control to the wind-turbine application. Finally, the research proposes a switching method to combine the control strategies for individual operating regimes

Networks in New Venture Creation and Development

In the 1980s, researchers began arguing that every entrepreneur is embedded in a network that plays a critical role in new venture formation and development. The rationale given for the importance of networks is a rather simple one: network relationships are seen as providing resources to favorable conditions. Thus, they are considered especially important for entrepreneurs who are typically resource-poor. Based on this basic understanding, the thesis at hand addresses open questions related to the role of networks in new venture creation and development. It comprises five chapters, in which four studies are presented. The first two studies shed further light on the relationship between the costs and benefits that come with developing and maintaining network contacts in the stage of new venture creation. In contrast, studies three and four address two research questions in the field of already-established ventures. Specifically, the third study shows how entrepreneurs� personal networking abilities affect new ventures� networks and performance and the fourth demonstrates that entrepreneurs may foster network change as well as their network management capacity by applying the basic means of organization design to their relationship management