Global research alliance modelling platform (GRAMP): an open web platform for modelling greenhouse gas emissions from agro-ecosystems

Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) process-based models are important tools for estimating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and changes in soil C stocks. There is a need for continuous evaluation, development and adaptation of these models to improve scientific understanding, national inventories and assessment of mitigation options across the world. To date, much of the information needed to describe different processes like transpiration, photosynthesis, plant growth and maintenance, above and below ground carbon dynamics, decomposition and nitrogen mineralization. In ecosystem models remains inaccessible to the wider community, being stored within model computer source code, or held internally by modelling teams. Here we describe the Global Research Alliance Modelling Platform (GRAMP), a web-based modelling platform to link researchers with appropriate datasets, models and training material. It will provide access to model source code and an interactive platform for researchers to form a consensus on existing methods, and to synthesize new ideas, which will help to advance progress in this area. The platform will eventually support a variety of models, but to trial the platform and test the architecture and functionality, it was piloted with variants of the DNDC model. The intention is to form a worldwide collaborative network (a virtual laboratory) via an interactive website with access to models and best practice guidelines; appropriate datasets for testing, calibrating and evaluating models; on-line tutorials and links to modelling and data provider research groups, and their associated publications. A graphical user interface has been designed to view the model development tree and access all of the above functions.

Virtual science hub: an open source platform to enrich science teaching

This paper presents the Virtual Science Hub platform. It is an open source platform that combines a social network, an e-learning authoring tool, a videoconference service and a learning object repository for science teaching enrichment. These four main functionalities fit very well together. The platform was released in April 2012 and since then it has not stopped growing. Finally we present the results of the surveys conducted and the statistics gathered to validate this approach.

Using Open Geographic Data to Generate Natural Language Descriptions for Hydrological Sensor Networks

Providing descriptions of isolated sensors and sensor networks in natural language, understandable by the general public, is useful to help users find relevant sensors and analyze sensor data. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of using geographic knowledge from public databases available on the Web (such as OpenStreetMap, Geonames, or DBpedia) to automatically construct such descriptions. We present a general method that uses such information to generate sensor descriptions in natural language. The results of the evaluation of our method in a hydrologic national sensor network showed that this approach is feasible and capable of generating adequate sensor descriptions with a lower development effort compared to other approaches. In the paper we also analyze certain problems that we found in public databases (e.g., heterogeneity, non-standard use of labels, or rigid search methods) and their impact in the generation of sensor descriptions.

A proposal for an Internet of Things-based monitoring system composed by low capability, open source and open hardware devices

The Internet of Things makes use of a huge disparity of technologies at very different levels that help one to the other to accomplish goals that were previously regarded as unthinkable in terms of ubiquity or scalability. If the Internet of Things is expected to interconnect every day devices or appliances and enable communications between them, a broad range of new services, applications and products can be foreseen. For example, monitoring is a process where sensors have widespread use for measuring environmental parameters (temperature, light, chemical agents, etc.) but obtaining readings at the exact physical point they want to be obtained from, or about the exact wanted parameter can be a clumsy, time-consuming task that is not easily adaptable to new requirements. In order to tackle this challenge, a proposal on a system used to monitor any conceivable environment, which additionally is able to monitor the status of its own components and heal some of the most usual issues of a Wireless Sensor Network, is presented here in detail, covering all the layers that give it shape in terms of devices, communications or services.

Accessing and managing open medical resources in Africa over the Internet

Recent commentaries have proposed the advantages of using open exchange of data and informatics resources for improving health-related policies and patient care in Africa. Yet, in many African regions, both private medical and public health information systems are still unaffordable. Open exchange over the social Web 2.0 could encourage more altruistic support of medical initiatives. We have carried out some experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of using this approach to disseminate open data and informatics resources in Africa. After the experiments we developed the AFRICA BUILD Portal, the first Social Network for African biomedical researchers. Through the AFRICA BUILD Portal users can access in a transparent way to several resources. Currently, over 600 researchers are using distributed and open resources through this platform committed to low connections.

Dopamine Autoreceptor Regulation of a Hypothalamic Dopaminergic Network

Open Access funded by European Research Council Acknowledgments The authors thank Drs. Gilberto Fisone, Jessica Ausborn, Abdel El Manira, Gilad Silberberg, and members of the C.B. laboratory for advice, as well as Paul Williams for expert help with the graphical abstract. This study was supported by a Starting Investigator Grant from the ERC (ENDOSWITCH 261286), the Swedish Research Council (2010-3250), Novo Nordisk Fonden, and the Strategic Research Programme in Diabetes at Karolinska Institutet.

BIND—The Biomolecular Interaction Network Database

The Biomolecular Interaction Network Database (BIND; http://binddb.org) is a database designed to store full descriptions of interactions, molecular complexes and pathways. Development of the BIND 2.0 data model has led to the incorporation of virtually all components of molecular mechanisms including interactions between any two molecules composed of proteins, nucleic acids and small molecules. Chemical reactions, photochemical activation and conformational changes can also be described. Everything from small molecule biochemistry to signal transduction is abstracted in such a way that graph theory methods may be applied for data mining. The database can be used to study networks of interactions, to map pathways across taxonomic branches and to generate information for kinetic simulations. BIND anticipates the coming large influx of interaction information from high-throughput proteomics efforts including detailed information about post-translational modifications from mass spectrometry. Version 2.0 of the BIND data model is discussed as well as implementation, content and the open nature of the BIND project. The BIND data specification is available as ASN.1 and XML DTD.

Breaking down complex saproxylic communities: understanding sub-networks structure and implications to network robustness

Saproxylic insect communities inhabiting tree hollow microhabitats correspond with large food webs which simultaneously are constituted by multiple types of plant-animal and animal-animal interactions, according to the use of trophic resources (wood- and insect-dependent sub-networks), or to trophic habits or interaction types (xylophagous, saprophagous, xylomycetophagous, predators and commensals). We quantitatively assessed which properties of specialised networks were present in a complex networks involving different interacting types such as saproxylic community, and how they can be organised in trophic food webs. The architecture, interacting patterns and food web composition were evaluated along sub-networks, analysing their implications to network robustness from random and directed extinction simulations. A structure of large and cohesive modules with weakly connected nodes was observed throughout saproxylic sub-networks, composing the main food webs constituting this community. Insect-dependent sub-networks were more modular than wood-dependent sub-networks. Wood-dependent sub-networks presented higher species degree, connectance, links, linkage density, interaction strength, and were less specialised and more aggregated than insect-dependent sub-networks. These attributes defined high network robustness in wood-dependent sub-networks. Finally, our results emphasise the relevance of modularity, differences among interacting types and interrelations among them in modelling the structure of saproxylic communities and in determining their stability.

Net Neutrality and Mandatory Network-Sharing: How to disconnect the continent. CEPS Policy Brief No. 309, 18 December 2013

A lively debate emerged on the proposed “Connected Continent” legislative package presented by the European Commission in September 2013. The package contains a proposed rule on the ‘open Internet’, which was heavily discussed in European Parliament hearings in early December. This commentary argues that while the proposed rule is in principle balanced and appealing, it is utterly impractical due to the enormous uncertainty that its application would entail. At the same time, the rule is very far from what neutrality proponents have argued for almost a decade: rather than the place for internet freedom, it would transform the Web into a place requiring constant micro-management and tutoring of user behaviour. Both arguments lead to the conclusion that the current proposal should be at once reformed and analysed under a more holistic lens. On the one hand, Europe should launch an ambitious project for the future, converged infrastructure by mobilising resources and reforming rules to encourage investment into ubiquitous, converged, ‘always on’ connectivity. On the other hand, enhanced legal certainty for broadband investment could justify a more neutrality-oriented approach to traffic management practices on the Internet. The author proposes a new approach to Internet regulation which, altogether, will lead to a more balanced and sustainable model for the future, without jeopardising user freedom.

Innovation and Development in the Age of Climate Change Adaptation: Open or Closed?

Change Adaptation: Open or Closed? Paper read at the Second African International Economic Law Network Conference, 7-8 March 2013, Wits School of Law, Johannesburg, South Africa. In a time of rapid convergence of technologies, goods, services, hardware, software, the traditional classifications that informed past treaties fail to remove legal uncertainty, or advance welfare and innovation. As a result, we turn our attention to the role and needs of the public domain at the interface of existing intellectual property rights and new modes of creation, production and distribution of goods and services. The concept of open culture would have it that knowledge should be spread freely and its growth should come from further developing existing works on the basis of sharing and collaboration without the shackles of intellectual property. Intellectual property clauses find their way into regional, multilateral, bilateral and free trade agreements more often than not, and can cause public discontent and incite unrest. Many of these intellectual property clauses raise the bar on protection beyond the clauses found in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In this paper we address the question of the protection and development of the public domain in service of open innovation in accord with Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in light of the Objectives (Article 7) and Principles (Article 8) set forth in TRIPS. Once areas of divergence and reinforcement between the intellectual property regime and human rights have been discussed, we will enter into options that allow for innovation and prosperity in the global south. We then conclude by discussing possible policy developments.

Ground-water quality and geochemistry of Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada, 1981-83 : implementation of a monitoring network /

Mode of access: Internet.

Geohydrology of the Antelope Valley Area, California and design for a ground-water-quality monitoring network /

Mode of access: Internet.

Privacy in the Smart City: Implications of Sensor Network Design, Law, and Policy for Locational Privacy

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Automatic control of attenuation in a digital communication network

This thesis describes the investigation of an adaptive method of attenuation control for digital speech signals in an analogue-digital environment and its effects on the transmission performance of a national telecommunication network. The first part gives the design of a digital automatic gain control, able to operate upon a P.C.M. signal in its companded form and whose operation is based upon the counting of peaks of the digital speech signal above certain threshold levels. A study was ma.de of a digital automatic gain control (d.a.g.c.) in open-loop configuration and closed-loop configuration. The former was adopted as the means for carrying out the automatic control of attenuation. It was simulated and tested, both objectively and subjectively. The final part is the assessment of the effects on telephone connections of a d.a.g.c. that introduces gains of 6 dB or 12 dB. This work used a Telephone Connection Assessment Model developed at The University of Aston in Birmingham. The subjective tests showed that the d.a.g.c. gives advantage for listeners when the speech level is very low. The benefit is not great when speech is only a little quieter than preferred. The assessment showed that, when a standard British Telecom earphone is used, insertion of gain is desirable if speech voltage across the earphone terminals is below an upper limit of -38 dBV. People commented upon the presence of an adaptive-like effect during the tests. This could be the reason why they voted against the insertion of gain at level only little quieter than preferred, when they may otherwise have judged it to be desirable. A telephone connection with a d.a.g.c. in has a degree of difficulty less than half of that without it. The score Excellent plus Good is 10-30% greater.

Deschooling society? A lifelong learning network for sustainable communities, urban regeneration and environmental technologies

The complexity and multifaceted nature of sustainable lifelong learning can be effectively addressed by a broad network of providers working co-operatively and collaboratively. Such a network involving the third, public and private sector bodies must realise the full potential of accredited flexible and blended formal learning, contextual opportunities offered by enablers of informal and non formal learning and the affordances derived from the various loose and open spaces that can make social learning effective. Such a conception informs the new Lifelong Learning Network Consortium on Sustainable Communities, Urban Regeneration and Environmental Technologies established and led by the Lifelong Learning Centre at Aston University. This paper offers a radical, reflective and political evaluation of its first year in development arguing that networked learning of this type could prefigure a new model for lifelong learning and sustainable education that renders the city itself a creative medium for transformative learning and sustainability.