North Tyneside Printing Sector Training Needs Analysis

The printing sector in this region has a proportionately low level of employment compared to the UK as a whole. North Tyneside provides the location for some 36 print-based firms, which account for only 11% of Tyne & Wear’s total print employment. However, this survey indicates that the official data significantly under-estimates the employment size of the sector in North Tyneside

Exploring the use of Controlled English for communication with ACT-R agents

Research is being undertaken into sense-making by collaborative agents, based upon a cognitive framework of human behaviour, ACT-R, together with communication between the agents. We explore the use of Controlled English for this purpos

On-line multiobjective automatic control system generation by evolutionary algorithms

Evolutionary algorithms are applied to the on- line generation of servo-motor control systems. In this paper, the evolving population of controllers is evaluated at run-time via hardware in the loop, rather than on a simulated model. Disturbances are also introduced at run-time in order to pro- duce robust performance. Multiobjective optimisation of both PI and Fuzzy Logic controllers is considered. Finally an on-line implementation of Genetic Programming is presented based around the Simulink standard blockset. The on-line designed controllers are shown to be robust to both system noise and ex- ternal disturbances while still demonstrating excellent steady- state and dvnamic characteristics

The Victorian gambling study: a longitudinal study of gambling and health in Victoria, 2008–2012

The Victorian gambling study is a longitudinal study of gambling and health in Victoria conducted between 2008 and 2012. This study is the only large-scale, general population, longitudinal gambling study conducted in Australia. Key findings Importantly, this study suggests problem gambling may be a long term condition and that relapse is common, indicating that long term support and treatment is required. The study also shows people at moderate risk of developing problems with gambling should be targeted with prevention and intervention programs.   This study deepens our understanding of gambling and provides valuable insights into problem gambling that informs all of the foundation’s programs and services. The study looked at: changes in gambling behaviour over time  the relationship between gambling and health and other social and economic factors  evidence about what factors cause some people to gamble excessively and what factors might help such people to recover  The study will help inform the foundation’s development of intervention, prevention and treatment options for people who have a problem with their gambling. Four waves of data collection have included: a baseline survey of 15,000 randomly selected members of the Victorian population (2008) wave two follow up data collection from 5,003 of the baseline participants (2009) wave three follow up data collection from 5,620 of the baseline participants (2010-11) wave four follow up data collection from 3,701 of the baseline participants (2011-12)

UK open access life cycle

In the centre circle, we have used the 7 stages of the publishing process as described by Neil Jacobs (Jisc), this is followed by institutional processes – of course not all institutions will have all of these processes up and running, e.g. we don’t all have a CRIS. We then included publisher services that directly impact upon the work of the open access team and also Jisc OA services. We then went on to map Jisc OA and above campus services to the life cycle – doing this we immediately found an issue with Publication Router, which is why we have included it twice, once where it currently affects the life cycle and once where we think it should sit – at point of acceptance. Finally, we added the 6 sections of OAWAL showing where we think that fits with the life cycle

Fermi distribution of semicalssical non-eqilibrium Fermi states

When a classical device suddenly perturbs a degenerate Fermi gas a semiclassical non-equilibrium Fermi state arises. Semiclassical Fermi states are characterized by a Fermi energy or Fermi momentum that slowly depends on space or/and time. We show that the Fermi distribution of a semiclassical Fermi state has a universal nature. It is described by Airy functions regardless of the details of the perturbation. In this letter we also give a general discussion of coherent Fermi states

The principles of public transport network planning: a review of the emerging literature with select examples

This paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Introduction The governance and management of public transport systems is an essential component of metropolitan planning and urban management. Most metropolitan strategies in Australia and in other jurisdictions presuppose the provision of public transport. Yet there is often a disconnection between transport plans and land-use schemes. Similarly, metropolitan land-use plans that do integrate with transport plans tend to focus on infrastructure rather than service quality and connectivity. A failure to adequately consider the quality of public transport networks in land-use planning analysis has the potential to produce poor planning outcomes in two key ways. First new land-uses may be inadequately served with public transport services, leading to dependence on alternative travel modes, such as cars. Second, the failure to recognise the significance of well-planned local public transport networks may result in the preclusion of some land-use options. This preclusion may relate to the location of land-uses or their design, such as over-provision of carparking. The continuing debate over whether to address suburban cardependence via land-use change or via transport planning is a case in point. And while the arguments in favour of and against land-use change as a means to overcome car dependence are well known in the planning literature. There is a growing if not yet widely appreciated literature that advocates improvements to public transport network planning and coordination as a means of reducing car dependence. The recognition of improved public transport network planning as a means of reducing car dependence is immensely significant because it offers planners an additional or alternative tool for managing urban transport patterns beyond land-use variation or investment in heavy infrastructure. Urban planning practitioners are not yet well served and informed by the broader public transport planning literature on the advantages of public transport network planning. While there is an extensive literature focusing on the economics and engineering of urban public transport systems the planning literature on the practices that contribute to success in public transport network design and operations is relatively poorly documented. There is also very little literature dedicated to public transport network design within Australian cities which are distinguished by highly centralised radial heavy rail networks with bus or tram networks that are well developed in inner urban zones but less so in the outer suburbs. The remainder of this paper has four objectives for transport planning theory and practice. First the paper reviews the literature on public transport network planning principles; next the paper attempts to formulate these principles in practical terms such that they can be applied to line and network design; third the paper considers further dimensions of network planning, including institutional arrangements and transition points in network design. The paper is intended for three audiences. The first is planning scholars who are involved in debates about public transport. The second is strategic policy officials in planning agencies who are involved in the planning and design of public transport networks. The third audience comprises those involved in development processes and who seek insights into the technical components of public transport network planning. Some caveats are appropriate however. The paper is not seeking to justify public transport network planning. The authors consider that the case for dedicated planning is implicit in the assumption that cities should provide good quality public transport to their residents. The wider case in favour of network planning has been successfully advanced elsewhere. Conversely, the paper is not intended as a directly applicable manual of detailed transport planning practice. While it does offer some insights into the practical public transport network planning task such guidance is better provided by Nielsen et al and Vuchic. Instead the paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics for that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Understanding these principles should thus assist urban planners – and urban scholars – to better shape and evaluate urban development processes and patterns