Opening up climate research: A linked data approach to publishing data provenance

Traditionally, the formal scientific output in most fields of natural science has been limited to peer- reviewed academic journal publications, with less attention paid to the chain of intermediate data results and their associated metadata, including provenance. In effect, this has constrained the representation and verification of the data provenance to the confines of the related publications. Detailed knowledge of a dataset’s provenance is essential to establish the pedigree of the data for its effective re-use, and to avoid redundant re-enactment of the experiment or computation involved. It is increasingly important for open-access data to determine their authenticity and quality, especially considering the growing volumes of datasets appearing in the public domain. To address these issues, we present an approach that combines the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) – a widely adopted citation technique – with existing, widely adopted climate science data standards to formally publish detailed provenance of a climate research dataset as an associated scientific workflow. This is integrated with linked-data compliant data re-use standards (e.g. OAI-ORE) to enable a seamless link between a publication and the complete trail of lineage of the corresponding dataset, including the dataset itself.

Probability functions to build composite indicators: a methodology to measure environmental impacts of genetically modified crops

There is an on-going debate on the environmental effects of genetically modified crops to which this paper aims to contribute. First, data on environmental impacts of genetically modified (GM) and conventional crops are collected from peer-reviewed journals, and secondly an analysis is conducted in order to examine which crop type is less harmful for the environment. Published data on environmental impacts are measured using an array of indicators, and their analysis requires their normalisation and aggregation. Taking advantage of composite indicators literature, this paper builds composite indicators to measure the impact of GM and conventional crops in three dimensions: (1) non-target key species richness, (2) pesticide use, and (3) aggregated environmental impact. The comparison between the three composite indicators for both crop types allows us to establish not only a ranking to elucidate which crop is more convenient for the environment but the probability that one crop type outperforms the other from an environmental perspective. Results show that GM crops tend to cause lower environmental impacts than conventional crops for the analysed indicators.

Learning to lead for business growth – implications for supporting SMEs in Wales

The Welsh private and third sectors are heavily dependent on SMEs. Consequently the performance of SMEs is critical to the performance of the Welsh economy. Substantial public funds, particularly from European Structural Funds, have been allocated to support these since 2000. The majority of programmes thus funded have been led from within the Welsh Government. This paper reports interim evaluation findings from one intervention led by two Welsh higher education institutions (HEIs), namely the LEAD Wales programme. The programme is an extended intervention to support the leadership skills of owner-managers and incorporates a range of learning methods, including formal masterclasses, but emphasizes situated and experiential learning through action learning, coaching and peer-to-peer exchange exercises. The programme’s impact is assessed on the experiences of 325 participants, of whom 217 have completed the programme. The paper concludes that situated learning methods, through which participants are able to draw from shared history and experience over an extended period are critical to programme success. By contrast, short-term thematic teaching, based around more formal, hierarchical learning is less likely to yield significant and sustainable economic benefits. The implications of this for business support in Wales are discussed.

Consumer behaviour towards organic ready-to-eat meals: a case of quality innovation

Over the past decades, a significant number of peer-reviewed journal articles on the field of interest, has gradually grown mirroring the corresponding relevance. The purpose of this research is mainly to analyse the factors that could influence the choices of consumers’ when purchasing organic RTE meals while simultaneously identifies consumers’ attitudes regarding the ethical and green sounds towards such products. Particularly, special interest is placed on the dual nature of these products which on the one hand are characterized by high quality (organic) and on the other hand by the convenience factor. As a result, research has been carried out in order to examine both the potentiality of organic RTE meals in the food market and also the presentation of consumers’ behaviour and perceptions towards these products from a review perspective. Hence, a narrative literature review was performed in order to produce an overview of the most important outcomes and trends in this area being presented, compared and summarised based on authors’ experience. To put over a holistic approach of organic RTE meals purchase behaviour and attitudes, both key findings and other areas that have not been extensively documented, are presented.

Protocol for ACCESS: a qualitative study exploring barriers and facilitators to accessing the emergency contraceptive pill from community pharmacies in Australia

Introduction The rate of unplanned pregnancy in Australia remains high, which has contributed to Australia having one of the highest abortion rates of developed countries with an estimated 1 in 5 women having an abortion. The emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) offers a safe way of preventing unintended pregnancy after unprotected sex has occurred. While the ECP has been available over-the-counter in Australian pharmacies for over a decade, its use has not significantly increased. This paper presents a protocol for a qualitative study that aims to identify the barriers and facilitators to accessing the ECP from community pharmacies in Australia. Methods and analysis Data will be collected through one-on-one interviews that are semistructured and in-depth. Partnerships have been established with 2 pharmacy groups and 2 women's health organisations to aid with the recruitment of women and pharmacists for data collection purposes. Interview questions explore domains from the Theoretical Domains Framework in order to assess the factors aiding and/or hindering access to ECP from community pharmacies. Data collected will be analysed using deductive content analysis. The expected benefits of this study are that it will help develop evidence-based workforce interventions to strengthen the capacity and performance of community pharmacists as key ECP providers. Ethics and dissemination The findings will be disseminated to the research team and study partners, who will brainstorm ideas for interventions that would address barriers and facilitators to access identified from the interviews. Dissemination will also occur through presentations and peer-reviewed publications and the study participants will receive an executive summary of the findings. The study has been evaluated and approved by the Monash Human Research Ethics Committee.

Ability of students to recognize the relationship between using mobile apps for learning during fieldwork and the development of graduate attributes

The increasing importance of employability in Higher Education curricula and the prevalence of using mobile devices for fieldbased learning prompted an investigation into student awareness of the relationship between the use of mobile apps for learning and the development of graduate attributes (GAs) (and the link to employability). The results from post-fieldwork focus groups from four field courses indicated that students could make clear links between the use of a variety of mobile apps and graduate attribute development. The study suggests a number of mobile apps can align simultaneously with more than one graduate attribute. Furthermore, prior experience and the context of use can influence students’ perceptions of an app and its link with different GAs.

Modeling Information Diffusion in University Libraries: Assessing Peer Interaction Patterns as a Complex Dynamic System

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014.

Peer effects na educação no Brasil: evidência a partir dos dados do SAEB

Este trabalho estima o efeito das Interações Sociais no desempenho dos estudantes no Brasil, a partir dos dados do SAEB 2005. Os resultados apontam que Peer Effects explicam uma parte importante da proficiência observada no exame de Matemática. Além disto, encontramos evidências de que este efeito é concentrado nos alunos no topo da distribuição de habilidade, o que sugere que políticas de ability tracking podem ser ótimas.

Voice over IP 2.0: an analysis of limits and potential of IP2IP telecommunication

Internet Telephony (VoIP) is changing the telecommunication industry. Oftentimes free, VoIP is becoming more and more popular amongst users. Large software companies have entered the market and heavily invest into it. In 2011, for instance, Microsoft bought Skype for 8.5bn USD. This trend increasingly impacts the incumbent telecommunication operators. They see their main source of revenue – classic telephony – under siege and disappear. The thesis at hand develops a most-likely scenario in order to determine how VoIP is evolving further and it predicts, based on a ten-year forecast, the impact it will have on the players in the telecommunication industry.The paper presents a model combining Rogers’ diffusion and Christensen’s innovation research. The model has the goal of explaining the past evolution of VoIP and to isolate the factors that determine the further diffusion of the innovation. Interviews with industry experts serve to assess how the identified factors are evolving.Two propositions are offered. First, VoIP operators are becoming more important in international, corporate, and mobile telephony. End-to-end VoIP (IP2IP) will exhibit strong growth rates and increasingly cannibalize the telephony revenues of the classic operators. Second, fix-net telephony in SMEs and at home will continue to be dominated by the incumbents. Yet, as prices for telephony fall towards zero also they will implement IP2IP in order to save costs. By 2022, up to 90% of the calls will be IP2IP. The author recommends the incumbents and VoIP operators to proactively face the change, to rethink their business strategies, and to even be open for cooperation.

Peer effects on locus of control

Eu analiso o papel que a interação entre pares tem na determinação do Locus de Controle, uma medida de quão pessoalmente responsável as pessoas se sentem com relação a diferentes aspectos de suas vidas. Eu estabeleço identificação através de variação no tamanho do grupo e de variáveis instrumentais baseadas na estrutura de painel dos dados. Eu estudo a questão no contexto escolar, utilizando os dados de alunos no Ensino Fundamental de um município brasileiro, que inclui o questionário de Tel Aviv de Locus de Controle. Minhas estimativas não apresentam sinais de peer effects endógenos ou contextuais.

Plataforma para o suporte de blended peer assisted learning

Este projecto foi realizado na Universidade da Madeira, no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática e tem como título “Plataforma para o suporte de Blended Peer Assisted Learning”. Ao longo da nossa pesquisa sobre os vários métodos de aprendizagem online, deparamo-nos com uma grande lacuna que abrange a maior parte dos sistema de ensino assistidos por computador, ou seja, todas elas preocupam-se com a passagem de conhecimentos, mas raras são aquelas que têm em atenção o tipo de utilizador, qual a seu percurso académico e profissional, qual a metodologia que fará com que o mesmo capte melhor os conteúdos, etc. Com este objectivo em mente, e tendo em atenção as diversas plataformas e metodologias de ensino existentes, optou-se por elaborar uma arquitectura de uma plataforma capaz de centralizar na mesma, um conjunto de funcionalidades e metodologias que possibilitassem um acompanhamento mais específico do utilizador, proporcionando um maior conhecimento, através do qual poderia encaminhar o utilizador para a estratégia de aprendizagem que mais se adequasse a um utilizador com as suas características. Como se poderá constatar no decorrer desta dissertação, a plataforma desenhada e o módulo desenvolvido têm como base teórica o Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) e as suas estratégias de aprendizagem. O PAL é um conceito relativamente novo, que se encontra em plena ascensão, sendo cada vez maior o número de instituições/organizações que adoptam o PAL como metodologia de ensino para a formação dos seus membros. Este crescimento deve-se em grande parte às várias estratégias PAL que visam uma maior adequação ao tipo de utilizador, contribuindo assim para uma aprendizagem mais rápida e eficaz. Uma vez que a implementação da plataforma na sua totalidade seria de todo impossível, optouse por desenvolver apenas um dos módulos referente à estratégia de PAL – Peer Tutoring (PT). No final, o objectivo principal, passa não só por fornecer as bases necessárias ao desenvolvimento da referida plataforma, mas também pela disponibilização do módulo de PT que servirá de referência para o desenvolvimento das restantes estratégias. Tendo em atenção toda a investigação efectuada, facilmente se depreende as inúmeras vantagens que podem advir da utilização do PAL, das quais se salienta, a adequação da estratégia PAL mais indicada para cada tipo de utilizador.

A Beam Search Method to Solve the Problem of Assignment Cells to Switches in a Cellular Mobile Network

Assigning cells to switches in a cellular mobile network is known as an NP-hard optimization problem. This means that the alternative for the solution of this type of problem is the use of heuristic methods, because they allow the discovery of a good solution in a very satisfactory computational time. This paper proposes a Beam Search method to solve the problem of assignment cell in cellular mobile networks. Some modifications in this algorithm are also presented, which allows its parallel application. Computational results obtained from several tests confirm the effectiveness of this approach and provide good solutions for large scale problems.

Factors to Achieve Aesthetics in All-Ceramic Restorations

The demand for aesthetic restorations has increased during the last years. Dental ceramics are a successful alternative for some cases because of aesthetics and biocompatibility. Therefore, the aim of this literature review was to present the factors necessary to fabricate all-ceramic restorations with aesthetics similar to natural dentition. A search of English-language peer-review literature was completed using MEDLINE database from 1975 to 2009 including the keywords "aesthetic," "metal-free crown," "all-ceramic," and "color." It was observed that several factors influence aesthetics of all-ceramic restorations. Color scale, light source during color evaluation, characteristic of core material, color of supporting tooth, presence of root post, and type of cement are clinical factors that may influence color of the restorations. Laboratorial factors as technique for ceramic condensation, thickness, temperature, and number of firing cycles also influence the result of these crowns. Although several clinical and laboratorial factors influence aesthetics of all-ceramic restorations, the aesthetic success and longevity of these restorations depend on the integration with surrounding periodontal tissue.