Deploying rural community wireless mesh networks

Inadequate Internet access is widening the digital divide between town and countryside, degrading both social communication and business advancements in rural areas. Wireless mesh networking can provide an excellent framework for delivering broadband services to such areas. With this in mind, Lancaster University deployed a WMN in the rural village of Wray over a three-year period, providing the community with Internet service that exceeds many urban offerings. The project gave researchers a real-world testbed for exploring the technical and social issues entailed in deploying WMNs in the heart of a small community

Public health training in Europe. Development of European masters degrees in public health.

BACKGROUND: Changing political and economic relations in Europe mean that there are new challenges for public health and public health training. There have been several attempts to develop training at the master's level in public health which is focused on meeting the new needs. These have failed due to being too inflexible to allow participation by schools of public health. METHODS: A project funded by the European Union involving public health trainers has developed a new approach which allows participating schools to retain their national differences and work within local rules and traditions, but which aims to introduce the European dimension into public health training. This paper reports the conclusions of this project. CONCLUSIONS: A network of schools wishing to develop European Master's degrees is being established and other schools offering good quality programmes will be able to join

A global community of practice: creating resource centres that build capacity in local WASH service provision

Since 2001, the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) has explicitly promoted the concept of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector Resource Centres to provide sector capacity building products and services. These centres operate mainly at national level, but focus capacity building at the decentralised WASH governance level, including local authorities and service providers. Products and services centre on providing better overview, access and use of existing WASH information and knowledge to improve the provision of services. The IRC Resource Centre Development Programme (RCD), which ran from 2001 to 2006, was designed as a partnership for joint learning and sharing in capacity building, and was implemented in 18 countries. To support the initiative, a global community of practice on resource centre development was created. In IRC’s current work, the resource centre development concept is carried forward in its six regional programmes. This paper presents the experiences of the global RCD community of practice in providing support to local WASH action

Palaiphatos, A Rationalist of the Fourth Century B.C. Intono all' opuscolo di Palefato de Incredibilibus. Considerazioni di Niccola Festa. Firenze—Roma: 1890.

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The Campaign of Artemisium and Thermopylæ

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Geronimo Creek Outfall Replacement, The City of Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas: An Intensive Cultural Resource Survey

The City of Seguin (City) is proposing to construct a new, replacement effluent outfall for the Geronimo Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City also proposes to abandon the existing outfall structure and existing pipeline in place. The proposed project will involve the extension of an existing 24 inch (in) (61 centimeters [cm]) wastewater treatment plant effluent line for a length of 535 feet (ft.) (163 meters [m]). The line will terminate at a new outfall structure located on the east bank of Geronimo Creek, approximately 260 ft. (79 m) from its confluence with the Guadalupe River. Two new manholes will be constructed along the line at major bends in the line. Line depths will range from 9 to 28 ft. (2.7 to 8.5 m). A 40 ft. (12.2 m) wide permanent easement is proposed for the line, along with a 30 ft. (9.1 m) wide temporary easementfor construction purposes. The extent of the outfallstructure should be fully within the 40 ft. (12.2 m) wide easement. The area of potential effect (APE) is defined as an area measuring 535 ft. (163 m) in length, and 70 ft. (21.3 m) in width for a total of 0.85 acres, and generally follows the eastern bank of Geronimo Creek. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) reviewed the proposed development plans and determined that a cultural resource survey was necessary for this City proposed project as the area has potential for cultural resources. The City contracted with TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) of Austin to conduct the intensive cultural resource survey of their proposed undertaking/APE. TRC archeologists consulted the THC Archeological Sites Atlas (THC Atlas), a database that contains previously documented cultural resource sites and locations of previously conducted archeological surveys, prior to the field investigations. A 1 mi. (1.6 km) radius search around the APE revealed one previously recorded cultural resource site, 41GU21. This prehistoric site is on a high terrace just west of Geronimo Creek and has been extensively disturbed during modern housing construction and is considered ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). No previous cultural resources surveys have been conducted in the vicinity of the APE. Southwest of the APE and beyond the 1 mi. (1.6 km) radius was a Texas Department of Transportation survey conducted in 2007 by Moore Consulting, Inc. along Farm-to-Market road 477. No cultural resources were recorded in that linear investigation. On October 14 and 15, 2014, Mike Quigg, a TRC archeologists of the Planning, Permitting, and Licensing Practice of TRC’s office in Austin, conducted an intensive cultural resource survey along the 535 ft. (163 m) length of proposed APE. This included a 100 percent pedestrian survey, plus the mechanical excavation of four backhoe trenches (BT) within the APE to determine the presence/absence of any potential cultural resources within the APE. One deeply buried prehistoric site of potential significance was identified in two trenches (BTs 1 and 2) on the upper terrace along the APE. No cultural materials were recovered from two trenches (BTs 3 and 4) dug into the APE in the lower terrace. No historic structures were in the proposed APE. TRC recommends avoidance of the potentially significant, deep stratified prehistoric site. If the site cannot be avoided then TRC recommends further testing to assess the sites significance, and the potential to yield significant information important in prehistory, either locally, regionally or nationally as per its legal obligations under existing state guidelines. The City of Seguin reviewed the draft report, the archeological findings, and recommendations by TRC archeologists, and sought an alternate route for the proposed sewer line to avoid impact to cultural resource site 41GU168. The City and its engineers agreed to an alternate reroute satisfactory with the landowner that avoids the upper terrace The City of Seguin reviewed the draft report, the archeological findings, and recommendations by TRC archeologists, and sought an alternate route for the proposed sewer line to avoid impact to cultural resource site 41GU168. The City and its engineers agreed to an alternate reroute satisfactory with the landowner that avoids the upper terrace and the archeological site altogether. This proposed reroute successfully avoids and preserves deeply buried prehistoric site 41GU168 in place. TRC now recommends no further cultural resource investigation following the new proposed sewer line location

Capacity building and innovations through joint learning: experiences with communities of practice and learning alliances

Capacity building and innovations through joint learning: experiences with communities of practice and learning alliance

A framework for use in modelling the modal choice decision making process in North West England’s Atlantic Gateway

The task of producing a generic model of the modal choice decision making process is a challenging one. Modal choice is strongly influenced by the infrastructure limitations and geographical constraints of the area in which the decision is being made. With this in mind, addressing modal choice on an individual basis for each region may be the optimal solution. This is the approach adopted in this paper. The creation of a modal choice model is a multistage process of which this paper addresses the first stage, the production a framework of the decision making process. Firstly, a number of criteria that are commonly used in modal choice models are identified. Then a number of gaps in the criteria utilized in previous papers are established. Subsequently, the method used to produce a framework of the decision making process within North West England’s Atlantic Gateway is outlined. Through consultation with transport industry experts in North West England, an initial list of sixty eight papers was reduced to thirty six that were considered to be of specific relevance to modern day freight transportation within their region. The criteria used in each of these papers were then, along with further industry input, used to create the foundation on which a modal choice framework specific to the Atlantic Gateway could be built. A greater understanding of what influences modal choice within this region will allow informed decisions to be made by policy makers on how to more efficiently utilize the available modes of freight transport. Having established this, future work can then go on to build upon these findings. This paper recommends that future work is performed to establish the weights of each criteria and sub-criteria within the framework. This should then be followed by establishing industry’s perceptions of the best and worst alternatives for moving freight within the Atlantic Gateway

Big Hole (41TV2161): Two Stratigraphically Isolated Middle Holocene Components in Travis County, Texas Volume I

During April and May 2006, an archeological team from the Cultural Resources Section of the Planning, Permitting and Licensing Practice of TRC Environmental Corporation’s (TRC) Austin office conducted geoarcheological documentation and data recovery excavations at prehistoric site 41TV2161 (CSJ: 0440-06-006). Investigations were restricted to a 70 centimeter (cm) thick target zone between ca. 220 and 290 cm below surface (bs) on the western side of site 41TV2161 – the Big Hole site in eastern Travis County, Texas. This cultural investigation was necessary under the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the implementing regulations of 36CRF Part 800 and the Antiquities Code of Texas (Texas Natural Resource Code, Title 9, Chapter 191 as amended) to recover a sample of the significant cultural materials prior to destruction by planned construction of State Highway 130 (SH 130). The latter by a private construction firm – Lone Star Infrastructure. This necessary data recovery was for Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Environmental (ENV) Affairs Division under a Scientific Services Contract No. 577XXSA003 (Work Authorization No. 57701SA003). Over the years since the original award, multiple work authorizations between TxDOT and TRC were implemented and completed towards specific aspects of the analyses and reporting. The final analyses and report were conducted under contract 57-3XXSA004 (Work Authorization 57-311SA004). All work was under Texas Antiquities Committee Permit No. 4064 issued by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) to J. Michael Quigg. Initially, an archeological crew from Hicks & Company encountered site 41TV2161 during an intensive cultural resource inventory conducted south of Pearce Lane along the planned construction zone of SH 130 in the fall of 2005. Following the initial site discovery, archeologists expanded their investigations to the west across the SH 130 right-of-way, and completed excavation of 10 backhoe trenches, 13 shovel tests, and 11 test units at site 41TV2161. The investigations encountered at least seven buried cultural features and 1,034 artifacts, some in relatively good context. The survey and testing report to TxDOT presented their findings and recommendations (Campbell et al. 2006). The ENV Affairs Division of TxDOT and the THC reviewed the initial findings and recommendations, and determined site 41TV2161 was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and as State Antiquities Landmark as the proposed roadway development was to directly impact this important site and further excavations were required. Subsequently, TRC archeologists led by Paul Matchen (Project Archeologist) and J. Michael Quigg (Principal Investigator) initiated data recovery excavations through the mechanical-removal of between 220 and 250 cm of sediment from a 30-by-40 meter (m) block area (roughly 3,000 m3). This was conducted to allow hand-excavations to start just above the deeply buried, roughly 70 cm thick targeted zone of cultural material. Mechanical stripping by Lone Star Infrastructure staff created a large hole with an irregular bottom that varied between 220 and 260 cmbs. To locate specific areas to initiate hand-excavations within the mechanically stripped area, a geophysical survey that employed ground penetrating radar (GPR) was conducted by Tiffany Osburn then with Geo-Marine in Plano, Texas. Over a dozen electronic anomalies were detected through the GPR investigation. Following processing, data filtering, and assessment, Osburn identified and ranked the anomalies for investigation. The highest ranked anomalies (1 through 8) were thought to have the greatest potential to represent cultural features. Anomalies 1 through 6 were selected and targeted through hand-excavations of 1-by-1 m units that formed continuous excavation blocks of various sizes. Blocks were designated A, B, C, D, E, and F. The type, nature, quantity, and context of encountered cultural materials in each block led the direction and expansion of each excavation block as needed. In total, TRC archeologists hand-excavated 38.5 m3 (150 m2) from a vertically narrow target zone within this deep, multicomponent and stratified prehistoric site. Hand-excavation in the two largest Blocks, B and D (51 m2 and 62 m2 respectively), revealed two vertically separate cultural components between roughly 220 and 290 cmbs. The younger component was restricted to Block B and yielded a Bell/Andice point and point base, plus a complete Big Sandy point. These points were associated with at least eight small burned rock features, one cluster of ground stone tools, limited quantities of lithic debitage, few formal chipped and ground stone tools, and a rare vertebrate faunal assemblage. Roughly 20 to 25 cm below the Bell/Andice component in Block B and across Block D was a component identified by a single corner-notched Martindale dart point. This point was associated with a scattered burned rocks, three charcoal stained hearth features, scattered animal, bird, and fish bones, mussel shells, and less than a dozen formal chipped and ground stone tools. Both identified components contained cultural materials in good stratigraphic context with high spatial integrity. Significant, both were radiocarbon dated by multiple charcoal samples to a narrow 200-year period between 5250 and 5450 B.P. during the middle Holocene. With exception of the well-preserved faunal assemblages, perishable materials were poorly preserved in the moist silty clay loam. Charcoal lacked structure and was reduced to dark stains. Microfossils (e.g., phytoliths and starch gains) were present, although in very limited numbers and deteriorated conditions. The four much smaller Blocks (A, C, E, and F) yielded various quantities of cultural material and features, but these blocks also lacked sufficient charcoal dates and diagnostic artifacts Those artifacts and samples were left unassigned and analyzed separately from the Bell/Andice and Martindale components. The two well-defined components in Blocks B and D are the focus of this technical report. The components provide very significant data towards understanding rare and poorly understood hunter-gatherer populations during late stages of the Altithermal climate period. This final report builds upon the interim report submitted to TxDOT (Quigg et al. 2007) that briefly described the methods, excavations, preliminary findings, initial results from six feasibility studies, and proposed an initial research design for data analyses. Context and integrity of the cultural materials in the two identified components was excellent. This rare circumstance combined with detailed artifact analyses, solid documentation of their ages through multiple radiocarbon dates, and multidisciplinary approach to analyses, allowed significant insights and contributions concerning the two populations involved. Results provide a greater understanding of human behaviors during a rarely identified time in Texas Prehistory. The cultural materials and various collected samples were temporarily curated at TRC’s Austin laboratory. Following completion of analyses and acceptance of this final report, the artifacts, paper records, photographs, and electronic database were permanently curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS) at Texas State University in San Marcos