Comparison of growth and development of the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) in three captive colonies

The red-tailed phascogale ( Phascogale calura) is an endangered dasyurid species that has recently been brought into captivity in an effort to increase numbers before release back into the wild. As part of investigations into the reproductive biology of the species, information on the growth and development of young was collected throughout lactation from litters raised in three separate colonies. Growth curves for aging young throughout lactation and a timetable of developmental changes were constructed. While two colonies, with fourth- and fifth-generation captive animals, showed no significant difference in growth, animals from a third colony that had been wild caught before breeding displayed a slower rate of growth from 34 days of age. The pattern of development resembled that of other dasyurids, with young left in the nest from 44 days of age, fully furred by 78 days and weaned between 90 and 110 days. Captive phascogales invest heavily in their young, with litters weighing 380 +/- 67% of maternal bodyweight at weaning.

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013

This factsheet was last updated in August 2013. Background to the Act The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill was introduced to Parliament in May 2012 and, following various amendments, received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013. In early June 2013, the Government issued an indicative timetable of commencement dates for the various sections of the Act. While some of the changes have come into force or had definite implementation dates announced, for other there is no definite date. The Act is broad ranging. Although this factsheet focuses specifically on employment related issues it is important to note that the Act also makes other provisions: Login or register for a free account to continue reading this factsheet and to learn about: •Background to the Act •Employment provisions of the Act •Action points for employers •CIPD viewpoint •Useful contacts •References •Further reading

Do educators need educating?

Actual text: I was recently at the Spanish College of Optometry biennial conference and attended a meeting of contact lens lecturers from around Spain and Portugal. We discussed various ideas, mainly about how to share good practice and improve standards. What came to my mind was ‘is there a blueprint for training trainers?’ Well probably not but there are many things that we need to acknowledge such as the way students learn for example. Many educators themselves were taught by lecturers who would write on a blackboard or use acetate on an overhead projector, then came the 35 mm slide era followed by the Powerpoint era. More recently there is a move towards a much more integrated approach of various teaching methods. At my university our contact lens and anterior eye lectures generally follow a format where a narrated Powerpoint lecture is uploaded onto our internal virtual learning environment. This narrated version of the slides is designed to give the didactic element of the topic. The students listen to that before attending an interactive seminar on that topic. The seminar is also recorded so that students can listen to that afterwards. The seminar is designed to give additional information, such as case reports, or to clarify key points or for live demonstrations. It is a good way of doubling the contact time with the students without imposing further on an already packed formal timetable as the students can work in their own time. One problem that we noticed with this approach was that attendance can vary. If the students feel that they will gain something from the interactive seminar then they are more likely to attend – exam tips usually win them over! At the Spanish meeting the educators decided that they wanted to have regular meetings. The industry colleagues in attendance said that they were happy to help but could not necessarily give money, but they could offer meeting rooms, pay for lunch and evening meals. They even said that that they were happy to host meetings and invite other companies too (except to manufacturing plants). In the UK the British Committee of Contact Lens Educators (BUCCLE) meets for one day on three occasions in the year. The American Optometric Contact Lens Educators (AOCLE) meets annually at a three day event. Both these organisations get some help from industry. BUCCLE usually has one of its meetings at a university, one at a company training centre/manufacturing plant/national headquarters and one meeting the day before the BCLA annual conference. BUCCLE usually has its pre-BCLA meeting in conjunction with the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE). So when educators meet what would they discuss; well probably the focus should be on education rather than actual contact lens knowledge. For example sharing ideas on how to teach toric lens fitting would be better than discussing the actual topic of toric lenses itself. Most universities will have an education department with an expert who could share ideas on how to use the internet in teaching or how to structure lectures or assessments etc. In the past I have helped with similar training programmes in other countries and sharing good practice in pedagogy is always a popular topic. Anyone who is involved in education in the field of contact lenses should look at the IACLE web page and look out for the IACLE World Congress in 2015 in the days preceding the BCLA. Finally, IACLE, AOCLE and BUCCLE all exist as a result of generous educational grants from contact lens companies and anyone interested in finding out more about should refer to their respective web pages.

Mathematical Optimization for the Train Timetabling Problem

AMS Subj. Classification: 90C57; 90C10;

Improved stochastic optimization of railway timetables

We present a general model to find the best allocation of a limited amount of supplements (extra minutes added to a timetable in order to reduce delays) on a set of interfering railway lines. By the best allocation, we mean the solution under which the weighted sum of expected delays is minimal. Our aim is to finely adjust an already existing and well-functioning timetable. We model this inherently stochastic optimization problem by using two-stage recourse models from stochastic programming, building upon earlier research from the literature. We present an improved formulation, allowing for an efficient solution using a standard algorithm for recourse models. We show that our model may be solved using any of the following theoretical frameworks: linear programming, stochastic programming and convex non-linear programming, and present a comparison of these approaches based on a real-life case study. Finally, we introduce stochastic dependency into the model, and present a statistical technique to estimate the model parameters from empirical data.

Optimization of transit transfer times: A system-wide approach

This dissertation presents a system-wide approach, based on genetic algorithms, for the optimization of transfer times for an entire bus transit system. Optimization of transfer times in a transit system is a complicated problem because of the large set of binary and discrete values involved. The combinatorial nature of the problem imposes a computational burden and makes it difficult to solve by classical mathematical programming methods. ^ The genetic algorithm proposed in this research attempts to find an optimal solution for the transfer time optimization problem by searching for a combination of adjustments to the timetable for all the routes in the system. It makes use of existing scheduled timetables, ridership demand at all transfer locations, and takes into consideration the randomness of bus arrivals. ^ Data from Broward County Transit are used to compute total transfer times. The proposed genetic algorithm-based approach proves to be capable of producing substantial time savings compared to the existing transfer times in a reasonable amount of time. ^ The dissertation also addresses the issues related to spatial and temporal modeling, variability in bus arrival and departure times, walking time, as well as the integration of scheduling and ridership data. ^

Hispanic -serving land -grant colleges: Analysis and plan for an educational policy initiative

Hispanics and other minority Americans are denied access to higher education by a system that needs structural reform. The purpose of the research was to determine whether creating Hispanic-serving land-grant colleges, similar to the Morrill land-grant colleges serving Black and Native Americans, might be an effective strategy to increase the access of Hispanic students to quality higher education. In addition to published materials, data was collected from a survey of Hispanic-serving institutions and extensive interviews with college presidents, government representatives, educational association leaders, and educational historians. ^ The research examined how existing land-grant college systems came into being and how they have evolved. A look at the functions of the land-grant systems serving Blacks and Native Americans revealed promising possibilities for a system that would include more Hispanics. Legal, fiscal, curricular, and organizational criteria were inferred from the existing systems. While none of the existing land-grant systems can be adapted to serve Hispanics or most other minorities outside their limited regions, each has elements that could be adapted by a new minority-serving system. A number of colleges already have features that could make them candidates for state designation as land-grant colleges. ^ The research suggests that a new federally funded system of Morrill land-grant colleges dedicated to serving all urban Americans, not just Hispanics, would do much to increase the numbers of Hispanic students and other racially and ethnically minority Americans in good quality higher educational institutions. An inclusive urban land-grant system would be politically feasible, whereas one meant to serve Hispanics alone would not. Because of their urban locations, these universities would serve large concentrations of minority citizens of all ethnic groups. ^ Finally, the basic elements of a strategic plan are presented for an educational organization to use for organizing leaders of minority educational associations, financing an initiative to lobby Congress, eliciting legislative and federal agency support, and securing the assistance of other educational, industrial, and special interest groups. The plan includes a suggested timetable for action. Recommendations are made for innovations that would make such a higher education system distinctive and would help meet important national needs. ^

Occupant location prediction in smart buildings using association rule mining

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems are significant consumers of energy, however building management systems do not typically operate them in accordance with occupant movements. Due to the delayed response of HVAC systems, prediction of occupant locations is necessary to maximize energy efficiency. We present an approach to occupant location prediction based on association rule mining, allowing prediction based on historical occupant locations. Association rule mining is a machine learning technique designed to find any correlations which exist in a given dataset. Occupant location datasets have a number of properties which differentiate them from the market basket datasets that association rule mining was originally designed for. This thesis adapts the approach to suit such datasets, focusing the rule mining process on patterns which are useful for location prediction. This approach, named OccApriori, allows for the prediction of occupants’ next locations as well as their locations further in the future, and can take into account any available data, for example the day of the week, the recent movements of the occupant, and timetable data. By integrating an existing extension of association rule mining into the approach, it is able to make predictions based on general classes of locations as well as specific locations.

The Roles of ‘Conventional’ and Demand-Responsive Bus Services

Purpose - The roles of ‘conventional’ (fixed-route and fixed-timetable) bus services is examined and compared to demand-responsive services, taking rural areas in England as the basis for comparison. It adopts a ‘rural’ definition of settlements under a population of 10,000. Design/methodology/approach - Evidence from the National Travel Survey, technical press reports and academic work is brought together to examine the overall picture. Findings - Inter-urban services between towns can provide a cost-effective way of serving rural areas where smaller settlements are suitably located. The cost structures of both fixed-route and demand-responsive services indicate that staff time and cost associated with vehicle provision are the main elements. Demand-responsive services may enable larger areas to be covered, to meet planning objectives of ensuring a minimum of level of service, but experience often shows high unit cost and public expenditure per passenger trip. Economic evaluation indicates user benefits per passenger trip of similar magnitude to existing average public expenditure per trip on fixed-route services. Considerable scope exists for improvements to conventional services through better marketing and service reliability. Practical implications - The main issue in England is the level of funding for rural services in general, and the importance attached to serving those without access to cars in such areas. Social implications - The boundary between fixed-route and demand-responsive operation may lie at relatively low population densities. Originality/value - The chapter uses statistical data, academic research and operator experience of enhanced conventional bus services to provide a synthesis of outcomes in rural areas.

Una herramienta web para la planificación de horarios y de asignaciones de aulas.

Este proyecto ha consistido en la realización de una aplicación web para cubrir una necesidad del centro universitario; la necesidad de gestionar los horarios y la asignación de aulas cada inicio de curso de una forma más automática de la que se usa en la actualidad. El objetivo principal ha sido que la aplicación fuera lo más intuitiva posible y que tenga una facilidad de uso que motivase su utilización. Para ello nos hemos decantado por una serie de características tanto visuales (distribución de la información, códigos de colores), como de uso (sistema de Drag&Drop). La aplicación tiene tres módulos principales: Un primer módulo para el manejo de los horarios, el cual nos permite la construcción de un horario para un grupo determinado evitando cualquier tipo de conflicto.El segundo módulo para la asignación de grupo a aulas, de forma que nos permite tener un control de los espacios del centro. El tercero y último, con una fuerte relación con el segundo, que en este caso se utiliza para asignar asignaturas optativas a aulas. Todo esto va acompañado por una variedad de páginas de información y de una vista administrativa para gestionar los datos necesarios para usar la aplicación. Una de las ventajas más importantes que tiene esta aplicación es la automatización a la hora de realizar todas las comprobaciones necesarias para hacer cualquier asignación. Debido a la envergadura del proyecto, optamos por realizar este proyecto conjuntamente entre tres personas para ser capaces de ofrecer un producto lo más completo posible sin salirnos de los límites de este trabajo de fin de grado.

Train scheduling in high speed railways: considering competitive effects

The railway planning problem is usually studied from two different points of view: macroscopic and microscopic. We propose a macroscopic approach for the high-speed rail scheduling problem where competitive effects are introduced. We study train frequency planning, timetable planning and rolling stock assignment problems and model the problem as a multi-commodity network flow problem considering competitive transport markets. The aim of the presented model is to maximize the total operator profit. We solve the optimization model using realistic probleminstances obtained from the network of the Spanish railwa operator RENFE, including other transport modes in Spain

Train scheduling and rolling stock assignment in high speed trains

The Train Timetabling Problem (TTP) has been widely studied for freight and passenger rail systems. A lesser effort has been devoted to the study of high-speed rail systems. A modeling issue that has to be addressed is to model departure time choice of passengers on railway services. Passengers who use these systems attempt to travel at predetermined hours due to their daily life necessities (e.g., commuter trips). We incorporate all these features into TTP focusing on high-speed railway systems. We propose a Rail Scheduling and Rolling Stock (RSch-RS) model for timetable planning of high-speed railway systems. This model is composed of two essential elements: i) an infrastructure model for representing the railway network: it includes capacity constraints of the rail network and the Rolling-Stock constraints; and ii) a demand model that defines how the passengers choose the departure time. The resulting model is a mixed-integer programming model which objective function attempts to maximize the profit for the rail operator