A distributed knowledge-based approach to flexible automation : the contract-net framework

Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-29)

The work of community gardens: reclaiming place for community in the city

The growth of community gardens has become the source of much academic debate regarding their role in community empowerment in the contemporary city. In this article, we focus upon the work being done in community gardens, using gardening in Glasgow as a case study. We argue that while community gardening cannot be divorced from more regressive underlying economic and social processes accompanying neoliberal austerity policies, it does provide space for important forms of work that address social needs and advance community empowerment. In developing this argument we use recent geographical scholarship concerning the generative role of place in bringing together individuals and communities in new collective forms of working. Community gardens are places that facilitate the recovery of individual agency, construction of new forms of knowledge and participation, and renewal of reflexive and proactive communities that provide broader lessons for building more progressive forms of work in cities

Projecting Water Available for Irrigation Use and Identifying Water Supply Stress Under Climate Change Scenarios in Selected U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Production Regions

Climate change affects water resources differently across geospatial regions in the United States (U.S). There is a concern of how water availability will be affected by changes in long-term temperature and precipitation patterns, specifically in major production regions for eight fruit and vegetable crops. The effects on surface water available for irrigation use and supply stress in five regions containing 31 Agricultural Statistics Districts (ASDs) were assessed. The Water Supply Stress Index Model was used and modified to project water available for irrigation use across nine climate scenarios driven by historical data, five General Circulation Models, two population scenarios, and two Representative Concentration Pathways. Through the incorporation of Hydrologic Unit Code 8 subbasin boundaries (HUC8), and ASDs, a new border was defined from the HUC8 borders which allowed water availability in the ASDs and regions to be quantified through hydrologic boundaries and flow characteristics between HUC8s. Projected surface water available for irrigation use increased at the annual time step from 2040-2070 across ASDs in the Pacific West for two moderate warming scenarios. Two high warming scenarios projected decreased water availability in the Pacific West. The results all showed decreased projected surface water available for irrigation use in the Midwest and Southeast. Across all climate scenarios in the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast, average watershed surface water supply stress induced by irrigation is projected to increase. The Plains and Pacific West showed decreased supply stress in certain scenarios, but this does not tell us how the watersheds will be affected during growing seasons. Past research shows that in areas of the Western U.S., precipitation will increase annually due to climate change. Overall, the results showed that water availability would decrease in the selected regions across climate change scenarios, but more work is needed to understand how the specific fruit and vegetable crops will be affected

Exploring the Potential of the Web-Based Virtual World of Second Life to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

Provides an overview of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, and summarizes discussions among addiction recovery experts about integrating virtual reality into behavioral treatment as a way to teach patients new responses to real environments

How High School Science-related Experiences Influenced Career Persistence

The events of 9/11 brought into focus two ongoing trends that were present before this tragedy and have continued since: 1) The United States needs more scientists if it is to ensure its freedoms and maintain its economy. 2) The number of scientists in the ¿pipeline¿ is declining because of the diminished presence of foreign scientists (they are wanted in their own countries), the under-representation of minorities and women, and the reduced numbers of students able and willing to take on the scholastic rigors necessary for a science or engineering degree. Though much has been written about improving science education, and numerous projects have been conducted to promote it, few education researchers have questioned the scientists themselves about the experiences, practices, and people that positively influenced them, particularly during their pre-college years. Towards this end, thirty-two scientists were interviewed in order to address four research questions: 1) How did practicing scientists¿ personal relationships with their science teachers influence their decision to pursue a career in science? 2) What pedagogical methods (e.g. lectures, demonstrations, ¿hands-on¿ work, problem solving, small groups) used in their high school science courses, if any, played a significant role in propelling certain students towards a career as a practicing scientist? 3) What high school science-related support structures (e.g. labs, equipment, textbooks, technology), if any, played a significant role in propelling certain students towards a career as a practicing scientist? 4) What high school science-related educational activities (e.g. science fairs, clubs, summer internships), if any, played a significant role in propelling certain students towards a career as a practicing scientist? Some of the scientists reported that they knew they were headed towards a career in science before they even entered high school, while others did not make a decision about a science career until after they had graduated from college. The prevailing conviction, however, was that the encouragement from others (though not exclusively by teachers), the excellence of teaching (regardless of pedagogical style), and the richness of science related experiences were the most influential factors in either maintaining or initiating a persistence in science towards a career

Advanced Conducting Project

Contents include: Abracadabra by Frank Ticheli Balalaika! by James Meredith Cajun Folk Songs II by Frank Ticheli Let There Be Peace arranged by Douglas Wagner Old Wine in New Bottles by Gordon Jacob Salvation is Created by Pavel Chesnokov The Legend of Killarney by Roland Barrett

The earlier Palaeolithic of Syria: settlement history, technology and landscape-use in the Orontes and Euphrates Valleys

This thesis represents the first investigation to examine Lower and Middle Palaeolithic technological behaviour in Syria in its wider landscape context, focussing on material from the two main river valleys; the Orontes and the Euphrates. Recent geological work has begun to develop an increasingly secure dating scheme for the terraces of these rivers, and hence for the artefacts obtained from them. Key artefact collections which can be located within these emergent chronostratigraphic frameworks were delimited. These assemblages have been analysed using a dynamic and flexible methodology which enabled the specific factors which affect artefact variability (in terms of local material affordances and human choice) to be assessed. Lithic artefacts are treated as the residues of hominin action, and not, as has frequently been the case, the static markers of chrono-cultural evolution. This research has demonstrated that Lower and Middle Palaeolithic hominins responded knowledgably and flexibly to the specific material constraints of particular places at particular points in time. Moreover, it emphasises that understanding particular assemblages entails relocating this material within its landscape context - effectively, looking from lithic artefacts and scatters to reconstructing early human lifeways. Significant outcomes of this research include the identification of the earliest evidence for a hominin presence in Syria (~1 mya), the technological repertoires associated with these populations, the nature of, and the factors responsible for. Lower and Middle Palaeolithic technological variability, and the behaviours associated with Lower and Middle Palaeolithic hominins. The results of the research have wide-ranging and profound implications for understanding the earlier Palaeolithic record of Syria and the wider Near East. In particular, it demonstrates that many fundamental assumptions regarding the nature and meaning of technological and behavioural variability in the Near East require re-assessing

Calibration of BVRI Photometry for the Wide Field Channel of the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys

We present new observations of two Galactic globular clusters, PAL4 and PAL14, using the Wide-Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and reanalyze archival data from a third, NGC2419. We matched our photometry of hundreds of stars in these fields from the ACS images to existing, ground-based photometry of faint sequences which were calibrated on the standard BVRI system of Landolt. These stars are significantly fainter than those generally used for HST calibration purposes, and therefore are much better matched to supporting precision photometry of ACS science targets. We were able to derive more accurate photometric transformation coefficients for the commonly used ACS broad-band filters compared to those published by Sirianni, et al. (2005), owing to the use of a factor of several more calibration stars which span a greater range of color. We find that the inferred transformations from each cluster individually do not vary significantly from the average, except for a small offset of the photometric zeropoint in the F850LP filter. Our results suggest that the published prescriptions for the time-dependent correction of CCD charge-transfer efficiency appear to work very well over the ~3.5 yr interval that spans our observations of PAL4 and PAL14 and the archived images of NGC2419.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS

The adoption and use of Through-life Engineering Services within UK Manufacturing Organisations

Manufacturing organisations seek ever more innovative approaches in order to maintain and improve their competitive position within the global market. One such initiative that is gaining significance is ‘through-life engineering services’. These seek to adopt ‘whole life’ service support through the greater understanding of component and system performance driven by knowledge gained from maintenance, repair and overhaul activities. This research presents the findings of exploratory research based on a survey of UK manufacturers who provide through-life engineering services. The survey findings illustrate significant issues to be addressed within the field before the concept becomes widely accepted. These include a more proactive approach to maintenance activities based on real-time responses; standardisation of data content, structure, collection, storage and retrieval protocols in support of maintenance; the development of clear definitions, ontologies and a taxonomy of through-life engineering services in support of the service delivery system; lack of understanding of component and system performance due to the presence of ‘No Fault Found’ events that skew maintenance metrics and the increased use of radio-frequency identification technology in support of maintenance data acquisition