The role of forestry in flood management in a Welsh upland catchment

Mechanisms of flooding are being investigated in the mountainous catchment of the Mawddach in the Snowdonia National Park of North Wales, where an estimated 300-year maximal flood event in 2001 caused extensive damage to bridges and roads. Interest has centred on the middle course of the river system, where deeply incised valleys cut through the extensive forest of Coed y Brenin. Investigations are combining field hydrological monitoring with modelling of ground and surface water flows. Forestry plantations, now reaching maturity, are found to have significant moderating effects on flooding downstream: Humid microclimates, resulting from cloud catching on steep Atlantic-facing hillslopes, promote prolific moss growth beneath mature conifers. Deep forest brown earth soils have formed, providing an enhanced water storage and buffering effect during storm events. Clear felling leads to rapid soil erosion, with reversion to thin peaty podsols. Areas of floodplain forestry within the deep valleys impede overbank discharges through generation of lateral turbulence. Models indicate a water depth increase of up to 1m in comparison to grassland floodplain. This represents a significant temporary storage capacity during flood events. Natural broadleaf woodland within the riparian zone stabilises river banks and reduces erosion of periglacial gravel deposits which infill the main valleys. Eroded gravel entering rivers can accumulate downstream, reducing the effectiveness of flood defence embankments.

Dispersal of \u3ci\u3eFenusa Dohrnii\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) From an \u3ci\u3eAlnus\u3c/i\u3e Short-Rotation Forest Plantation

The European alder leafminer, Fenusa dohrnii, is a defoliating insect pest of Alnus in short-rotation forest plantations. A 2-year study was performed to quantify movement from infested stands to uninfested areas. Sticky traps and potted monitor trees were installed at different locations within and at various distances from (0,5, 10, and 20 m) an infested stand to measure adult flight and oviposition activity, respectively. Trap catch and oviposition activity fell off sharply with distance, few insects being trapped or eggs laid at distances of 5 m or greater from the infestation

Quality of Life in Urban Neighborhoods in Costa Rica

This paper considers valuation of amenities in urban neighborhoods and satisfaction with both those neighborhoods and life in general. First, rents are used to estimate neighborhood amenities price in San Jose, which explain 39 percent of the standardized variation of rents. Some districts rank very high in housing characteristics but poorly in neighborhood amenities, while others rank poorly in housing characteristics but high in neighborhood amenities, suggesting that indirect policy measures might reduce inequality in urban areas through improving neighborhood amenities. Second, the paper explores differences in the valuation of amenities by calculating prices in different urban areas. In more sparsely populated urban areas, distance to national parks becomes less important, but distance to primary roads becomes more important. Finally, housing and safety satisfaction represent the key components of life satisfaction.

The Shaker Leaf Song: Solving a Perplexing Puzzle

The Shakers are known for their simplicity of design, especially in their furniture and artifacts. This is also true of their drawings and songs. When they were discovered by Edward Deming and Faith Andrews in the 1930s, the drawings were unknown to the outside world, having been hidden away for many years by Shaker elders and eldresses. Unfortunately, by that time countless drawings had already been discarded by the Shakers. Most Shaker drawings were received during the Era of Manifestations, also known as “Mother’s Work,” between the late 1830s and 1850s. Both Andrews and Patterson believe that many drawings were received during this time and then discarded when the Era of Manifestations had ended. While it remains puzzling why some were discarded and some not, fortunately there are two drawings which have survived and contain music notation within a leaf design. These are termed leaf songs. Both were received in 1839 and were drawn within one month of each other. They are the only known examples of this type of leaf drawing with music

The Design and Synthesis of Biologically Active Organophosphorus Compounds – The Role of a Central Research Laboratory

The properties and benefits offered by incorporating phosphorus into molecules are varied and numerous as shown by the many divisional research programs within Ciba-Geigy in the early eighties. This paper describes how a Central Research Group developed new materials in organophosphorous chemistry and identified new leads for life science applications

Beautifying the Boneyard: The Changing Image of the Cemetery in Nineteenth-Century Ontario

Scant attention has been paid by Canadian historians to the historical study of death. One neglected area is scholarly study of cemeteries -arguably the most durable artifacts of death and death-custom. British and American research suggests that the Victorian creation of large, non-sectarian community cemeteries resulted from health considerations and was entirely an urban phenomenon. Monuments like Boston's Mount Auburn were substantial cultural institutions and tell us much about Victorian society. These so-called "rural cemeteries " were built beyond city limits and evolved in large centres into architec-turally designed "garden" or "park" cemeteries, as well illustrated by Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Surviving records of small-town cemeteries, such as in Norwich. Ontario, show the development of non-sectarian, although often still Protestant, cemeteries which, by upkeep and location, remained an integral part of the community. In urban centres, the beautification movement challenged the sectarian aspect of burial and represented a degree of secularization. These new cemeteries featured the concept of perpetual care and built picturesque chapels so that the entire process of burial could be catered in the setting of a romantic rural sepulchre. Diurnal interaction with death's symbols was thereby ended, with the result that the cemetery park movement contributed to "the dying of death" by the First World War. Résumé Les historiens canadiens n'ont guère effectué jusqu'ici d'études historiques sur la mort. Les cimetières, notamment, qui sont sans doute les manifestations tangibles les plus durables de la mort et des coutumes liées à la mort, ont ainsi été négligés. Des recherches américaines et britanniques donnent à entendre que la création, à l'époque victorienne, de grands cimetières non confession-nels naquit de considérations sanitaires et fut un phénomène exclusivement urbain. Des monuments comme le cimetière /Mount Auburn, à Boston, étaient d'importantes institutions culturelles et nous apprennent beaucoup sur la société victorienne. Ces «cimetières ruraux». qui étaient construits à l'extérieur des villes, devinrent dans les grands centres des «jardins» ou des «parcs» paysagers, comme en témoigne le cimetière Mount Pleasant de Toronto. Nous savons, d'après les archives qui nous sont parvenues, que dans des petites villes, comme Norwich, en Ontario, sont nés des cimetières non confessionnels, mais souvent encore protestants, qui, grâce à leur entretien et à leur emplacement, conservent une place importante dans ces localités. Dans les centres urbains, la tendance à faire de «beaux» cimetières a éliminé en grande partie les barrières confessionnelles et a constitué un pas vers une certaine sécularisation. Dans ces nouveaux cimetières, constamment entretenus et dotés de jolies chapelles, l'enterre-ment avait lien dans un cadre romantique à caractère «rural». Les symboles de la mort ayant disparu. le «cimetière-parc» contribua ainsi, à l'époque de la Première Guerre mondiale, à «la mort de la mort»

Perceived unfairness in appraisal: Engagement and sustainable organizational performance

This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (http://chesterrep.openrepository.com). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - See more at: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/writing/author_rights.htm#sthash.tY84QLVR.dpuf DOI - 10.1108/EMJB-06-2013-0034Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of appraisal systems to sustainable organizational effectiveness. It argues that competitive advantage is increasingly reliant on discretionary effort. As the emphasis of appraisal has shifted from a developmental to a performance focus, perceived unfairness in both procedures and outcomes threatens to undermine commitment and, therefore, sustainable performance. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks, current practices and experiences are examined and future trends considered. Empirical research includes a ten-year study of practising managers and ethnography, questionnaires and interviews in two large organizations. Findings – Appraisal frequently creates actual and perceived injustice in terms of both procedures and rewards. It also generates tensions between managing performance and encouraging engagement. Research limitations/implications – This study indicates that further research in other sectors will contribute to the development of greater understanding of sustainable strategic approaches to HRM. Practical implications – Emphasis on performance in appraisal devalues developmental aspects and sometimes affects employee well-being. Separation of the two through mentorship schemes may help to address the paradox, whereby the performance management element of appraisal undermines rather than enhances organizational effectiveness. Originality/value – The conventional wisdom of the appraisal culture is challenged. We argue it is essential to expand the discourse between performance, justice and ethical value systems if sustainable competitive advantage and well-being are to be achieved

Performance Modeling of Virtualized Custom Logic Computations

Virtualization of custom logic computations (i.e., by sharing a fixed function across distinct data streams) provides a means of reusing hardware resources, particularly when resources are limited. This is common practice in traditional processors where more than one user can share processor resources. In this paper, we virtualize a custom logic block using C-slow techniques to support fine-grain context-switching. We then develop and present an analytic model for several performance measures (throughput, latency, input queue occupancy) for both fine-grained and coarse-grained context switching (to a secondary memory). Next, we calibrate the analytic performance model with empirical measurements. We then validate the model via discrete-event simulation and use the model to predict the performance and develop optimal schedules for virtualized logic computations. We present results for a Taylor series expansion of a cosine function with added feedback and an AES encryption cipher

Teaching managers: Learning, research and workplace practice

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Journal of Management Development ©2010. The definitive version is available at www.emeraldinsight.com.This article explores the way in which professional management programmes are informed by research and workplace practice. The focus is on the areas of motivation, appraisal and the management of change. A longitudinal study using a mixed methods approach was used. Middle and senior managers engaged on professional management programmes were surveyed on workplace practice. Literature reviewed included syllabus guidelines from professional bodies and selected core textbooks. A content analysis revealed that there was a lack of congruence between what is taught to managers and workplace practice. However, research was found to have an impact on teaching and indirectly it influenced individual beliefs if not organisational practice. Conclusions indicate that professional management programmes are still failing to bridge the gap between syllabus content current research and workplace practice. There is little to show that the needs of Business are being satisfied compared to successful models embedded in other professions