Communities of practice for inter-organizational knowledge management: An empirical study

Facilitating communities of practice for knowledge sharing and application is a goal pursued by knowledge managers, intra- organizational or inter-organizational. One major short-coming in the CoP literature is the lack of attention paid to power relations.The term communities of practice (CoPs) invoke the notion of peers sharing knowledge as equals.In actual practice, power relations within a community or between a community and its external actors can determine the nature and the efficacy of a CoP. In this study, we apply social network analysis to illuminate the nature of power relations in communities of practice in a particular inter-organizational context. The organizations concerned are the 217 local authorities in six selected provinces in Sri Lanka and the actors are the solid waste managers in each.Social network analysis is combined with a multi-level multi-theoretical analysis to understand the factors driving the apparent self-organization of this community of practitioners as hubs and nodes

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 317/319 Scientific Prospectus: Pacific Equatorial Age Transect

As the world's largest ocean, the Pacific is intricately linked to major changes in the global climate system. Throughout the Cenozoic, Pacific plate motion has had a northward component. Thus, the Pacific is unique in that the thick sediment bulge of biogenic-rich deposits from the currently narrowly focused zone of equatorial upwelling is slowly moving away from the Equator. Hence, older sections are not deeply buried and can be recovered by drilling. Previous drilling in this area during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 138 and 199 was remarkably successful in giving us new insights into the workings of the climate and carbon system, productivity changes across the zone of divergence, time-dependent calcium carbonate dissolution, bio- and magnetostratigraphy, the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and evolutionary patterns for times of climatic change and upheaval. Together with older Deep Sea Drilling Project drilling in the eastern equatorial Pacific, both legs also helped to delineate the position of the paleoequator and variations in sediment thickness from ~150°W to 110°W.The Pacific equatorial age transect (PEAT) science program is based on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Proposal 626 and consists of Expeditions 317 and 319, grouped into one science program. The goal is to recover a continuous Cenozoic record of the equatorial Pacific by drilling at the paleoposition of the Equator at successive crustal ages on the Pacific plate. Records collected from Expeditions 317 and 319 are to be joined with records of previous drilling during ODP Legs 138 and 199 to make a complete equatorial Pacific record from 0 to 55 Ma. Previously, ODP Legs 138 and 199 were designed as transects across the paleoequator in order to study the changing patterns of sediment deposition across equatorial regions at critical time intervals. As we have gained more information about the past movement of plates and when in Earth's history "critical" climate events took place, it becomes possible to drill an age transect ("flow-line") along the position of the Pacific paleoequator. The goal of this transect is to target important time slices where calcareous sediments have been best preserved and the sedimentary archive will allow us to reconstruct past climatic and tectonic conditions. Leg 199 enhanced our understanding of extreme changes of the calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD) across major geological boundaries during the last 55 m.y. A very shallow CCD during most of the Paleogene makes it difficult to obtain well-preserved sediments during these stratigraphic intervals, but the strategy of site locations for the current two expeditions is designed to occupy the most promising sites and to obtain a unique sedimentary biogenic sediment archive for time periods just after the Paleocene/Eocene boundary event, Eocene cooling, the Eocene–Oligocene transition, the "one cold pole" Oligocene, the Oligocene–Miocene transition, and the Miocene. These new cores and data will significantly contribute to the objectives of the IODP Extreme Climates Initiative and will provide material that the previous legs were not able to recover.For logistical reasons, the PEAT science program is composed of two expeditions but is being implemented as a single science program to best achieve the overall objectives of Proposal 626. Participants on both expeditions (as well as approved shore-based scientists) will comprise a single science party with equal access to data and materials from both cruises. Sampling aboard the ship will be minimal, and the bulk of the sampling will be completed postcruise.The operational plan is to occupy eight sites along the age transect with the goal of recovering as complete a sedimentary succession as possible. This will probably require three holes to be cored at each site with wireline logging operations in one hole. Basement will be tagged in at least one of the holes. Expedition 317 will be directed primarily to sample the Neogene sites (proposed Sites PEAT-2C, 6C, and 7C, in priority order). The second expedition (319) will primarily sample the Paleogene sites (proposed Sites PEAT-1C, 3C, 4C, and possibly 5C, in priority order)

Ultrastructural analysis of changes in neurons of the mouse internal anal sphincter during ageing

Gastrointestinal disorders, including chronic constipation, faecal impaction and incontinence, are a major cause of morbidity in the elderly

Disability in the Workplace: Legal Barriers Affecting Human Resources Management Practices and Workplace Accommodation for the Persons with Disabilities in Sri Lanka - A Review of Literature

Disability can be defined as a physical or mental condition that barred such individual from properly interact with physical or social environment. This difficulty provided root course for historical marginalization of persons with disabilities in the society and visible in various fields ranging from education to employment and being analysed by various scholars. This literature review explores the question how various scholars approached the social political and legal issues arise out of low employment rate of the persons with disabilities and expressed their views on how to solve them. Since a systematic literature review has not been conducted in Sri Lanka on this topic, to answer the aforesaid research problem, author will evaluate multiple scholarly approaches towards the barriers affecting human resource practices and workplace accommodation for persons with disabilities and explore solutions available in the existing literature to resolve such issues. This research will be based on literature review methodology and first of such work in the field of disability rights in Sri Lanka. Thereby, results of this research will be produced by collecting and synthesizing previous research for advancing knowledge and facilitating theory development. However, literature survey was limited to the works which recently published in English language and meet certain scholarly standards. Keywords: Persons with Disabilities, Employment, Workplace Accommodation, Review of Literatur

Interstitial cell network volume is reduced in the terminal bowel of ageing mice

Ageing is associated with impaired neuromuscular function of the terminal gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which can result in chronic constipation, faecal impaction and incontinence. Interstitial cells of cajal (ICC) play an important role in regulation of intestinal smooth muscle contraction. However, changes in ICC volume with age in the terminal GI tract (the anal canal including the anal sphincter region and rectum)have not been studied. Here, the distribution, morphology and network volume of ICC in the terminal GI tract of 3‐to 4‐month‐old and 26‐to 28‐month‐old C57BL/6mice were investigated. ICC were identified by immunofluorescence labelling of wholemount preparations with an antibody against c‐Kit. ICC network volume was measured by software‐based 3D volume rendering of confocal Z stacks. A significant reduction in ICC network volume per unit volume of muscle was measured in aged animals. No age‐associated change in ICC morphology was detected. The thickness of the circular muscle layer of the anal sphincter region and rectum increased with age, while that in the distal colon decreased. These results suggest that ageing is associated with a reduction in the network volume of ICC in the terminal GI tract, which may influence the normal function of these regions

Application of the optimal estimation method (OEM) to retrieve relative humidity from Raman Lidar backscatter measurements.

Accurate measurements of relative humidity (RH) vertical profiles in the atmosphere is important for understanding the earth\u27s weather and the climate system. RH represent the current state of the water vapor in the atmosphere with respect to the ambient air related to saturation. Even minor changes of the RH in the lower atmosphere has a large impact of the global circulation and cloud formation. Due to its high variability RH measurements in the lower atmosphere is significantly challenging. Raman lidar is one of the potential tools that can provide vertical profiles of RH. Typically, temperature and water vapor mixing ratios need to be estimated separately from the Raman lidar measurements to calculate RH. We have successfully implemented the optimal estimation method (OEM) to retrieve not only vertical profiles of RH but also vertical profiles of temperature, particle extinction and other instrumental parameters from the Raman backscatter measurements obtained by the Raman Lidar for Meteorological Observations (RALMO) located in Payerne, Switzerland. Unlike the traditional method the OEM provides a full uncertainty budget with both random and systematic uncertainties on profile by profile basis. The OEM is also capable of retrieving RH from the Raman lidar measurements in different sky conditions and the OEM retrieved RH agree the radiosonde measured RH within 10-15%

P16. RALMO Rotational Raman Temperature Retrieval: First Steps Towards The Application of Optimal Estimation Method (OEM)

Background: Temperature is an important atmospheric parameter that plays an extensive role in the fields of atmospheric dynamics, climatology, meteorology, and chemistry. Light detection and ranging (lidar), is a remote sensing technology that can be used for atmospheric temperature profiling. A lidar transmits short laser pulses into the atmosphere and the light scattered by the particles in the atmosphere is collected and measured using a telescope. The atmospheric temperatures can be retrieved by analysing the Pure Rotational Raman (PRR) scatter measurements from the nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. Methods: In this study use the Optimal Estimation Method (OEM) to retrieve lower atmospheric temperatures from the PRR measurements obtained by the Raman Lidar for Meteorological Observations (RALMO) located in Payerne, Switzerland. The OEM is an inverse method requires specification of a forward model (FM) capable of reproducing measurements using the relevant physics and mathematical description of the instrument. It also can retrieve a full uncertainty budget on a profile-by-profile basis. Results: We propose a forward model to retrieve temperature from PRR measurements using the OEM and the model was tested using the synthetic measurements. Discussion & Conclusion: The results showed that the proposed forward model can be used to retrieve temperatures and few other parameters in the forward model such as lidar constants and background terms. As the next step of my PhD project this method will be used for measurements from the RALMO to retrieve temperature profiles. Interdisciplinary Reflection: The OEM can be applied can be used to solve nonlinear inverse problem in any research area

Predicting the remaining life of timber bridges

This paper documents the current state of knowledge relating to the deterioration of timber bridges in Australia. The aim of this research, was to comprehend the present state of knowledge regarding maintenance of timber bridges and address any gap in knowledge. This involved: identifying key defects in timber, investigat-ing the inspection methods utilised to detect these faults and finding the preven-tive measures used to mitigate bridge deterioration. Enclosed are figures which demonstrate how simple industry practices and procedures implemented by each states’ governing authority can reduce these impacts and concludes with an em-pirical model for predicting the remaining lifespan of a bridge

Linking knowledge to innovation in government services: the case of solid waste services in local government in Sri Lanka (K2I Project)

The objective of the action research project was to identify cost-effective and sustainable means of developing a Web of knowledge–based interactions that link any given local authority to (a) peer community (b) a knowledge community, or (c) civil society, and explore if and how such connectedness may lead to improved performance in solid waste management. We also wished to apply the concept of an innovation system to the Web of interactions so formed in order to illuminate the concept further. Using an action research methodology we have been able to elucidate that competency standards, and training and certification processes can sustain practitioner networks for cooperation in knowledge sharing in local government, and that, such practitioner networks need to be coupled with tools such as ranking surveys that create a competitive environment in the sector. Facilitating linkages between local authorities and universities or civil society groups proved to be difficult. Some possible reasons are explored

Development of a 1-Dimensional Data Assimilation to Determine Temperature and Relative Humidity Combining Raman Lidar Backscatter Measurements And a Reanalysis Model

Water vapor is the most dominant greenhouse gas in Earth\u27s atmosphere. It is highly variable and its variations strongly depend on changes in temperature. Atmospheric water vapor can be expressed as relative humidity (RH), the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in the mixture to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water over a flat surface of pure water at a given temperature. Liquid water can exist as super-cooled water for temperatures between 0C to -38C. Thus, RH can be measured either relative to water (RHw) or to ice (RHi). RHi measurements are important in the upper tropospheric region, where the temperature is always less than 0C, to study ice supersaturation (ISS) and its relation to the formation of cirrus clouds. I present three studies all using a mathematical scheme called the optimal estimation method (OEM). The OEM is an inverse method that determines the most probable state consistent with the measurements and a priori knowledge. These studies use parts of a large set of existing measurements from the Raman Lidar for Meteorological Observations (RALMO) instrument located at the meteorological observatory in Payerne, Switzerland. I first develop an OEM retrieval for temperature using RALMO\u27s two pure rotational Raman (PRR) channel measurements. Retrieved temperatures show excellent agreement with coincident balloon-borne radiosonde measurements. A second OEM scheme is introduced to retrieve RHw directly from RALMO measurements of back-scatter due to water vapor and nitrogen. I validate the OEM retrievals developed for temperature and RHw. I then combine the OEM-retrieved temperature and RHw with data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Re-analysis (ERA5) to compute a new and improved temperature and relative humidity product. The retrieval is enhanced by assimilating it with the ERA5 data. The quality of the RHw retrievals from the assimilated OEM scheme greatly improves over retrievals which use less accurate a priori information. Thirdly, I retrieve RHi to detect ISS layers. I find the frequency of ISS layers in the free troposphere over Payerne to be about 27% using 82.5 hours of measurements