Contingency Planning Amidst a Pandemic

Proper prior planning prevents pitifully poor performance: The purpose of this research is to address mitigation approaches - disaster recovery, contingency planning, and continuity planning - and their benefits as they relate to university operations during a worldwide pandemic predicated by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The most relevant approach pertaining to the University’s needs and its response to the Coronavirus pandemic will be determined and evaluated in detail

To care or not to care - reflections on the ethics of blended learning in times of disruption

The recent student protests in South African Higher Education have highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of blended/online learning in higher education. This paper describes two lecturers’ attempts at continuing teaching online during the 2016 campus closure at a large University of Technology in South Africa. Using Tronto’s Ethics of Care lens and in particular her moral characteristics of care, namely attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness and solidarity, we reflect on the ethics of our practices when moving towards more open educational practices. Recommendations on academic staff development that promotes ethical open practices conclude the paper

Progress report on a new search for free e/3 quarks in the cores of 10(15) - 10(16) eV air showers

The Leeds 3 sq m Wilson cloud chamber is being used in a new search for free e/3 quarks close to the axes of 10 to the 15th power - 10 to the 16th power eV air showers. A ratio trigger circuit is used to detect the incidence of air shower cores; the position of the shower center and the axis direction are determined from photographs of current-limited spark chambers. It is thus possible, for the first time, to know where we have looked for quarks in air showers and to select for scanning only those cloud chamber photographs where we have good evidence that the shower axis was close to the chamber. 250 g/sq cm of lead/concrete absorber above the cloud chamber serve to reduce particle densities and make a quark search possible very close to the shower axes. The current status of the search is given

Biodegradation of Crude Oil Polluted Soil by Co-Composting with Agricultural Wastes and Inorganic Fertilizer

Pollution of the environment by petroleum products is inevitable due to oil production,   transportation and distribution activities.   The present study is aimed at examining the extent of bioremediation that can be achieved in crude oil polluted soil after supplementing with organic manure (poultry droppings and goat dung); inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15) and saw dust respectively. A bioremediation study was carried out on soil experimentally polluted with Bonny Light crude oil by supplementation with organic and inorganic nutrients (poultry manure, goat dung, saw dust and NPK fertilizer). The efficacy of the treatments was monitored for 112days by the measurement of total hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria load and some physico-chemical parameters. The polluted soil (Control) sample had mean bacterial counts of 8.8x104, 9.0x104, 9.2´104, 9.9x104 and 7.6x104 cfu/g respectively. Sample treated with NPK fertilizer had mean bacterial counts of 4.4x104, 4.6x104, 4.7x104, 4.9x104 and 5.2x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively; sample treated with poultry manure had mean bacterial counts of 1.6x104, 1.8x104, 2.0x104, 2.4x104 and 2.7x104 cfu/g on days 0, 28,56,84 and 112 respectively; the saw dust treated sample had mean bacterial counts of 2.0x104, 2.3x104, 2.7x104, 2.9x104 and 3.0x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively while that treated with goat dung had mean bacterial counts of 9.3x104, 9.5x104, 9.6x104, 9.8x104and 9.9x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively.  There were differences in the physico-chemical analyses from the diverse samples. After statistical analysis (P£0.05) there was a significant difference between the different treated samples from the control. The results suggest that nutrient supplementation would be effective in the remediation of crude oil polluted soils. The potentials of various treatment options for the bioremediation of crude oil polluted soils seems to hold the most immediate solution especially for use in areas that would be adversely affected by physical or other removal methods. In this study, the reduction of oil in the treated samples is evident, polluted samples supplemented with fertilizer and poultry manure respectively proved to be the best options during the 112 days study period. This study shows that those organic supplements containing nitrogen and phosphorus have great potentials for the remediation of soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon within a reasonable time. Keywords: Bioremediation, Crude Oil Polluted Soil, Organic Manure (poultry droppings and goat dung); Inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15), Saw dust

Design of a videogame to explore morality

A number of video games involve moral narratives or require the player to make moral decisions and research from psychologists has helped to understand the effects video game content can have on how individuals behave. Recent research has started to examine the role of morality in video games: however, there are many inconsistencies in the findings. We propose that some of these inconsistencies could be due to using commercial video games for research purposes, which contain biases such as familiarity with the game and favourite characters. The process of playing video games requires consideration of Human Computer Interaction (HCI); i.e., how the game is designed and then how it is received by the player. The aim of this poster is to highlight the work being conducted to design a game in order to investigate how moral decisions are made in video games. The design of video games usually draws on an understanding of HCI to produce play that is entertaining and engaging for the player. The game development process in this research draws on a fusion of psychology and HCI, and by drawing on theories of morality the design of the game will be grounded in psychology, as well as entertainment. Through fusing video game design principles, HCI and psychology, this work is novel in terms of a methodological as well as theoretical contribution to the area

Details of a scientific approach to information systems, Courant Symp. in Data Base Systems

are the optimal strategy for the usage considered. If it is assumed now that all q s = 0 (i.e. there is no querying to the IPS) then it is clear that no indexing path is profitable. Rule 4 If only queries and no maintenance are performed then all the candidate indexing paths are included in the optimal strategy whereas if maintenance only is done, no indexing path appears in the IPS. Conclusions A file designer who cannot determine the effects of each alternative decision is bound to make subjective or intuitive design judgements instead of objective ones. The properties and rules stated (a) provide the means to improve the performance of IPS by expanding the current spectrum of alternative indexing paths examined prior to making any implementation decision, and (b) provide for increased confidence in the decision made. In Book review A Programming Metholodology in Compiler Construction Part I: Concepts by J. Lewi, K. De Vlaminck, J. Huens and M. Huybrechts, 1979; 308 pages. (North-Holland, $41.50) In the late 1950s the task of compiler construction was considered a major undertaking. The first FORTRAN compiler, for example, took 18 man-years to implement (Backus et al, 1957). Now, in the late 1970s, such a task is considered a reasonable computer science student project. The factors that have led to this over the last twenty years are (a) the comprehension of the organisation and modular design of the compilation process, (b) the development of systematic techniques for handling the majority of the important tasks that occur during compilation and (c) the construction of software tools that assist in the implementation of compilers and compiler components. Implicit in all these three developments is the closing of the gap between theory and practice. This book is the first part of a twopart description of an environment utilising a completely closed gap. Part I introduces the basic theoretical models whilst part 2 will consider the more practical aspects of the engineering of the environment (namely the language implementation laboratory [LILA] [transducer] programs from the associated syntax. As such, each section is the logical progression of the previous and the methodology used in each section is a reflection of the methodology of the previous section. Hence the book is structurally pleasing and easy to read. In conclusion, the book is ideally suited to the software engineer who is actively involved in the application of language theory to compiler construction (or the construction of any systems softwar