HCI issues in power systems

With the advance of information technology capabilities, and the importance of human computer interfaces within society there has been a significant increase in research activity within the field of human computer interaction (HCI). This paper summarizes some of the work undertaken to date, paying particular attention to methods applicable to on-line control and monitoring systems such as those employed by The National Grid Company plc.

Benchmarking and valuation issues in measuring depreciation for European office markets

Purpose ��� The paper addresses the practical problems which emerge when attempting to apply longitudinal approaches to the assessment of property depreciation using valuation-based data. These problems relate to inconsistent valuation regimes and the difficulties in finding appropriate benchmarks. Design/methodology/approach ��� The paper adopts a case study of seven major office locations around Europe and attempts to determine ten-year rental value depreciation rates based on a longitudinal approach using IPD, CBRE and BNP Paribas datasets. Findings ��� The depreciation rates range from a 5 per cent PA depreciation rate in Frankfurt to a 2 per cent appreciation rate in Stockholm. The results are discussed in the context of the difficulties in applying this method with inconsistent data. Research limitations/implications ��� The paper has methodological implications for measuring property investment depreciation and provides an example of the problems in adopting theoretically sound approaches with inconsistent information. Practical implications ��� Valuations play an important role in performance measurement and cross border investment decision making and, therefore, knowledge of inconsistency of valuation practice aids decision making and informs any application of valuation-based data in the attainment of depreciation rates. Originality/value ��� The paper provides new insights into the use of property market valuation data in a cross-border context, insights that previously had been anecdotal and unproven in nature.

Issues in language and development in multilingual settings: a case-study of knowledge exchange and teacher education in South Africa

The quality of a country���s human-resource base can be said to determine its level of success in social and economic development. This study focuses on some���of the major human-resource development issues that surround the implementation of South Africa���s policy of multilingualism in education. It begins by discussing the relationship between knowledge, language, and human-resource, social and economic development within the global cultural economy. It then considers the situation in South Africa and, in particular, the implications of that country���s colonial and neo-colonial past for attempts to implement the new policy. Drawing on the linguistic-diversity-in-education debate in the United Kingdom of the past three decades, it assesses the first phase of an in-service teacher-education programme that was carried out at the Project for Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) based at the University of Cape Town. The authors identify key short- and long-term issues related to knowledge exchange in education in multilingual societies, especially concerning the use of African languages as mediums for teaching and learning.

Institutional capacity and implementation issues in farmers' rights

Armed with the ���equity��� and ���conservation��� arguments that have a deep resonance with farming communities, developing countries are crafting a range of measures designed to protect farmers��� access to innovations, reward their contributions to the conservation and enhancement of plant genetic resources and provide incentives for sustained on-farm conservation. These measures range from the commericialization of farmers��� varieties to the conferment of a set of legally enforceable rights on farming communities ��� the exercise of which is expected to provide economic rewards to those responsible for on-farm conservation and innovation. The rights-based approach has been the cornerstone of legislative provision for implementing farmers��� rights in most developing countries. In drawing up these measures, developing countries do not appear to have systematically examined or provided for the substantial institutional capacity required for the effective implementation of farmers��� rights provisions. The lack of institutional capacity threatens to undermine any prospect of serious implementation of these provisions. More importantly, the expectation that significant incentives for on-farm conservation and innovation will flow from these ���rights��� may be based on a flawed understanding of the economics of intellectual property rights. While farmers��� rights may provide only limited rewards for conservation, they may still have the effect of diluting the incentives for innovative institutional breeding programs ��� with the private sector increasingly relying on non-IPR instruments to profit from innovation. The focus on a rights-based approach may also draw attention away from alternative stewardship-based approaches to the realization of farmers��� rights objectives.

Issues in stratosphere-troposphere coupling

An overview is given of current issues concerning the coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere. The tropopause region, more generally the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, is the region of direct contact where exchange of material takes place. Dynamical coupling through angular momentum transfer by waves occurs nonlocally, and provides a generally negative torque on the stratosphere which drives an equator-to-pole circulation (i.e., towards the Earth���s axis of rotation). This wave-driven circulation is the principal mechanism for intraseasonal and interannual variability in the extratropical stratosphere. Although such variability is generally dynamical in origin, there are important chemical and radiative feedbacks. The location of the tropopause has implications for radiative forcing of climate, through its effect on the distribution of relatively short-lived greenhouse gases (ozone and water vapour). Some outstanding puzzles in our current understanding are identified. Attention is focused on possible climate sensitivities, and how these may be tested and constrained. Results from the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM), a fully interactive radiative-chemical-dynamical general circulation model, are used to illustrate some of the points.