1,455 research outputs found
Adoption and diffusion of no tillage practices in Southern Spain olive groves
No full textThis paper analyses the process of adoption of no tillage in South-eastern Spain’s olive groves. Olive tree groves in South-eastern Spain’s mountainous areas are subject to a high risk of soil erosion, which is the main environmental problem for this crop, and have to incur in high costs of soil conservation. This results in a greater difficulty to comply with the practices required to benefit from both the single payment and agri-environmental schemes. In many high-steeped areas, farmers have opted for non-tillage practices as an alternative to other conservation practices. Using our own data from a survey carried out in 2006 among 215 olive tree farmers from the Granada Province in Southern Spain regarding the adoption of soil conservation and management practices, we model the diffusion process of no tillage practices using several specifications (logistic, Gompertz and exponential). We also estimate an ordered probit model to analyse which socio-economic and institutional factors determine the adoption of no tillage. Our results show that 90% of farmers in the area of study perform no tillage with either localized (21%) or no localized (69%) application of weedicides. The diffusion process of no tillage has been very intense since the middle nineties, and has been based on the interactions among farmers in the area of study rather than in external factors such as EU policies or extension services. Among other relevant factors that positively affect the adoption of no tillage practices in general, such as farm size and irrigation, the probability of a farmer adopting no tillage with non-localized application of weedicides increases when there is a relative that will continue with the farming activity, what causes the farmer to incorporate long term effects in his farming decisions, when the farmer is only a manager or when he bought the farm rather than inherited it (i.e. on more professionalized farms), and with his educational level. These results confirm some findings from previous studies in other nearby areas.Spanish olive groves, soil erosion, no tillage, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use,
Interview with Christopher Gordon Groves (FA 356)
No full textRecorded interview with Christopher Gordon Groves conducted by Michelle Ann (Lowe) Ross and Mark Brown on 6 March 2001. Groves discusses his involvement as director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, his geological efforts, and other cave-science related endeavors. The audio interviews are archived in the Sound Archives
Care, uncertainty and intergenerational ethics
No full textIn an age where issues like climate change and the unintended consequences of technological innovation are high on the ethical and political agenda, questions about the nature and extent of our responsibilities to future generations have never been more important, yet simultaneously so difficult to answer. This book takes a unique approach to the problem by drawing on diverse traditions of thinking about care (including developmental psychology, phenomenology and feminist ethics) to explore the nature and meaning of our relationship with the future. Demonstrating that many influential perspectives on intergenerational ethics, including positions advanced by John Rawls, Brian Barry, and Ulrich Beck are undermined by problems relating to uncertainty, it shows that an approach based on care ethics can confront the uncertain future successfully and give a viable account of the nature and scope of future-oriented responsibilities
Application of shearography and the percussion method for the structural inspection of wall paintings: A case study of St. Christopher in Maria Church, Nisse
No full textStructural delamination in mural paintings is a complex phenomenon and is considered among the most frequent types of damage. In conservation practice, the most common technique to identify structural detachments is the percussion method. Full-field optical techniques based on interferometry, such as shearography, can provide a more scientifically substantiated evaluation of the condition of heterogeneous structures of wall paintings. The empirical nature of the percussion method was observed during the condition assessment of two medieval wall paintings in Maria Church, Nisse, the Netherlands. It can be argued that, to allow the formulation of specific treatment needs for structural delamination in wall paintings, accurate defect mapping and characterisation is needed. The application of shearography was believed to provide a holistic representation of the condition of the structure of the wall painting depicting St. Christopher in Maria Church. Preliminary comparison of the methods involved revealed a degree of matching between results obtained. Discrepancies, i.e. areas deemed extremely vulnerable during percussion testing that were not detected by shearography, are debatably caused by the misinterpretation of the acoustic response during percussion testing or the inability of shearography to detect in depth structural defects. Further research regarding shearography should focus on providing more information about the depth of structurally delaminated areas within the heterogeneous layered structure of wall paintings.Structural Integrity & Composite
Three-dimensional spectral measurements of paint samples using optical coherence tomography
No full textIn this study, we describe a method for measuring the spectral reflectance of a paint layer at both the surface and in the volume of the paint layers. We first present a fringes model which illustrates the possibilities for spectral reconstruction using a Short-Time-Fourier-Transform algorithm. We investigate the remaing percentage errors and identified that there is a strong fluctuation along the wavelength range of the spectrometer. Then, we demonstrate the validity of our approach experimentally by measuring the spectral reflectance of a paint layer using a custom-made visible light optical coherence tomography system. There, we reconstruct the spectral reflectance of a paint layer by probing the surface and a depth range below the surface. Finally, we show the importance to include a wavelength sensitive correction in the reconstruction for taking into account the spectral shape of the light in the reference path of the interferometer. This work is part of the Down To The Ground project, in which the results of the OCT inspection will be used directly by a consortium of technical art historians and conservators.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Structural Integrity & Composite
A surgical review of the priority claims attributed to Abraham Groves (1847–1935)
No full textBackground
The practice of surgery had changed little over millennia when Abraham Groves and William Osler attended medical school together in Toronto, Ontario. The invention of anesthesia sparked such rapid development that by the time of Groves’ and Osler’s deaths, surgical practice resembled the current model. Several priority claims have been attributed to Groves’ life in surgery, including aseptic surgery (1874), suprapubic lithotomy (1878), appendectomy (1883), surgical gloves (1885) and cancer radiotherapy (1903). These claims arise from an autobiography written by Groves at the age of 87 years in 1934.
Methods
The purpose of this paper is to assess these priority claims from a modern surgical perspective. We did a systematic search of contemporary (1873–1934) and modern journals for articles by or about Groves. We searched relevant archives and museums. We reviewed the 1934 autobiography, notes held by descendants, reminiscences by contemporaries and collateral information. We assessed the information not only for priority but also for the development of organized surgical thought.
Results
Groves published frequently throughout his career; thus far we have located 36 papers, almost all of which were published in Canadian journals. He spoke regularly at regional meetings in Ontario. Many medical students apprenticed with him (including his brother, son and grandson), he established a hospital and he founded a school of nursing. His contemporaries published complimentary reminiscences, but no correspondence with his classmate, William Osler, is known. Groves’ priority claims for aseptic surgery, suprapubic lithotomy and radiotherapy are supported by contemporary publications. Groves independently developed an organized surgical system that remains valid today. Priority claims for appendectomy and the use of surgical gloves are entirely consistent with that system.
Conclusion
Although Groves’ impact was reduced by his location and the limited circulation of the journals in which he wrote, he demonstrated a systematic understanding of modern surgery well ahead of his contemporaries
A surgical review of the priority claims attributed to Abraham Groves (1847–1935)
No full textBackground
The practice of surgery had changed little over millennia when Abraham Groves and William Osler attended medical school together in Toronto, Ontario. The invention of anesthesia sparked such rapid development that by the time of Groves’ and Osler’s deaths, surgical practice resembled the current model. Several priority claims have been attributed to Groves’ life in surgery, including aseptic surgery (1874), suprapubic lithotomy (1878), appendectomy (1883), surgical gloves (1885) and cancer radiotherapy (1903). These claims arise from an autobiography written by Groves at the age of 87 years in 1934.
Methods
The purpose of this paper is to assess these priority claims from a modern surgical perspective. We did a systematic search of contemporary (1873–1934) and modern journals for articles by or about Groves. We searched relevant archives and museums. We reviewed the 1934 autobiography, notes held by descendants, reminiscences by contemporaries and collateral information. We assessed the information not only for priority but also for the development of organized surgical thought.
Results
Groves published frequently throughout his career; thus far we have located 36 papers, almost all of which were published in Canadian journals. He spoke regularly at regional meetings in Ontario. Many medical students apprenticed with him (including his brother, son and grandson), he established a hospital and he founded a school of nursing. His contemporaries published complimentary reminiscences, but no correspondence with his classmate, William Osler, is known. Groves’ priority claims for aseptic surgery, suprapubic lithotomy and radiotherapy are supported by contemporary publications. Groves independently developed an organized surgical system that remains valid today. Priority claims for appendectomy and the use of surgical gloves are entirely consistent with that system.
Conclusion
Although Groves’ impact was reduced by his location and the limited circulation of the journals in which he wrote, he demonstrated a systematic understanding of modern surgery well ahead of his contemporaries
Training through drama for work
No full textIl testo in inglese propone l’analisi di quattro personaggi - la Figliastra da Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore di Luigi Pirandello, Callimaco da La Mandragola di Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Becket da Assassinio nella cattedrale di T.S. Eliot e Portia da Il mercante di Venezia di William Shakespeare - per rispondere alla domanda chiave: “Quali spunti possiamo trarre da questi quattro personaggi per applicarli in ambito lavorativo?”
Prendendo spunto da un’ampia gamma di idee, da concetti di training e coaching, il testo propone una prospettiva innovativa sui temi dello sviluppo professionale e personale applicabili nel mondo del lavoro dove la performance - a volte comica, persino tragica - costituisce il fondamento di gran parte delle iniziative.
Le opere scelte appartenendo al canone teatrale europeo sono state già ampiamente analizzate. Eppure, rimangono una straordinaria fonte d’ispirazione e apprendimento. Le idee presentate nel testo costituiscono un punto di vista personale, quindi ogni altra interpretazione è egualmente possibile. Il testo va pertanto considerato come un “passo lungo il cammino” anziché una conclusione allo studio dei testi.
Il volume è corredato da una bibliografia selezionata e da un ampio glossario inglese-italiano, che copre la terminologia dei campi relativi: teatro, management e leadership, sviluppo professionale e personale.This book in English puts forward an analysis of four characters -The Stepdaughter from Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, Callimaco from The Mandragola by Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Becket from Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, and Portia from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare - in answer to the key question ‘What input can these four mavericks offer us as training for the workplace?’
Drawing on a rich pool of ideas, training and coaching concepts, it furnishes an innovative perspective on professional and personal development themes applicable to work where performance - sometimes comic, even tragic - forms the bedrock of most endeavours.
As part of the canon of European drama, the selected pieces have already undergone much inspection and yet remain splendid sources of insight and learning. The ideas expressed here represent a personal viewpoint and different interpretations are equally possible. Accordingly, this book should be considered as a ‘step along the way’ rather than a conclusion to the studies of the texts.
The offering contains a select bibliography and an extensive English-Italian glossary covering the fields of drama, management and leadership, and professional and personal development
Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, 2015, Vol 19, No. 1
No full textQuarterly newsletter of the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections. This issue features stories on the Sherlock Seattle convention (con), reminiscences of former curator Austin J. McLean, the Tin Dispatch Box, and travels to Wisconsin and Missouri.Malec, Andrew; Redmond, Christopher; Sveum, Richard J; McKuras, Julie; Groves, Derham; Johnson, Timothy J. (2015). Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, 2015, Vol 19, No. 1. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/200027
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech on College Campuses
No full textJoin us in welcoming Suzanne Nossel, Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization. Nossel is a leading voice on free expression issues in the United States and globally, writing and being interviewed frequently for national and international media outlets. She is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, which will be available for raffle at this year's Book Raffle event.
For this keynote, Nossel will be in conversation with Robert Groves, Georgetown Provost, who will help to provide the Georgetown context for these issues
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