The family costs of attending hospital outpatient appointments via videoconference and in person

We compared the costs incurred by families attending outpatient appointments at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Brisbane with those incurred by families who had a consultation via videoconference in their regional area. In each category 200 families were interviewed. The median time spent travelling for videoconferences was 30 min compared with 80 min for face-to-face appointments. Families interviewed in the outpatient department had travelled a median distance of 70 km, while those who had a videoconference at the local hospital had travelled only 20 km. It cost these families much more to attend an appointment at the RCH than to attend a videoconference. Ninety-six per cent of families (193) reported at least one of the following types of expense: 150 families had expenses related to parking (median A$10), 156 had fuel expenses (median A$10) and 122 reported costs related to meals purchased at the RCH (median A$10). Only 21 families who had their appointment via local videoconference reported any additional costs. Specialist appointments via videoconference were a more convenient and cheaper option for families living in regional areas of Queensland than the conventional method of attending outpatient appointments at the specialist hospital in Brisbane.

West (side) and south (front) elevations, public housing, Cotton Tree Housing Estate, Maroochydore

This pilot project at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, on two adjacent, linear parcels of land has one of the properties privately owned while the other is owned by the public housing authority. Both owners commissioned Lindsay and Kerry Clare to design housing for their separate needs which enabled the two projects to be governed by a single planning and design strategy. This entailed the realignment of the dividing boundary to form two approximately square blocks which made possible the retention of an important stand of mature paperbark trees and gave each block a more useful street frontage. The scheme provides seven two-bedroom units and one single-bedroom unit as the private component, with six single-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units forming the public housing. The dwellings are deployed as an interlaced mat of freestanding blocks, car courts, courtyard gardens, patios and decks. The key distinction between the public and private parts of the scheme is the pooling of the car parking spaces in the public housing to create a shared courtyard. The housing climbs to three storeys on its southern edge and falls to a single storey on the north-western corner. This enables all units and the principal private outdoor spaces to have a northern orientation. The interiors of both the public and private units are skilfully arranged to take full advantage of views, light and breeze.

Journey to work:exploring difficulties, solutions and the impact of aging

A study was conducted in the UK, as part of the New Dynamics of Ageing Working Late project, of the journey to work among 1215 older workers (age groups 45-49, 50-55, 56-60 and 60 + ). The aim was to identify problems or concerns that they might have with their commute, strategies that have been adopted to address them, and the role that employers can play to assist them. Follow-up interviews with 36 employees identified many strategies for assisting with the problems of journeys to work, ranging from car share and using public transport to flexible working and working some days from home. Further interviews with a sample of 12 mainly larger companies showed that employers feel a responsibility for their workers’ commute, with some offering schemes to assist them, such as adjusting work shift timings to facilitate easier parking. The research suggests that the journey to work presents difficulties for a significant minority of those aged over 45, including issues with cost, stress, health, fatigue and journey time. It may be possible to reduce the impact of these difficulties on employee decisions to change jobs or retire by assisting them to adopt mitigating strategies. It does not appear that the likelihood of experiencing a problem with the journey to work increases as the employee approaches retirement; therefore, any mitigating strategy is likely to help employees of all ages. These strategies have been disseminated to a wider audience through an online resource at www.workinglate.org.

Evolutionary neural networks : models and applications

The scaling problems which afflict attempts to optimise neural networks (NNs) with genetic algorithms (GAs) are disclosed. A novel GA-NN hybrid is introduced, based on the bumptree, a little-used connectionist model. As well as being computationally efficient, the bumptree is shown to be more amenable to genetic coding lthan other NN models. A hierarchical genetic coding scheme is developed for the bumptree and shown to have low redundancy, as well as being complete and closed with respect to the search space. When applied to optimising bumptree architectures for classification problems the GA discovers bumptrees which significantly out-perform those constructed using a standard algorithm. The fields of artificial life, control and robotics are identified as likely application areas for the evolutionary optimisation of NNs. An artificial life case-study is presented and discussed. Experiments are reported which show that the GA-bumptree is able to learn simulated pole balancing and car parking tasks using only limited environmental feedback. A simple modification of the fitness function allows the GA-bumptree to learn mappings which are multi-modal, such as robot arm inverse kinematics. The dynamics of the 'geographic speciation' selection model used by the GA-bumptree are investigated empirically and the convergence profile is introduced as an analytical tool. The relationships between the rate of genetic convergence and the phenomena of speciation, genetic drift and punctuated equilibrium arc discussed. The importance of genetic linkage to GA design is discussed and two new recombination operators arc introduced. The first, linkage mapped crossover (LMX) is shown to be a generalisation of existing crossover operators. LMX provides a new framework for incorporating prior knowledge into GAs.Its adaptive form, ALMX, is shown to be able to infer linkage relationships automatically during genetic search.

Taking the carbon out of the car

Effective measures are being taken to reduce emissions from cars, which are now emerging as a major contributor to climate change. Developed countries will need to reduce emissions by at least 80% by 2050 to achieve stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentration between 450 and 550 ppm, and have a unique opportunity to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. The UK is aiming at completely decarbonising transport by 2050 through a combination of more efficient vehicles, cleaner fuels, and smart driving choices. The European Commission has proposed a mandatory CO2 target on new car CO 2 efficiency, which is an urgent needed development. The nation is also using regulatory targets for local schemes, such as free parking or congestion charging, break points for company car tax, and vehicle excise duty. Car ownership and use should thereby continue to drive economic growth and enhance quality of life around the world without destroying the planet.

Academic and nonacademic experiences that affect first-generation college student attrition

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the academic and nonacademic experiences of self-identified first-generation college students who left college before their second year. The study sought to find how the experiences might have affected the students' decision to depart. The case study method was used to investigate these college students who attended Florida International University. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six ex-students who identified themselves as first-generation college students. The narrative data from the interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Analysis was informed by Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, and Terenzini's (2004) theoretical framework of important college academic and nonacademic experiences. An audit trail was kept and the data was triangulated by using multiple sources to establish certain findings. The most critical tool for enhancing trustworthiness was the use of member checking. I also received ongoing feedback from my major professor and committee throughout the dissertation process. The participants reported the following academic experiences: (a) patterns of coursework; (b) course-related interactions with peers; (c) relationships with faculty; (d) class size; (e) academic advisement; (f) orientation and peer advisors; and (e) financial aid. The participants reported the following nonacademic experiences; (f) on- or off- campus employment; (g) on- or off-campus residence; (h) participation in extracurricular activities; (i) noncourse-related peer relationships; (j) commuting and parking; and (k) FIU as an HSI. Isolationism and poor fit with the university were the most prevalent reasons for departure. The reported experiences of these first-generation college students shed light on those experiences that contributed to their departure. University administrators should give additional attention to these stories in an effort to improve retention strategies for this population. All but two of the participants went on to enroll in other institutions and reported good experiences with their new institutions. Recommendations are provided for continued research concerning how to best meet the needs of college students like the participants; students who have not learned from their parents about higher education financial aid, academic advisement, and orientation.

Examining the needs for student services of adult learners in continuing higher education

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the availability and quality of student services offered to adult learners in selected continuing education programs in Dade County, Florida. The two basic research questions addressed in this study were: 1) What are the student services being provided to adult learners by the selected colleges and universities? 2) What is the quality of these services being provided as perceived by administrators and adult learners at their institutions? Two groups comprised the population for this study. One group sample of adult learners enrolled in credit courses being offered by the continuing education unit. The second group sample was comprised of administrators in the areas of Admissions, Financial Aid, Registration, Student Services and Continuing Education at each of the five colleges and universities in Dade County, Florida. Data were collected from 107 students and 25 administrators using the Continuing Education Student Services Questionnaire (CESSQ) developed by the researcher in a pilot study. The questionnaire, one for administrators and a similar one for adult learners, consisted of two parts. One consisted of eight demographic items and the second one of twenty items describing student services. An overview of responses by institutions showed that only the following services received a 100% response as available at one or more institutions: 1) Admissions Information, 2) Convenient Hours for Registration, 3) Assistance in Class Registration, 4) Assistance in Planning a Class Schedule, 5) Access to the Library in Evening and Weekends, 6) Parking and Security, 7) Food Services, 8) Bookstore and 9) Access to Computers.

Resonances: Noise and Contemporary Music

Noise seems to stand for a lack of aesthetic grace, to alienate or distract rather than enrapture. And yet the drones of psychedelia, the racket of garage rock and punk, the thudding of rave, the feedback of shoegaze and post-rock, the bombast of thrash and metal, the clatter of jungle and the stuttering of electronica, together with notable examples of avant-garde noise art, have all found a place in the history of contemporary musics, and are recognised as representing key evolutionary moments. Noise therefore is the untold story of contemporary popular music, and in a critical exploration of noise lies the possibility of a new narrative – one that is wide-ranging, connects the popular to the underground and avant-garde, fully posits the studio as a musical instrument, and demands new critical and theoretical paradigms of those seeking to write about music. Resonances is a compelling collection of new essays by scholars, writers and musicians – all seeking to explore and enlighten this field of study.

Het effect van formele en informele feedback op het innovatievermogen van organisaties

Little attention in literature so far has been given to the impact of feedback on organizational development and change. As well as the impact of feedback on the innovation power of organizations. The capacity of innovation of organizations however may be seen as a crucial capacity of organizations to survive in competitive markets. Prior studies towards the impacts of feedback have more often analyzed formal and informal feedback separately, other than analyzing them together in one study. This master thesis develops and explores a model to assess the possible impact of both formal and informal feedback on the capacity of innovation within organizations. The master thesis is the closing assignment of a Master Study Management at the Open Universiteit Nederland. The general question of the single-case study is: What is the impact of formal and informal feedback on the capacity of innovation of companies? The explored model in the study is a combination of the model of Lawson and Samson (2001) about the capacity of innovation and the framework model of Pitkänen and Lukka (2011) about formal and informal feedback. The single-case study is performed at Yellowbrick, a Dutch company which offers consumers an online parking service, suitable for the use on smartphones. The single-case study is performed twofold by semi-structured interviews and a survey. Although conclusions may not be generalized, because of the limitations of the study and the particularly small investigated group, some findings may be suitable for further investigation. In the study was found that feedback has an impact on the capacity of innovation. Formal feedback scored higher than informal feedback when asked about the impact on the capacity of innovation. The study also found multiple ‘new’ kinds of feedback used by organizations, other than the more ‘traditional’ forms of feedback, such as team meetings and bilateral meetings. Further on was analyzed that when employees find themselves more involved in the process of an innovation, they also seem to score the organization higher on the capacity of this innovation.

Autonomous Vehicles and Commercial Real Estate

Hardly a day goes by without the release of a handful of news stories about autonomous vehicles (or AVs for short). The proverbial “tipping point” of awareness has been reached in the public consciousness as AV technology is quickly becoming the new focus of firms from Silicon Valley to Detroit and beyond. Automation has, and will continue to have far-reaching implications for many human activities, but for driving, the technology is here. Google has been in talks with automaker Ford (1), Elon Musk has declared that Tesla will have the appropriate technology in two years (2), GM is paired-up with Lyft (3), Uber is in development-mode (4), Microsoft and Volvo have announced a partnership (5), Apple has been piloting its top-secret project “Titan” (6), Toyota is working on its own technology (7), as is BMW (8). Audi (9) made a splash by sending a driverless A7 concept car 550 miles from San Francisco to Las Vegas just in time to roll-into the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Clearly, the race is on.

Compendium of Scheduled Violations and Scheduled Fines, July 2016

When a court imposes a fine or forfeiture for a violation of state law, or city or county ordinance, except an ordinance regulating the parking of motor vehicles, the court or the clerk of the district court shall assess an additional penalty in the form of a criminal penalty surcharge equal to thirty-five percent of the fine or forfeiture imposed.

Resident perceptions of natural resources between cities and across scales in the Pacific Northwest

As the global population becomes increasingly urban, research is needed to explore how local culture, land use, and policy will influence urban natural resource management. We used a broad-scale comparative approach and survey of residents within the Portland (Oregon)-Vancouver (Washington) metropolitan areas, USA, two states with similar geographical and ecological characteristics, but different approaches to land-use planning, to explore resident perceptions about natural resources at three scales of analysis: property level (“at or near my house”), neighborhood (“within a 20-minute walk from my house”), and metro level (“across the metro area”). At the metro-level scale, nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed that the two cities were quite similar. However, affinity for particular landscape characteristics existed within each city with the greatest difference generally at the property-level scale. Portland respondents expressed affinity for large mature trees, tree-lined streets, public transportation, and proximity to stores and services. Vancouver respondents expressed affinity for plentiful accessible parking. We suggest three explanations that likely are not mutually exclusive. First, respondents are segmented based on preferences for particular amenities, such as convenience versus commuter needs. Second, historical land-use and tax policy legacies may influence individual decisions. Third, more environmentally attuned worldviews may influence an individual’s desire to produce environmentally friendly outcomes. Our findings highlight the importance of acknowledging variations in residents’ affinities for landscape characteristics across different scales and locations because these differences may influence future land-use policies about urban natural resources.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Alterations to the Public Right-of-Way

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

Sistema guiado de localización de aparcamientos para personas discapacitadas

Método para la gestión y control de aparcamientos regulados para discapacitados. La gestión necesaria por parte de los usuarios mediante dispositivos móviles hace necesaria la transferencia de la información por redes General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). En el sistema guiado de localización de aparcamiento para personas discapacitadas, el usuario activa en un dispositivo móvil la petición de parking. Remitiendo la identificación del vehículo, posición GPS, -opcionalmente- tiempo estimado de ocupación. Recibiendo en su dispositivo un mapa con aparcamientos codificados en color así como cualquier dato de interés. La información de ocupación está disponible a controladores de tráfico, que reciben en su dispositivo, periódicamente o bajo demanda, información de ocupación de estacionamientos en su zona, de modo que puede controlar el parking (vehículos sin licencia o licencia falsa). Los controladores pueden actualizar la información de ocupación, usando sus dispositivos.