996 research outputs found
Open filters in breakwaters with a sand core: Study into the stability of granular geometrically open, hydraulically sand-open filters in breakwaters with a sand core
No full textThesis study into an alternative design for breakwaters made of granular materials like sand and quarry stone. In this design, the breakwater is constructed of a sand core and a layer of large stones directly on top of it, without the traditional filter layers in-between. The single layer of stones serves as one open filter layer that has to reduce the wave induced flow and turbulence well enough to keep the erosion of sand through the filter layer within an acceptable amount. By accepting a controlled amount of erosion and necessity of maintenance, the alternative design can be very cost-effective over the life-span of the structure. In cooperation with Van Oord, one of the world market leaders in dredging and coastal engineering, a research into the applicability of very open filters on sand cores has been initiated at Delft University of Technology. My thesis study is the second consecutive in this larger research that has the goal of finding a good theoretical description of the occurring erosion processes and developing a practical design tool for breakwaters with a very open filter layer on a sand core. The focus of my study is the relation between the wave height, -period and regularity and the amount of erosion occurring with it. Physical model tests for this study have been performed in the long sediment transport flume of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. This flume is equipped with a wave generator that loads the structure with the desired wave spectrum. The results have been analysed for relations between loading and erosion.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
Using and evaluating CASE tools : from software engineering to phenomenology
No full textCASE (Computer-Aided Systems Engineering) is a recent addition to the long line of
"silver bullets" that promise to transform information systems development, delivering
new levels of quality and productivity. CASE is particularly intriguing because
information systems (IS) practitioners spend their working lives applying information
technology (IT) to other people's work, and now they are applying it to themselves.
CASE research to date has been dominated by accounts of tool development,
normative writings (for example practitioner success stories) and surveys recording
IT specialists' perceptions. There have been very few in-depth studies of tool use,
and very few attempts to quantify benefits, therefore the essence of the CASE process
remains largely unexplored, and the views of stakeholders other than the IT specialists
have yet to be heard.
The research presented here addresses these concerns by adopting a hybrid research
approach combining action research, grounded theory and phenoinenology and using
both qualitative and quantitative data in order to tell the story of a system developer's
experience in using CASE tools in three information systems projects for a major UK
car manufacturer over a four year period. The author was the lead developer on all
three projects. Action research is a learning process, the researcher is an explorer.
At the start of this project it was assumed that the tools would be the focus of the
work. As the research progressed it became evident that the tools were but part of
a richer organisational context in which culture, politics, history, external initiatives
and cognitive limitations played important roles. The author continued to record
experiences and impressions of tool use in the project diary together with quality and
productivity metrics. But the diary also became home to a story of organisational
developments that had not originally been foreseen.
The principal contribution made by the work is to identity the narrow positivistic
nature of CASE knowledge, and to show via the research stories the overwhelming
importance of organisational context to systems development success and how the
exploration of context is poorly supported by the tools. Sixteen further contributions
are listed in the Conclusions to the thesis, including a major extension to Wynekoop
and Conger's CASE research taxonomy, an identification of the potentially
misleading nature of quantitative IS assessment and further evidence of the limitations
of the "scientific" approach to systems development.
The thesis is completed by two proposals for further work. The first seeks to
advance IS theory by developing further a number of emerging process models of IS
development. The second seeks to advance IS practice by asking the question "How
can CASE tools be used to stimulate awareness and debate about the effects of
organisational context?", and outlines a programme of research in this area
Saperda calcarata Say 1824
No full textSaperda calcarata Say, 1824 New Brunswick: Albert Co., Mary’s Point, 5.VIII.2003, D.S. Christie, (1, CGMC). Gloucester Co., St. Simon, 10.VII.1980, G. Gallien (1, UMNB); St Simon, 18.VIII.1983, P. Mallet (1, UMNB). Kent Co., Cocagne Road, 25.VI.1942, 29.VI.1942, FIS, poplar (2, AFC; Mineral, 19.VII.1949, H Bennett, det. W.J. Brown (1, NSAC); Kouchibouguac Park, 25.VII.1994, Danielle Richard (1, UMNB). Northumberland Co., Sillikers, 29.VII.2008, Nelson Poirier. Westmorland Co., Moncton, 15.VII.1981, Leo G. (1, UMNB); Moncton, 10.IX.1999, E Rivard (1, UMNB). York Co. , Charters Settlement, 45.8395°N, 66.7391°W, 9.VII.1993, 14. Viii. 1993, 4.VIII.1996, 7.VIII.1997, 29.VII.2000, 17.VII.2004, 27.VI.2006, R.P. Webster, mixed forest, M. V. light (7, NBM, RWC); Fredericton, 16.VII.1990, R.P. Webster, (1, RWC); Fredericton, July 1927, L.J. Simpson, AFC; Fredericton, 23.VIII.1953, G.W. Barter, Populus tremuloides, 67C21 (1, AFC); Fredericton, August 1954. C.C. Smith (1, AFC); Fredericton, 8.VIII.1955, G.W. Barter, Populus tremuloides (2, AFC); Nashwaaksis, 23.VII.1959, FIS, light trap, 59-624, 59C33 (1, AFC).Published as part of Webster, Reginald, McCoqrquodale, David & Majka, Christopher, 2009, New records of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, Canada, pp. 285-308 in ZooKeys 22 (22) on page 301, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.22.122, http://zenodo.org/record/57654
Cross-Cultural Meta-Analyses
No full textIn the enormous collection of cross-cultural data that have been published during the last few decades it is difficult to perceive patterns. There is a clear need for systematizing the vast amount of cross-cultural studies and for developing models that explain cross-cultural differences in psychology. Two methods of cross-cultural meta-analysis can be distinguished. First, the instrument-based method of comparing data for one instrument across countries is suitable for instruments which have been administered in many countries. Second, a domain-based meta-analysis used a thematic domain from which culture-comparative studies are sampled instead of one specific instrument or method
Alternative Splicing— When Two’s a Crowd
No full textVarious mechanisms have been proposed to explain mutually exclusive splicing of pairs of exons. A paper in this issue of Cell (Graveley, 2005) provides a fascinating insight into the perplexing question of how only one exon at a time is chosen from an array of 48 exons in the Drosophila Dscam gene
The Role, Design and Operation of Distribution Centres in Agile Supply Chains
No full textThe aim of this research is to explore the role of distribution centres (DCs) in agile
supply chains, together with how they should be designed, operated and their
performances measured within this context. The research is based, first of all, on a
survey to ascertain the current situation, and then a series of case studies of
international supply chains, DC designs, DC operations, and warehouse automation
projects. The techniques used include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews,
quantitative measures where appropriate and qualitative measures based on 5-point
Likert scales. A number of constructs are used, particularly from supply chain agility
and manufacturing agility literature, and these are refined and extended to form the
basis for the research.
The findings indicate that a prime role of distribution centres, particularly in terms of
inventory-holding, is consistent with the decoupling point concept. Further roles for
distribution centres in agile supply chains include cross-docking, postponement
activities, and returns.
The research identifies five types of agility, namely volume, time, unit quantity,
presentation and information. The responses to these different types can then be
categorised according to the combination of levels (i.e. supply chain, business unit,
distribution network, and distribution centre), by the type of resource used (i.e. land /
building, equipment, staff, and process / systems), and by how these are deployed (i.e.
extra capacity, additional resources when needed, and flexible resources). Agility
measurement can be undertaken using the categories of range, mobility and
uniformity.
With markets becoming more volatile, agility can offer a key source of competitive
advantage. However, warehouses are by their nature long-term fixed assets and
therefore difficult to incorporate into an agile strategy. The series of frameworks
developed during this research begins to address this important area and thus forms a
basis for further research as well as providing some initial frameworks to assist
practitioners
INDIGENOUS LAND TENURE AND LAND USE IN ALASKA: COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT
No full textThrough the utilization of qualitative methods such as archival analysis, semi-structured interviewing, comparative and extended case studies, and observation, this paper closely examines two related Alaska Native communities. Our purpose is to document the impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) on land tenure, land use, and community structure. In all, 41 interviews were conducted, focusing on the following issues: (1) the role of the tribal government in relation to the regional and village corporate structure; (2) the recent changes in traditional land uses; and (3) how group decisions are made regarding land management and distribution of resources. By locating ANCSA within a broader context of economic, political, and cultural globalization that seeks to substitute traditional collective rights in land with individual tenure in a "free market" economy, the findings of this research may carefully and cautiously be applied beyond North America to other indigenous-state struggles regarding control of land and resources.United States. -- [Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act], Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Alaska, Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Claims, Indians of North America -- Land tenure -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Government relations -- History, Land Economics/Use,
Academic authorship: who, why and in what order?
No full textWe are frequently asked by our colleagues and students for advice on authorship for scientific articles. This short paper outlines some of the issues that we have experienced and the advice we usually provide. This editorial follows on from our work on submitting a paper1 and also on writing an academic paper for publication.2 We should like to start by noting that, in our view, there exist two separate, but related issues: (a) authorship and (b) order of authors. The issue of authorship centres on the notion of who can be an author, who should be an author and who definitely should not be an author, and this is partly discipline specific. The second issue, the order of authors, is usually dictated by the academic tradition from which the work comes. One can immediately envisage disagreements within a multi-disciplinary team of researchers where members of the team may have different approaches to authorship order
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