Hydrographic Products/Services as a Fundamental Component of the e-Navigation Concept of Operation

e-Navigation is a recent initiative aimed at moving traditional maritime navigation towards a connected digital environment. Defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as “the harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means to enhance birth-to-birth navigation and related services, for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment”, e-Navigation is not a new system of equipment but more an operational concept. Three significant outcomes are envisioned: 1) Shipboard navigation systems will benefit from the integration of own ship sensors, supporting information, standard user interface, and a comprehensive system for managing guard zones and alerts. Core elements include high-integrity electronic positioning, use of ENCs, and an analysis capability to reduce human error. 2) The management of vessel traffic and related services from ashore will be enhanced through better provision, coordination, and exchange of comprehensive data in formats that will be more easily understood and utilized. 3) A communications infrastructure designed to enable authorised seamless information transfer onboard ship, between ships, between ship and shore and between shore authorities. This paper discusses the main hydrographic-related components, implications for further standards development, some challenges/opportunities, and the role that IHO and others in the hydrographic community should play to facilitate the development and implementation of eNavigation

The Impact Of Technology Trust On The Acceptance Of Mobile Banking Technology Within Nigeria

With advancement in the use of information technology seen as a key factor in economic development, developed countries are increasingly reviewing traditional systems, in various sectors such as education, health, transport and finance, and identifying how they may be improved or replaced with automated systems. In this study, the authors examine the role of technology trust in the acceptance of mobile banking in Nigeria as the country attempts to transition into a cashless economy. For Nigeria, like many other countries, its economic growth is linked, at least in part, to its improvement in information technology infrastructure, as well as establishing secure, convenient and reliable payments systems. Utilising the Technology Acceptance Model, this study investigates causal relationships between technology trust and other factors influencing user’s intention to adopt technology; focusing on the impact of seven factors contributing to technology trust. Data from 1725 respondents was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and the results showed that confidentiality, integrity, authentication, access control, best business practices and non-repudiation significantly influenced technology trust. Technology trust showed a direct significant influence on perceived ease of use and usefulness, a direct influence on intention to use as well as an indirect influence on intention to use through its impact on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness showed significant influence on consumer’s intention to adopt the technology. With mobile banking being a key driver of Nigeria’s cashless economy goals, this study provides quantitative knowledge regarding technology trust and adoption behaviour in Nigeria as well as significant insight on areas where policy makers and mobile banking vendors can focus strategies engineered to improve trust in mobile banking and increase user adoption of their technology

Teachers’ Accounts of Developing Mathematical Resilience in the Classroom

This paper reports on a professional development programme in mathematical resilience, and the experiences of the teachers taking part. The programme introduced the teachers to the construct of mathematical resilience, and explained how it was relevant and valuable to the teaching and learning of mathematics. The participating teachers were encouraged to apply the principles of mathematical resilience, and to reflect on their actions through conducting a small-scale action research project in their own school environment. What follows in this paper are examples of how mathematical resilience was deployed in these schools, alongside some examples of the changes reported by the teachers in their own practice and that of their students

Comment: ‘Knock, Knock: Where is the Evidence for Dangerous Human-Caused Global Warming?’ by Robert M. Carter

Carter (2008) notes that for climate change “sound science [sic] understanding is an essential prerequisite to any meaningful economic analysis”. Unfortunately his paper contains serious and systematic errors and misrepresentations about the causes and potential consequences of climate change, the overall effect of which is to convey an inaccurate and misleading impression of the scientific evidence. Indeed, the overall tone of Carter (2008) is one of a polemic rather than an objective analysis of the facts. An itemisation of all the inaccuracies in Carter (2008) would require a great deal of space, so this paper identifies and corrects some of the most important errors.global warming, human-caused global warming, climate change, economics of climate change, rationalist views on climate change, sceptical views on climate change

Editorial

Frances Bell and Rhona Sharpe became co-editors of ALT-J in September 2007, experiencing generous support from the previous team of editors, Grainne Conole, Martin Oliver and Jane Seale, during the handover period. With the support of the Editorial Board and ALT's new Director of Development, Mark van Harmelen and Publications Officer, Louise Ryan, we have a great opportunity to build on the many strengths introduced at ALT-J by the previous editors. My first venture was to commission a special issue on Learning and Teaching in Immersive Virtual Worlds, with Maggi Savin-Baden and Robert Ward as co-editors. Projects in immersive virtual worlds were proliferating, raising questions about the opportunities for learning offered by these new spaces, and how students and academics would respond to them. There was a place for the publication of early findings, and theories to guide and inform ongoing research. Are immersive virtual worlds 'disruptive technologies' (Bower and Christensen 1995) in education? To answer this question, we need to pay close attention to their use in new applications, rather than in re-creations of traditional learning activities online. Learning and teaching in Immersive Virtual Worlds This special issue comprises a number of exciting initiatives and developments that begin to put issues of learning in immersive virtual worlds centre stage. Although learning through specific types of serious games has been popular for some years, the pedagogical value of immersive worlds is currently not only inchoate but also under-researched. Whilst several of the articles here are not based on empirical research, what they do offer is new ways of considering the pedagogical purposes of using these kinds of digital spaces. The difficulty with the perception of immersive virtual worlds is that there is often a sense that they are seen as being dislocated from physical spaces, and yet they are not. Web spaces are largely viewed as necessarily freer locations where there is a sense that it is both possible and desirable to 'do things differently'. The consequence is that digital pedagogies tend to be, or at least feel, less ordered than much of face-to-face learning, forcing a reconsideration of how learning spaces in digital contexts are to be constituted (for further discussion on this see Savin-Baden 2007). Immersive virtual worlds demand that we confront the possibility of new types of visuality, literacy, pedagogy, representations of knowledge, communication and embodiment. Thus, as Pelletier has argued, “technologies are systems of cultural transmission, creating new contexts within which existing social interests express themselves” (2005, 12). Yet there remain conflicts about whether “pedagogy must lead the technology”, a stance Cousin (2005) believes has become something of a mantra. Although this position would seem plausible and convincing to adopt, it denies the difficulties inherent in putting technology in the lead. It seems that many of the difficulties about the reflexive relationship between pedagogy and technology stem from a failure to ask what might appear to be some straightforward questions, such as: * What do we mean by pedagogy in immersive virtual worlds? * For what is the learning technology to be used? * Is it learning technology, teaching technology, technology to enhance teaching and learning, or something else? * What is the relationship between the type of pedagogy to be adopted and the type of pedagogy currently being used? Cousin (2005) also points out that technology is not just lying there waiting for pedagogues to put to good use - but it might be that that is how some innovators see the situation. Knowledge to go, knowledge on the move is embodied by open source systems and in particular Web 2.0 technologies, with their emphasis on user-generated content. Yet what remains problematic is students' engagement with immersive worlds: there seems to be a marked contrast between how such spaces are used by students within the university and what they do outside formal learning environments. We hope that through this special issue some of the queries and questions raised here will promote engagement in ongoing debates that begin to move forward both the arguments and practices, in interesting and innovative ways. References 1. Bower, J. L. andChristensen, C. M. (1995) Disruptive technologies: Catching the wave. Harvard Business Review pp. 43-53. 2. Cousin, G. Land, R. and Bayne, S. (eds) (2005) Learning from cyberspace. Education in cyberspace pp. 117-129. RoutledgeFalmer , Abingdon. 3. Pelletier, C. Land, R. andBayne, S. (eds) (2005) New technologies, new identities: The university in the informational age. Education in cyberspace pp. 11-25. RoutledgeFalmer , Abingdon. 4. Savin-Baden, M. Learning spaces. Creating opportunities for knowledge creation in academic life McGraw Hill , Maidenhead

Real Option Pricing in Mixed-use Development Projects

The application of real options theory to commercial real estate has developed rapidly during the last 15 Years. In particular, several pricing models have been applied to value real options embedded in development projects. In this study we use a case study of a mixed use development scheme and identify the major implied and explicit real options available to the developer. We offer the perspective of a real market application by exploring different binomial models and the associated methods of estimating the crucial parameter of volatility. We include simple binomial lattices, quadranomial lattices and demonstrate the sensitivity of the results to the choice of inputs and method.

Business cycle indexes: does a heap of data help?

Business cycle indexes are used to get a timely and frequent description of the state of the economy and its likely development in the near future. This paper discusses two methods for constructing business cycle indexes, the traditional NBER method and a recently developed dynamic factor model, and compares these methods for the euro area. The results suggest that a reliable indicator can be constructed from a limited number of series that are selected using economic logic.

IHO S-100: The New Hydrographic Geospatial Standard for Marine Data and Information

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organization established in 1921 to support the safety of navigation, and to contribute to the protection of the marine environment. One of its primary roles is to establish and maintain appropriate standards to assist in the proper and efficient use of hydrographic data and information. This paper describes the new IHO Geospatial Standard for Hydrographic Data to be known as S-100, together with the Geospatial Information Infrastructure (GII) that is in the course of development and implementation by the IHO. In both cases, details have yet to be finalised – for example, the first draft of S-100 – IHO Geospatial Standard for Hydrographic Data was only released for stakeholder comment in March 2008 and S-100 is not expected to be an active standard until at least 2009 or 2010. Nevertheless, the concepts and supporting organisational framework behind the GII are already beginning to take shape. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to what is happening and thereby promote comment and the active involvement of both existing and potential stakeholders in the development and implementation of both the IHO GII and S-100

Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss mode generation and interferometry for gravitational wave detectors

We report on the first experimental demonstration of higher-order Laguerre-Gauss (LGpl) mode generation and interferometry using a method scalable to the requirements of gravitational wave (GW) detection. GW detectors which use higher-order LGpl modes will be less susceptible to mirror thermal noise, which is expected to limit the sensitivity of all currently planned terrestrial detectors. We used a diffractive optic and a mode-cleaner cavity to convert a fundamental LG00 Gaussian beam into an LG33 mode with a purity of 98%. The ratio between the power of the LG00 mode of our laser and the power of the LG33 transmitted by the cavity was 36%. By measuring the transmission of our setup using the LG00, we inferred that the conversion efficiency specific to the LG33 mode was 49%. We illuminated a Michelson interferometer with the LG33 beam and achieved a visibility of 97%.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure