Priming the pump: exploring the impact of smart water pumps on communities in South Africa and Malawi, where water acces is problematic

Drawing in particular on recent empirical work in South Africa and Malawi, this paper considers the potential that ‘SALT technology’ (sustainable, alternative, low-cost telemetry) has to help realize the goal of sufficient water for everyone by improving the functioning of existing infrastructure and by supporting swift and cheap access to information for all stakeholders. It is suggested that pursuing a dual approach (offering water service providers improved monitoring information, and making this information publically available) could result in a more efficient, responsive, transparent and accountable system of water allocation

Quantized Rabi Oscillations and Circular Dichroism in Quantum Hall Systems

The dissipative response of a quantum system upon a time-dependent drive can be exploited as a probe of its geometric and topological properties. In this work, we explore the implications of such phenomena in the context of two-dimensional gases subjected to a uniform magnetic field. It is shown that a filled Landau level exhibits a quantized circular dichroism, which can be traced back to its underlying non-trivial topology. Based on selection rules, we find that this quantized circular dichroism can be suitably described in terms of Rabi oscillations, whose frequencies satisfy simple quantization laws. Moreover, we discuss how these quantized dissipative responses can be probed locally, both in the bulk and at the boundaries of the quantum Hall system. This work suggests alternative forms of topological probes in quantum systems based on circular dichroism.Comment: 7 pages, including 3 figures and Appendi

Occupancy Based Lighting Control Systems

A brief overview of potential energy savings from the installation of occupancy sensors at Parkland College

Green House Gas Emissions of Parkland College

In order to help fulfill requirements of the ACUPCC, a Green House Gas Emissions Assessment of the campus was taken and then submitted to the ACUPCC online repository

The Children Are On Fire

The Children Are On Fire is a work bred out of the frustrations of blue-collar job and detrimental encounters with masculinity there-in, work such as, AC repairman and maintenance worker. The Children are On Fireis a collection of short stories based in realism depicting character’s who lives are touched social and economically by the specter of masculinity with explorations in the genre conventions of magical realism and the post-apocalyptic. Magical and the post-apocalyptic element serve as a means to interrogate character relationships within the realm of generational trauma from masculine societal norms, often in the form of religion. The Children are On Fireadopted genre elements of magical realism and the post-apocalyptic genres in the form of: scars, magical stitching, post-apocalyptic stories of a world burning, and of adventurers who can divine knowledge. They connect thematically to the realist pieces in the collection by maintaining the detriment of masculinity, blue-collar thinking, and religious myth-making

Oyster Sustainability Modeling as a Public Resource

A simulation algorithm based on biological references points proposed by Powell and Klink (2007) is implemented for predicting the total allowable catch of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from Louisiana’s coast. The model accepts initial per-square-meter shell mass and oyster size distributions as input. Fishing effort is provided as fractions removed of each resource for each month of the season. The model outputs the expected remaining shell mass and harvests of sack and seed oysters after discrete fishing months. Oyster mortality credits the shell budget, while fishing fractions debit oyster and shell resources. Surviving oysters grow larger along a time-dependent von Bertalanffy growth curve. Fishing fractions are chosen heuristically with the goal of minimizing shell loss. Input data is collected by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in their annual stock assessment. The model is available as a public web resource at www.oystersentinel.org

Twitter and assisted dying: using social media analysis software to evaluate the conversation around assisted dying in terms of guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide

News reports of assisted dying can trigger individuals to end their own lives. Social media is unaccountable to guidelines on reporting suicides. Radian6 social media analysis software was used to explore whether Twitter messages breached guidelines on reporting assisted dying more often than formal online news. Tweets and online news were compared by how frequently “assisted dying” was collocated with test-words indicating breach of assisted dying reporting guidelines. Structural features of Twitter such as the word count limit, timeline arrangement, and the ease of sharing tweets, were also compared with four of the identified guidelines. Both analyses showed that several guidelines were breached more frequently on Twitter than on mainstream news.This proof of concept study shows that data from Twitter can be compared with guidelines in order to appraise the online representation of healthcare issues. Structural factors within Twitter may contribute to messages that contravene guidance on reporting assisted dying