What Are Kinship Terminologies, and Why Do We Care? A Computational Approach to Analyzing Symbolic Domains

Kinship is a fundamental feature and basis of human societies. We describe a set of computational tools and services, the Kinship Algebra Modeler, and the logic that underlies these. These were developed to improve how we understand both the fundamental facts of kinship, and how people use kinship as a resource in their lives. Mathematical formalism applied to cultural concepts is more than an exercise in model building, as it provides a way to represent and explore logical consistency and implications. The logic underlying kinship is explored here through the kin term computations made by users of a terminology when computing the kinship relation one person has to another by referring to a third person for whom each has a kin term relationship. Kinship Algebra Modeler provides a set of tools, services and an architecture to explore kinship terminologies and their properties in an accessible manner

Leadership of healthcare commissioning networks in England : a mixed-methods study on clinical commissioning groups

Objective: To explore the relational challenges for general practitioner (GP) leaders setting up new network-centric commissioning organisations in the recent health policy reform in England, we use innovation network theory to identify key network leadership practices that facilitate healthcare innovation. Design: Mixed-method, multisite and case study research. Setting: Six clinical commissioning groups and local clusters in the East of England area, covering in total 208 GPs and 1 662 000 population. Methods: Semistructured interviews with 56 lead GPs, practice managers and staff from the local health authorities (primary care trusts, PCT) as well as various healthcare professionals; 21 observations of clinical commissioning group (CCG) board and executive meetings; electronic survey of 58 CCG board members (these included GPs, practice managers, PCT employees, nurses and patient representatives) and subsequent social network analysis. Main outcome measures: Collaborative relationships between CCG board members and stakeholders from their healthcare network; clarifying the role of GPs as network leaders; strengths and areas for development of CCGs. Results: Drawing upon innovation network theory provides unique insights of the CCG leaders’ activities in establishing best practices and introducing new clinical pathways. In this context we identified three network leadership roles: managing knowledge flows, managing network coherence and managing network stability. Knowledge sharing and effective collaboration among GPs enable network stability and the alignment of CCG objectives with those of the wider health system (network coherence). Even though activities varied between commissioning groups, collaborative initiatives were common. However, there was significant variation among CCGs around the level of engagement with providers, patients and local authorities. Locality (sub) groups played an important role because they linked commissioning decisions with patient needs and brought the leaders closer to frontline stakeholders. Conclusions: With the new commissioning arrangements, the leaders should seek to move away from dyadic and transactional relationships to a network structure, thereby emphasising on the emerging relational focus of their roles. Managing knowledge mobility, healthcare network coherence and network stability are the three clinical leadership processes that CCG leaders need to consider in coordinating their network and facilitating the development of good clinical commissioning decisions, best practices and innovative services. To successfully manage these processes, CCG leaders need to leverage the relational capabilities of their network as well as their clinical expertise to establish appropriate collaborations that may improve the healthcare services in England. Lack of local GP engagement adds uncertainty to the system and increases the risk of commissioning decisions being irrelevant and inefficient from patient and provider perspectives

Capstone project : Zometool : from 0 to the 4th dimension

Abstract: My capstone project was the development of a geometric construction workshop at Mckinnon Elementary School in Salinas using Zometool, a manipulative whose components are based on the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio . By building the Platonic Solids like the cube, icosahedron, and dodecahedron as well as the Archimedean solids such as the truncated cube and truncated octahedron. the students were able to begin to think componentially and see that an individual solid shape may be broken down into several smaller components with attributes of their own.Besides learning to think in two and three dimensions, this workshop also introduced my students to 4 dimensional thinking by building such structures as the hypercube (8 cubes) and the hyperdodecahedron (120 dodecahedrons) which were three dimensional projections of four dimensional objects. I have generated enough interest in this workshop that I will be continuing what I have started for the rest of this year and hopefully for many years to come

The mechanical and other properties of ionomer cements

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Ionomer cements, a novel composite material, are formed at ambient temperatures by mixing an aqueous polyacid with an ion-leachable powder. The glass ionomer cement known as ASPA, a dental restorative material, produces strong and hydrolytically stable cements. Applications of this material outside of dentistry have been restricted by its rapid set, its poor mechanical performance in dry environments and its. highcost. The objective of this research have been to modify the ASPA system and develop other ionomer cements for applications outside of dentistry and to provide a further understanding of the mechanical properties of ionomer cements. The rapid set of ASPA cements was reduced by acid treatment of the ion-leachable glass. Cements prepared from this acid treated glass (ATG) were mechanically superior to the ASPA cements and retained their mechanical properties in environments of low humidity due to a greater extent of aluminium polyacrylate formation than in the ASPA cement. The rapid set of the ASPA system was also reduced by replacing the ionleachable glass with various fillers. The mechanical properties of these filled ASPA cements were dependent upon the physical characteristics of the filler and were poor in low humidity environments. Other zinc-glass ionomer cements and certain treated mineral ionomer cements showed promise as low cost alternatives to the ASPA glass. The mechanical properties of ionomer cements were dependent upon the size and packing properties of the glass particles, the volume fraction of glass in the cement and the interfacial wetting properties between the glass and the polyacid matrix. Ionomer cements were mechanically superior and more resistant to hydrothermal ageing than epoxy and polyester composites. It was proposed that this was due to a more water tolerant matrix and due to stable primary interfacial bonds being formed at the glass-polyacid interface.This study is funded by the Blue Circle Technical Limited

Status of major southern California marine sport fish species with management recommendations, based on analyses of catch and size composition data collected on board commercial passenger fishing vessels from 1985 through 1987

This report on the status of major southern California marine sport fish species, together with management recommendations, is based on analyses of catch and size composition data, which were collected on board Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFV) from 1985 through 1987. The project was designed to determine the status of those fishes that support the CPFV industry, and to make management recommendations when deemed necessary. We collected and analyzed data based on random, stratified, on-board sampling of weekday (excluding holidays), open CPFV's on a year-round basis. We sampled 1/2-day, 3/4-day, and full-day type trips at a level of 5%. The survey area extended from below the United States-Mexican border to Point Arguello. Catch estimates were extrapolated to include weekday as well as weekend and holiday, open and chartered CPFV's. We sampled 736 CPFV trips in 1985, 650 in 1986, and 631 in 1987. We encountered 180 species of fishes, including 49 species of rockfishes. We performed detailed analyses on 14 non-rockfish species and 12 rockfish species, as well as all fishes as a group and all rockfishes as a group. We found a moderate increase in total catch of combined fish species between this study and one in the mid-1970's, due primarily to sizeable increases in catches of Pacific mackerel, kelp bass, barred sand bass, and barracuda. However, we also found that there has been more than a 50% decline in the CPFV rockfish catches, due primarily to substantial decreases in catches of bocaccio, chilipepper, and olive rockfish. We have recommended that the current 15-rockfish bag limit regulation be reduced to a 10-rockfish bag limit, and that additional and equitable conservation measures also be implemented on the commercial rockfish fishery. (385pp.

Generating direct manipulation program editors

Language specific editors are cognisant of the syntax and semantics of the programming language they manipulate. Despite the various potential advantages of language specific editors, they have not been widely accepted by software developers for serious software development. On the other hand direct manipulation editors, which are also cognisant of the entities they manipulate, have proven to be successful in other domains such as drawing and VLSI design tools. Thus, it is worth while investigating the incorporation of direct manipulation mechanisms into program editors. This paper presents a technique for specifying direct manipulation editing of programs which is amenable to the generation of language specific editors incorporating direct manipulation from a specification of the desired editing mechanisms

Global changes, local impacts: California\u27s adaptation tools help its cities address climate change

The State of California has been changing state-level policies and legislation to prepare for and minimize the impacts of climate change. But how can local governments integrate climate adaptation planning into local policy and practice? Through three-case studies, Boswell and Read discuss how state agencies and the robust set of tools and guidance in the California Adaptation Planning Guide have been helping California communities in climate action planning