The spatial pattern of demand in the early market for electric vehicles: Evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper reports a spatial analysis of Electric Vehicle registrations across the local authorities of the United Kingdom during the early phase of market development. Spatial autocorrelation tests are applied in order to identify any spatial organisation in registrations rates and spatial regression models are specified to consider the effect of socioeconomic, household, and transport system characteristics over registrations. Specific attention is paid to the association between Electric Vehicle registrations and the presence of charging infrastructure to consider if registrations are affected by infrastructure in the immediate and intermediate vicinity. The results of the analysis suggest Electric Vehicle demand exhibits a moderate degree of spatial clustering, which indicates the emergence of lead and laggard markets, and that the spatial variation in Electric Vehicle uptake can be partially explained through other characteristics of the local authorities. Characteristics relating to education level, employment status, income level, population density, dwelling type, household size, car availability, and the presence of Hybrid Electric Vehicles are significant factors in explaining the rate of Electric Vehicle registrations. Moreover, the level of charge point infrastructure installed within a local authority is positively associated with EV demand. From a policy perspective, the results reported in this paper indicate that local conditions are likely to be important in the rate of Electric Vehicle adoption, which may be of use when considering the development of geographically targeted interventions to accelerate Electric Vehicle demand

The Impact of Postures and Moving Directions in Fire Evacuation in a Low-Visibility Environment

Walking speed is a significant aspect of evacuation efficiency, and this speed varies during fire emergencies due to individual physical abilities. However, in evacuations, it is not always possible to keep an upright posture, hence atypical postures, such as stoop walking or crawling, may be required for survival. In this study, a novel 3D passive vision-aided inertial system (3D PVINS) for indoor positioning was used to track the movement of 20 volunteers during an evacuation in a low visibility environment. Participants’ walking speeds using trunk flexion, trunk–knee flexion, and upright postures were measured. The investigations were carried out under emergency and non-emergency scenarios in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. Results show that different moving directions led to a roughly 43.90% speed reduction, while posture accounted for over 17%. Gender, one of the key categories in evacuation models, accounted for less than 10% of the differences in speed. The speeds of participants under emergency scenarios when compared to non-emergency scenarios was also found to increase by 53.92–60% when moving in the horizontal direction, and by about 48.28–50% when moving in the vertical direction and descending downstairs. Our results also support the social force theory of the warming-up period, as well as the effect of panic on the facilitating occupants’ moving speed

The Emergent Vinifera Wine Industry in North Carolina: A Descriptive Overview

The North Carolina (NC) wine industry has grown rapidly over the past decade and is expected to grow even more as the worldwide wine consumption and export of wines rises. In the United States, the wine market has grown by 13.7 percent since 2002 in volume and by more than 15 percent in dollars as wine has progressed from being a beverage of an elite segment of the market to becoming a mainline beverage, taking its place alongside beer and liquor (MKF Research LLC, 2007; Oches, 2009). The Piedmont Triad Region is uniquely positioned to increase its presence in this industry. Of the 80 wineries in NC that are currently open to the public, nearly half are located in the Piedmont Triad Region. However, growing grapes and making wine is a long term commitment to a community, both financially and physically. The MKF Research report states that the capital-intensive nature of the winery and vineyard sectors is often underestimated, with new entrants to the industry at times unprepared for the extended cash requirements. In addition, only a few local institutions are familiar with the unique needs of the winemaking business. In order to address factors that will impede growth in this nascent industry, it is important to identify the state of the industry and obtain management perspectives on the needs and challenges facing their operations. This study provides information that would help gain a better understanding of the business issues and needs related to the wine and grape industry in North Carolina. Data for this study was drawn from a census of 34 wine producers located in the Yadkin, Swan Creek, and the Haw River valley regions of North Carolina. Descriptive statistics using frequencies and means is used to provide a demographic overview of the industry and to identify the factors that wine producers perceive to be important in affecting their profitability. Results from the study shows that most of the wineries share some common traits: they are small, relatively new to the wine and grape industry and grow grapes other than the traditional native Muscadine grape. Primarily, a majority of the wineries are family-based entrepreneurial businesses that have to behave like mini-conglomerates. These findings are consistent with a study conducted by Taplin and Breckenridge (2008).Profitability Constraints, Financial Management, Marketing, Distribution, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management,

Osteomyelitis of the frontal bone

Osteomyelitis of the skull is a rare clinical presentation. It usually occurs as a complication of trauma or sinusitis. Its complications can be lifethreatening though the initial symptoms and signs are subtle. Early diagnosis and appropriate management to prevent CNS complications reduce morbidity and mortality significantly. Intracranial complications of sinusitis, focal infections and meningitis remain a great challenge. Mortality from complications is 20-40%. The prevalence of skull osteomyelitis is about 1.5% of all osteomyelitis

Effectiveness of three different storage structures and curing process for the storage of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) in Ghana

Three different storage structures and two curing processes for the storage of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) were studied at the CSIR-Food Research Institute, Accra. Sweet potato roots initially cured under warm(30-35 °C) and very humid (90-95% relative humidity) conditions for 7 and 14 days were stored in local (traditional), pit, and clamp storage structures for 84 days. After 0-84 days of storage, the roots were sampled and physically assessed into wholesome, sprouted, fungalinfected, and insect and rodent-damaged. The decrease in percentage wholesome roots corresponded to an increase in percentage fungal-infected roots from 0 to 84 days of storage in all the three different storage structures. Clamp storage structure recorded the highest percentage wholesome roots (20.0%) compared to pit (16.3%) and local (0%) after 84 days of storage when roots were cured for 7 days. However, for 14 days cured roots stored for 84 days, local storage structure recorded the highest percentage wholesome roots (20%), pit (0%), and clamp (10%). Higher percentages of fungal-infected sweet potato roots were recorded from roots cured for14 days. Percentage sprouted roots was higher in clamp, followed by pit and local storage structures. Sprouting was delayed for sweet potato roots that were cured for 14 days in all the storage structures. Percentage damage of sweet potato roots by insect and rodent was lower inall the three storage structures compared to the fungalinfected sweet potato roots

A genetic linkage map of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L) combining SRAP and ISSR markers

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers are both simple and efficient maker systems adapted to many crops and for multiple purposes. In this studya genetic map based on SRAP and ISSR markers was constructed for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) based on the segregations of SRAP and ISSR markers in 112 plants of F2 population derived from a crossbetween two cucumber inbred lines PW0832 and PW0801. In the investigation of polymorphisms with 50 ISSR primers and 132 SRAP primer combinations, 13 (26%) ISSR primers and 26 (20%) SRAP primer pairs were polymorphic generating a total of 109 polymorphic markers of which 48 were ISSR and 61 were SRAP. The average polymorphic bands were four for ISSR and two for SRAP. All the 109polymorphic markers were scored for segregation of which 86 satisfied the Mandelian segregation ratio of 3:1. These data were used to construct an integrated linkage map for cucumber consisting of 62 loci,distributed in seven linkage groups (LGs) spanning a total of 992.2 cM, with an average distance of 16.0 cM between two adjacent loci. These markers would be very useful tool for marker assisted selection incucumber breeding as well as for studies in quantitative traits

Re-Design of Mine Tailings Storage Facility for Adamus Resources Limited

AbstractThe suitability of a centerline or upstream design as a sustainable option for construction of future raises for the existing Life of Mine (LoM) downstream Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) at Adamus Resources Limited (ARL) was investigated using Slope/W in GeoStudio Software. Review of technical information, evaluation of the performance of the existing Stage 6 dam, and geotechnical investigations of available construction materials were undertaken in this research. Insights were gained about the TSF’s life cycle and current bearing capacity for intended future raises. Viable geotechnical parameters were established to define construction material specifications as well as input data for modelling the new designs. The British Standards Institute (BSI) standards were adopted for all the material testing protocols carried out at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Building and Road Research Institute (CSIR-BRRI) laboratory in Kumasi. The scope of modelling covered the original downstream as well as the centerline and upstream options. The geometric design and stability analysis focused only on the southern and northern embankments of the TSF. The modelling outputs yielded reliable Stability Factors of Safety (FoS) for all designs investigated, above the regulatory criteria. Subsequently, a semi-quantitative multi-criteria evaluation was used to select the preferred option between the centreline and upstream alternatives. The results showed that technically, economically and by regulatory compliance, the centreline design is a better alternative and therefore recommended for adoption by ARL. Keywords: Tailings Storage Facility, Geotechnical Parameters, Stability Analysis, Modelling, Multi-Criteri

Pedagogies for critical thinking at universities in Kenya, Ghana and Botswana: the importance of a collective 'teaching culture'

While critical thinking is widely regarded as a key outcome of higher education, research has shown that in practice it is only developed when certain conditions are in place, relating to the pedagogical approach, the nature of the curriculum and the level of challenge, amongst other factors. This article reports on findings from a four-year mixed methods study in Botswana, Ghana and Kenya, aiming to investigate the factors underpinning the successful development of critical thinking amongst undergraduate students. A two-stage critical thinking assessment was conducted with students in 15 sites, showing that only some of the institutions were ensuring significant gains in students’ critical thinking, even when endorsing learner-centred methods. The study points to the central importance of teaching orientations amongst lecturers, involving a deep shift in approaches to knowledge, and a facilitation rather than a transmission approach