Crisis communication and social media:the changing environment for natural disaster response

Over the past two years there have been several large-scale disasters (Haitian earthquake, Australian floods, UK riots, and the Japanese earthquake) that have seen wide use of social media for disaster response, often in innovative ways. This paper provides an analysis of the ways in which social media has been used in public-to-public communication and public-to-government organisation communication. It discusses four ways in which disaster response has been changed by social media: 1. Social media appears to be displacing the traditional media as a means of communication with the public during a crisis. In particular social media influences the way traditional media communication is received and distributed. 2. We propose that user-generated content may provide a new source of information for emergency management agencies during a disaster, but there is uncertainty with regards to the reliability and usefulness of this information. 3. There are also indications that social media provides a means for the public to self-organise in ways that were not previously possible. However, the type and usefulness of self-organisation sometimes works against efforts to mitigate the outcome of the disaster. 4. Social media seems to influence information flow during a disaster. In the past most information flowed in a single direction from government organisation to public, but social media negates this model. The public can diffuse information with ease, but also expect interaction with Government Organisations rather than a simple one-way information flow. These changes have implications for the way government organisations communicate with the public during a disaster. The predominant model for explaining this form of communication, the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC), was developed in 2005 before social media achieved widespread popularity. We will present a modified form of the CERC model that integrates social media into the disaster communication cycle, and addresses the ways in which social media has changed communication between the public and government organisations during disasters.

Multimodal 'Eyes-Free' interaction techniques for mobile devices

Mobile and wearable computers present input/output prob-lems due to limited screen space and interaction techniques. When mobile, users typically focus their visual attention on navigating their environment - making visually demanding interface designs hard to operate. This paper presents two multimodal interaction techniques designed to overcome these problems and allow truly mobile, 'eyes-free' device use. The first is a 3D audio radial pie menu that uses head gestures for selecting items. An evaluation of a range of different audio designs showed that egocentric sounds re-duced task completion time, perceived annoyance, and al-lowed users to walk closer to their preferred walking speed. The second is a sonically enhanced 2D gesture recognition system for use on a belt-mounted PDA. An evaluation of the system with and without audio feedback showed users' ges-tures were more accurate when dynamically guided by au-dio-feedback. These novel interaction techniques demon-strate effective alternatives to visual-centric interface de-signs on mobile devices.

Network effects, network structure and consumer interaction in mobile telecommunications in Europe and Asia

This paper estimates the importance of (tariff-mediated) network effects and the impact of a consumer's social network on her choice of mobile phone provider. The study uses network data obtained from surveys of students in several European and Asian countries. We use the Quadratic Assignment Procedure, a non-parametric permutation test, to adjust for the particular error structure of network data. We find that respondents strongly coordinate their choice of mobile phone providers, but only if their provider induces network effects. This suggests that this coordination depends on network effects rather than on information contagion or pressure to conform to the social environment.

Universal duality in a Luttinger liquid coupled to a generic environment

We study a Luttinger liquid (LL) coupled to a generic environment consisting of bosonic modes with arbitrary density-density and current-current interactions. The LL can be either in the conducting phase and perturbed by a weak scatterer or in the insulating phase and perturbed by a weak link. The environment modes can also be scattered by the imperfection in the system with arbitrary transmission and reflection amplitudes. We present a general method of calculating correlation functions under the presence of the environment and prove the duality of exponents describing the scaling of the weak scatterer and of the weak link. This duality holds true for a broad class of models and is sensitive to neither interaction nor environmental modes details, thus it shows up as the universal property. It ensures that the environment cannot generate new stable fixed points of the renormalization group flow. Thus, the LL always flows toward either conducting or insulating phase. Phases are separated by a sharp boundary which is shifted by the influence of the environment. Our results are relevant, for example, for low-energy transport in (i) an interacting quantum wire or a carbon nanotube where the electrons are coupled to the acoustic phonons scattered by the lattice defect; (ii) a mixture of interacting fermionic and bosonic cold atoms where the bosonic modes are scattered due to an abrupt local change of the interaction; (iii) mesoscopic electric circuits.

Társas kapcsolatok és interakció a szabadidősportban (Social relationships and interaction in the leisure sport)

A sporttermékek iránti kereslet kialakulására a sportszocializáció meghatározó befolyással bír. A sport kiemelkedő szerepet játszik a mai modern társadalomban. Jelentős gazdasági súlyt képvisel, továbbá lehetőséget ad a személyes fejlődésre és a társas kapcsolatok kialakítására, ápolására. Az egyéni személyes előnyök mellett a sportolás támogatása révén a társadalom egészségi állapotának költséghatékony megőrzése is biztosítható. Ezzel együtt hazánkban alacsony a szabadidősportban való részvétel, a lakosság egészségi állapota romlik, az ülő életmód egyre terjed. Az elvégzett kutatás célja az volt, hogy olyan ismeretekre tegyen szert, amelyek segítségével megérthető a sportolást befolyásoló legfőbb tényezők hatása, így az egyén szűk környezetének (család, barátok, iskola) jelentősége, a társas befolyás hazai jellegzetességei. Ezek az ismeretek elősegíthetik mind a profit, mind a non-profit szféra számára a lakosság sikeresebb megszólítását, hozzájárulva egy aktívabb társadalom megteremtéséhez. _______ Sport socialization has high relevance to generate demand for sport. Sport plays an important role in today’s modern societies. It has enormous economic significance and provides opportunity for personal development and for establishing new or keeping existing social relationships. Besides individual personal benefits, supporting sport also ensures the costefficient maintenance of good health on a social level. However sport participation and sport spectatorship are both low in Hungary. At the same time the health status of residents are worsening and the society is characterized by a sitting, sedentary lifestyle. The goal of the study is to gather information on the primary factors influencing sport participation, especially the significance of the close social environment of the individual (family, friends and education). Understanding why people participate in sports and how they can be motivated to do so is of primary importance to both the private and the state sector, explained by business interest and by the need to ensure the healthy operation of the society.

The contribution of higher education to economic *development in a globalized environment

Amidst concerns about achieving high levels of technology to remain competitive in the global market without compromising economic development, national economies are experiencing a high demand for human capital. As higher education is assumed to be the main source of human capital, this analysis focused on a more specific and less explored area of the generally accepted idea that higher education contributes to economic growth. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to find whether higher education also contributes to economic development, and whether that contribution is more substantial in a globalized context. ^ Consequently, a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to support with statistical significance the answer to the research question: Does higher education contributes to economic development in the context of globalization? The information analyzed was obtained from historical data of 91 selected countries, and the period of time of the study was 10 years (1990–2000). Some variables, however, were lagged back 5, 10 or 15 years along a 15-year timeframe (1975–1990). The resulting comparative static model was based on the Cobb-Douglas production function and the Solow model to specify economic growth as a function of physical capital, labor, technology, and productivity. Then, formal education, economic development, and globalization were added to the equation. ^ The findings of this study supported the assumption that the independent contribution of the changes in higher education completion and globalization to changes in economic growth is more substantial than the contribution of their interaction. The results also suggested that changes in higher and secondary education completion contribute much more to changes in economic growth in less developed countries than in their more developed counterparts. ^ As a conclusion, based on the results of this study, I proposed the implementation of public policy in less developed countries to promote and expand adequate secondary and higher education systems with the purpose of helping in the achievement of economic development. I also recommended further research efforts on this topic to emphasize the contribution of education to the economy, mainly in less developed countries. ^

Unusual, basin-scale, fluid–rock interaction in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : Preservation in calcite δ18O of an ancient high geothermal gradient

Acknowledgements We acknowledge financial support from ICDP for the drilling programme. AEF, ATB and ARP thank NERC for financial support through NE/G00398X/1. VAM thanks the Norwegian Research Council for financial support through 191530/V30. We are grateful for sample preparation and analyses to all the personnel at NGU lab. At SUERC we enjoyed exceptional analytical support from Julie Dougans. Anonymous reviewers and the editor provided comments that improved the final manuscript.

Gene × environment interactions in schizophrenia: evidence from genetic mouse models

The study of gene × environment, as well as epistatic interactions in schizophrenia, has provided important insight into the complex etiopathologic basis of schizophrenia. It has also increased our understanding of the role of susceptibility genes in the disorder and is an important consideration as we seek to translate genetic advances into novel antipsychotic treatment targets. This review summarises data arising from research involving the modelling of gene × environment interactions in schizophrenia using preclinical genetic models. Evidence for synergistic effects on the expression of schizophrenia-relevant endophenotypes will be discussed. It is proposed that valid and multifactorial preclinical models are important tools for identifying critical areas, as well as underlying mechanisms, of convergence of genetic and environmental risk factors, and their interaction in schizophrenia.

Students’ Use of Knowledge Resources in Environmental Interaction on an Outdoor Learning Trail

This study examined how students leveraged different types of knowledge resources on an outdoor learning trail. We positioned the learning trail as an integral part of the curriculum with a pre- and post-trail phase to scaffold and to support students’ meaning-making process. The study was conducted with two classes of secondary two students. We coded two groups’ discourse to examine the use of knowledge resource types in the meaning-making process in an outdoor learning setting: contextual resource, new conceptual resource, prior knowledge resource, as well as the relationship among these knowledge resource types. Next, we also examined environmental interaction and integration in the students’ use of these knowledge resource types. Analysis showed that contextual resources are chiefly instrumental in fostering students’ capacity to harness new conceptual resource and to activate prior knowledge resource in interacting with and integrating the outdoor learning environment in the meaning-making process.

Enteric methane emissions and nitrogen utilisation efficiency for two genotype of hill hoggets offered fresh, ensiled and pelleted ryegrass

Thirty-six 12-month-old hill hoggets were used in a 2 genotype (18 Scottish Blackface vs. 18 Swaledale×Scottish Blackface)×3 diet (fresh vs. ensiled vs. pelleted ryegrass) factorial design experiment to evaluate the effects of hogget genotype and forage type on enteric methane (CH4) emissions and nitrogen (N) utilisation. The hoggets were offered 3 diets ad libitum with no concentrate supplementation in a single period study with 6 hoggets for each of the 6 genotype×diet combinations (n=6). Fresh ryegrass was harvested daily in the morning. Pelleted ryegrass was sourced from a commercial supplier (Aylescott Driers & Feeds, Burrington, UK) and the ryegrass silage was ensiled with Ecosyl (Lactobacillus plantarum, Volac International Limited, Hertfordshire, UK) as an additive. The hoggets were housed in individual pens for at least 14 d before being transferred to individual respiration chambers for a further 4 d with feed intake, faeces and urine outputs and CH4 emissions measured. There was no significant interaction between genotype and forage type on any parameter evaluated. Sheep offered pelleted grass had greater feed intake (e.g. DM, energy and N) but less energy and nutrient apparent digestibility (e.g. DM, N and neutral detergent fibre (NDF)) than those given fresh grass or grass silage (P<0.001). Feeding pelleted grass, rather than fresh grass or grass silage, reduced enteric CH4 emissions as a proportion of DM intake and gross energy (GE) intake (P<0.01). Sheep offered fresh grass had a significantly lower acid detergent fibre (ADF) apparent digestibility, and CH4 energy output (CH4-E) as a proportion of GE intake than those offered grass silage (P<0.001). There was no significant difference, in CH4 emission rate or N utilisation efficiency when compared between Scottish Blackface and Swaledale × Scottish Blackface. Linear and multiple regression techniques were used to develop relationships between CH4 emissions or N excretion and dietary and animal variables using data from sheep offered fresh ryegrass and grass silage. The equation relating CH4-E (MJ/d) to GE intake (GEI, MJ/d), energy apparent digestibility (DE/GE) and metabolisability (ME/GE) resulted in a high r2 (CH4-E=0.074 GEI+9.2 DE/GE−10.2 ME/GE−0.37, r2=0.93). N intake (NI) was the best predictor for manure N excretion (Manure N=0.66 NI+0.96, r2=0.85). The use of these relationships can potentially improve the precision and decrease the uncertainty in predicting CH4 emissions and N excretion for sheep production systems managed under the current feeding conditions.

Vaisseau sanguin reconstruit par génie tissulaire : Développement d'une nouvelle approche pour la reconstruction de la media et interaction avec les microparticules

La media vasculaire est au coeur des processus physiopathologiques qui entraînent le développement de l’athérosclérose. L’utilisation d’une media reconstruite par génie tissulaire permet d’étudier les cellules musculaires lisses (CML) humaines dans un environnement plus physiologique que les cellules en culture monocouche. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse sont orientés autour de la media vasculaire reconstruite par génie tissulaire comme modèle d’étude pharmacologique et prothèse vasculaire autologue. La première partie des travaux porte sur l’étude des interactions de cette tunique avec les microparticules (MP) circulantes. D’abord, nous avons montré que la présence de l’adventice modifie la réponse de la media aux MP produites in vitro à partir des lymphocytes T. Ensuite, l’étude de l’effet des MP isolées du sérum de patients en choc septique sur la media humaine a démontré que ces MP sont en mesure d’augmenter la contraction de la media par un mécanisme impliquant une diminution du NO et une augmentation de l’expression de l’ARN messager de l’interleukine-10. L’incubation de la media reconstruite avec cette cytokine anti-inflammatoire bloque l’hyporéactivité induite par les lipopolysaccharides. Le même phénomène a été reproduit in vivo, chez le rongeur. Ces résultats suggèrent que les SMP auraient un effet protecteur sur la fonction vasculaire, en potentialisant la contraction de la media. Ensuite, nous avons optimisé l’approche de reconstruction de prothèses vasculaires par auto-assemblage proposée initialement pour l’adapter au contexte particulier des CML. L’objectif principal était de permettre l’étude physiopathologique de la media à partir de toutes les lignées de CML; indépendamment de leur capacité de synthèse de matrice extracellulaire. Pour ce faire, nous avons développé un échafaudage de matrice extracellulaire produit par auto-assemblage à partir de fibroblastes humains. L’utilisation de cet échafaudage génère une media plus résistante et plus contractile que la technique initiale. Enfin, une anisotropie a été créée dans cet échafaudage pour permettre une orientation physiologique des CML. La media reconstruite devient ainsi plus résistante et plus contractile. Ces améliorations permettent de reconstruire des media à partir des cellules de plus de patients et mèneront à des études pharmacologiques plus représentatives de la population. Cet échafaudage facilitera la translation clinique de ce modèle de media reconstruite par génie tissulaire.

Estimates of genetic parameters for growth and wood properties in Eucalyptus pellita F. Muell. to support tree breeding in Vietnam

Eucalyptus pellita demonstrated good growth and wood quality traits in this study, with young plantation grown timber being suitable for both solid and pulp wood products. All traits examined were under moderate levels of genetic control with little genotype by environment interaction when grown on two contrasting sites in Vietnam. Eucalyptus pellita currently has a significant role in reforestation in the tropics. Research to support expanded of use of this species is needed: particularly, research to better understand the genetic control of key traits will facilitate the development of genetically improved planting stock. This study aimed to provide estimates of the heritability of diameter at breast height over bark, wood basic density, Kraft pulp yield, modulus of elasticity and microfibril angle, and the genetic correlations among these traits, and understand the importance of genotype by environment interactions in Vietnam. Data for diameter and wood properties were collected from two 10-year-old, open-pollinated progeny trials of E. pellita in Vietnam that evaluated 104 families from six native range and three orchard sources. Wood properties were estimated from wood samples using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Data were analysed using mixed linear models to estimate genetic parameters (heritability, proportion of variance between seed sources and genetic correlations). Variation among the nine sources was small compared to additive variance. Narrow-sense heritability and genetic correlation estimates indicated that simultaneous improvements in most traits could be achieved from selection among and within families as the genetic correlations among traits were either favourable or close to zero. Type B genetic correlations approached one for all traits suggesting that genotype by environment interactions were of little importance. These results support a breeding strategy utilizing a single breeding population advanced by selecting the best individuals across all seed sources. Both growth and wood properties have been evaluated. Multi-trait selection for growth and wood property traits will lead to more productive populations of E. pellita both with improved productivity and improved timber and pulp properties.

Utilising presence in places to support mobile interaction

Physical places are given contextual meaning by the objects and people that make up the space. Presence in physical places can be utilised to support mobile interaction by making access to media and notifications on a smartphone easier and more visible to other people. Smartphone interfaces can be extended into the physical world in a meaningful way by anchoring digital content to artefacts, and interactions situated around physical artefacts can provide contextual meaning to private manipulations with a mobile device. Additionally, places themselves are designed to support a set of tasks, and the logical structure of places can be used to organise content on the smartphone. Menus that adapt the functionality of a smartphone can support the user by presenting the tools most likely to be needed just-in-time, so that information needs can be satisfied quickly and with little cognitive effort. Furthermore, places are often shared with people whom the user knows, and the smartphone can facilitate social situations by providing access to content that stimulates conversation. However, the smartphone can disrupt a collaborative environment, by alerting the user with unimportant notifications, or sucking the user in to the digital world with attractive content that is only shown on a private screen. Sharing smartphone content on a situated display creates an inclusive and unobtrusive user experience, and can increase focus on a primary task by allowing content to be read at a glance. Mobile interaction situated around artefacts of personal places is investigated as a way to support users to access content from their smartphone while managing their physical presence. A menu that adapts to personal places is evaluated to reduce the time and effort of app navigation, and coordinating smartphone content on a situated display is found to support social engagement and the negotiation of notifications. Improving the sensing of smartphone users in places is a challenge that is out-with the scope of this thesis. Instead, interaction designers and developers should be provided with low-cost positioning tools that utilise presence in places, and enable quantitative and qualitative data to be collected in user evaluations. Two lightweight positioning tools are developed with the low-cost sensors that are currently available: The Microsoft Kinect depth sensor allows movements of a smartphone user to be tracked in a limited area of a place, and Bluetooth beacons enable the larger context of a place to be detected. Positioning experiments with each sensor are performed to highlight the capabilities and limitations of current sensing techniques for designing interactions with a smartphone. Both tools enable prototypes to be built with a rapid prototyping approach, and mobile interactions can be tested with more advanced sensing techniques as they become available. Sensing technologies are becoming pervasive, and it will soon be possible to perform reliable place detection in-the-wild. Novel interactions that utilise presence in places can support smartphone users by making access to useful functionality easy and more visible to the people who matter most in everyday life.

Genetic variation in growth and wood-quality traits of Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata across three sites in south-east Queensland, Australia

Ten growth or wood-quality traits were assessed in three nearby Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata (CCV) open-pollinated family-within-provenance trials (18 provenances represented by a total of 374 families) to provide information for the development of a breeding program targeting both pulp and solid-wood products. Growth traits (diameter at breast high over bark [DBH], height and conical volume) were assessed at 3 and 7 years of age. Wood-quality traits (density [DEN], Kraft pulp yield [KPY], modulus of elasticity [MoE] and microfibril angle [MfA]) were predicted using near-infrared spectroscopy on wood samples collected from these trials when aged between 10 and 12 years. The high average KPY, DEN and MoE, and low average MfA observed indicates CCV is very suitable for both pulp and timber products. All traits were under moderate to strong genetic control. In across- trials analyses, high (>0.4) heritability estimates were observed for height, DEN, MoE and MfA, while moderate heritability estimates (0.24 to 0.34) were observed for DBH, volume and KPY. Most traits showed very low levels of genotype × site interaction. Estimated age–age genetic correlations for growth traits were strong at both the family (0.97) and provenance (0.99) levels. Relationships among traits (additive genetic correlation estimates) were favourable, with strong and positive estimates between growth traits (0.84 to 0.98), moderate and positive values between growth and wood-quality traits (0.32 to 0.68), moderate and positive between KPY and MoE (0.64), and high and positive between DEN and MoE (0.82). However, negative (but favourable) correlations were detected between MfA and all other evaluated traits (−0.31 to −0.96). The genetic correlation between the same trait expressed on two different sites, at family level, ranged from 0.24 to 0.42 for growth traits, and from 0.29 to 0.53 for wood traits. Therefore simultaneous genetic improvement of growth and wood property traits in CCV for the target environment in south-east Queensland should be possible, given the moderate to high estimates of heritability and favourable correlations amongst all traits studied, unless genotype × site interactions are greater than was evident. © 2016 NISC (Pty) Ltd

On the interaction of bovine serum albumin with ionic surfactants: Temperature induced EPR changes of a maleimide nitroxide reflect local protein dynamics and probe solvent accessibility

The interaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with the ionic surfactants sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS, anionic), cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC, cationic) and N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (HPS, zwitterionic) was studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of spin label covalently bound to the single free thiol group of the protein. EPR spectra simulation allows to monitor the protein dynamics at the labeling site and to estimate the changes in standard Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy for transferring the nitroxide side chain from the more motionally restricted to the less restricted component. Whereas SDS and CTAC showed similar increases in the dynamics of the protein backbone for all measured concentrations. HPS presented a smaller effect at concentrations above 1.5 mM. At 10 mM of surfactants and 0.15 mM BSA, the standard Gibbs free energy change was consistent with protein backbone conformations more expanded and exposed to the solvent as compared to the native protein, but with a less pronounced effect for HPS. In the presence of the surfactants, the enthalpy change, related to the energy required to dissociate the nitroxide side chain from the protein, was greater, suggesting a lower water activity. The nitroxide side chain also detected a higher viscosity environment in the vicinity of the paramagnetic probe induced by the addition of the surfactants. The results suggest that the surfactant-BSA interaction, at higher surfactant concentration, is affected by the affinities of the surfactant to its own micelles and micelle-like aggregates. Complementary DLS data suggests that the temperature induced changes monitored by the nitroxide probe reflects local changes in the vicinity of the single thiol group of Cys-34 BSA residue. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.