The status and causes of alien species invasion in China

Data of classification, origin, pathway and environmental impacts of invasive alien micro-organisms, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles, fish, birds, mammals, weeds, trees, and marine organisms in terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems of China, were analyzed, based on literature retrieval, field survey and consultation. Some 283 invasive alien species were recorded in China, including 19 invasive alien micro-organisms, 18 aquatic plants, 170 terrestrial plants, 25 aquatic invertebrates, 33 terrestrial invertebrates, 3 amphibians and reptiles, 10 fish, and 5 mammals. Of the invasive alien species, 55.1% originated from North and South America, 21.7% from Europe, 9.9% from Asia, 8.1% from Africa and 0.6% from Oceania. Many institutions and individuals in China lack adequate knowledge of ecological and environmental consequences caused by invasive alien species, with some ignorance of the dangerous invasion in the introduction of alien species. For instance, 50.0% of invasive alien plants were intentionally introduced as pasture, feedingstuff, ornamental plants, textile plants, medicinal plants, vegetables, or lawn plants, 25% of alien invasive animals were intentionally introduced for cultivation, ornament, or biological control, In addition, more efforts are being made in the introduction of alien species, and little attention is paid on the management of introduced alien species, which may cause their escape into natural environment and potential threats to the environment. There were also gaps in quarantine system in China. All microorganisms were unintentionally introduced, through timber, seedling, flowerpot, or soil; 76.3% of alien invasive animals invaded through commodity or transportation facility because of the failure of quarantine. Therefore, quarantine measures should be strictly implemented; and meanwhile the intentional introduction of alien species should be strictly managed and a system of risk assessment should be implemented.

落叶松毛虫防治咨询专家系统

落叶松毛虫是东北林区主要害虫之一，它对松林可以造成毁灭性的破坏，因此，采取及时且必要的综合防治措施，可以带来显著的经济和生态效益。本文依据害虫综合管理的指导思想，采用计算机人工智能程序模型，构建了落叶松毛虫防治咨询专家系统。 落叶松毛虫防治咨询专家系统主要由推理机、知识库、数据库、知识获取机制和用户界面等部分组成。其中知识库和推理机是系统的核心部分。在知识库设计中充分考虑了落叶松毛虫防治的复杂性，结合具体的限定条件，如危害特征、自然环境、地形地貌、害虫的生长阶段等，将知识存储在数据库中形成专家数据库；利用数据库查询语言SQL语句设计了系统的推理机，采用正向推理的方式，增强了知识库的可扩展性和可维护性；知识获取机制面向林业专家，实现知识的获取以及知识库的修改、扩充等任务；数据库用来存放落叶松毛虫的基本信息，用户可以通过数据库来获得落叶松毛虫相应的咨询信息。 落叶松毛虫防治咨询专家系统的目标为：（1）对落叶松毛虫的基本信息、行为特征、生理和生态学特征以及防治方法和施药方法等进行存储和查询。（2）正向推理方式保证专家系统在运行时能方便地选择问题，实现智能推理过程。（3）易用的知识维护。 该系统主要有以下几方面的功能和特点：（1）该系统本着害虫综合管理的指导思想，以落叶松毛虫的种群动态为理论基础，充分考虑不同林地环境条件下的自然控制因素，根据环境、气候和害虫本身的条件推出更加合理的结论，尽量采用生物防治，必要时采用化学防治；（2）系统可向用户提供多种可行的防治方案，经营者可以根据当时当地的实际情况作出决定；（3）系统使用方便；（4）系统具有显示、打印、通过Internet浏览获取信息、显示推理解释等功能。 另外，本文对落叶松毛虫专家系统又进行了有效的评估，评估对象分为三个组别：领域专家、森保人员以及学生。三组人员分别针对系统实用性、友好性、系统提问的简洁程度以及可学习性给出等级分数。通过评估结果，最终认定该系统是可以信赖的。 本系统以落叶松毛虫防治领域专家的经验和知识为基础，有效地将计算机技术和森保专家的知识结合在一起，集落叶松毛虫信息存储浏览、查询、专家系统于一体，对于缓解森林保护专家和人员的不足，提高落叶松毛虫虫害的防治能力，加快科技成果的转化具有重要的意义。

弧焊机器人焊接咨询专家系统

为了推广弧焊机器人的应用，应用ＶｉｓｕａｌＢＡＳＩＣ和Ｃ语言开发了一个弧焊机器人焊接咨询专家系统，可用来帮助弧焊机器人操作者进行焊接工艺的制定和选择。

混流汽车总装配线上的零部件优化配送方案研究

配送车每次配送的利用率大小是提高配送效率的主要因素,因此设计一种启发式算法使配送车一次装载的标准塑料周转箱尽可能多,提高配送车空间利用率。最后的仿真实验验证了上述配送方法的实用性,提出的零部件配送管理方法,只需使用较少的配送工人,同时降低了线旁库存,能为企业节省人力,降低生产成本。

企业组织领导参与决策行为研究

In the processes of Chinese economic and political reforms, making decision democratically and scientifically is one of the most important problems for the managers. Through the investigations of 319 managers from 13 companies in 3 cities of China, the participation or the behavior of influence and power sharing in managerial decision-making was systematically analyzed. The research was concerned with three aspects: (1) the descriptive study of managerial decision-making; (2) the relationship between managerial decision-making and a set of specified contingent situational factors; (3) the relationship between managerial decision-making and various outcome variables, such as job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. The principal results of the research showed. 1. The managers used different methods of decision-making in different situations. The wildly used method by the managers was "prior consultation with subordinate". 2. Compared with the developed countries, Chinese managers tended to use more centralized methods of decision-making. In the comparisons among the different districts of China, the managers in the districts of the higher level economic and cultural development tended to use more participative methods in the processes of decision-making. 3. The behavior of managerial decision-making was influenced by the various contingent factors, such as the uncertainties of the environments, the job constraints, and the variables related to persons, etc. 4. The behavior of the managerial decision-making correlated significantly with the job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. The more influence and power managers owned in the processes of decision-making, the more positive they evaluated their job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.

JUSTEIS (JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services) Strand A: survey of end users of all electronic information services (HE and FE), with Action research report. Final report 2002/2003 Cycle Four.

Urquhart, C. (editor for JUSTEIS team), Spink, S., Thomas, R., Yeoman, A., Durbin, J., Turner, J., Armstrong, A., Lonsdale, R. & Fenton, R. (2003). JUSTEIS (JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services) Strand A: survey of end users of all electronic information services (HE and FE), with Action research report. Final report 2002/2003 Cycle Four. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth with Information Automation Ltd (CIQM). Sponsorship: JISC

Estudo de hábitos de higiene oral em crianças da Escola do 1º ciclo com Jardim de Infância de Sousel

Monografia apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em Medicina Dentária

Satisfação da mulher que recorre à consulta de enfermagem pré-concecional

Trabalho apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em Enfermagem

Estudo da prevalência das alterações biológicas e mecânicas associadas à reabilitação com prótese parcial removível nas clínicas pedagógicas de Medicina Dentária da FCS-UFP

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

Student voice in Irish post-primary schools: a drama of voices

This research is an exploration of the expression of student voice in Irish post-primary schools and how its affordance could impact on students’ and teachers’ experiences in the classroom, and at whole-school level through a student council. Student voice refers to the inclusion of students in decisions that shape their experiences in classrooms and schools, and is fundamental to a rights-based perspective that facilitates students to have a voice and a say in their education. Student voice is essential to the development of democratic principles, active citizenship, and learning and pedagogy. This qualitative research, based in three post-primary case-study schools, concerns teachers in eighteen classrooms engaging in dialogic consultation with their students over one school year. Teachers considered the students’ commentary and then adjusted their practice. The operation of student councils was also examined through the voices of council members, liaison teachers and school principals. Theorised within socio-cultural (social constructivist), social constructionist and poststructural frames, the complexity of student voice emerges from its conceptualisation and enactment. Affording students a voice in their classroom presented positive findings in the context of relationships, pedagogical change and students’ engagement, participation and achievement. The power and authority of the teacher and discordant student voices, particularly relating to examinations, presented challenges affecting teachers’ practice and students’ expectations. The functional redundancy of the student council as a construct for student voice at whole-school level, and its partial redundancy as a construct to reflect prefigurative democracy and active citizenship also emerge from the research. Current policy initiatives in Irish education situate student voice in pedagogy and as dialogic consultation at classroom and whole-school level. This work endorses the necessity for and benefit of such a positioning with the author further arguing that it should not become the instrumental student voice of data source, accountability and performativity.

Context-aware real-time assistant architecture for pervasive healthcare

The aging population in many countries brings into focus rising healthcare costs and pressure on conventional healthcare services. Pervasive healthcare has emerged as a viable solution capable of providing a technology-driven approach to alleviate such problems by allowing healthcare to move from the hospital-centred care to self-care, mobile care, and at-home care. The state-of-the-art studies in this field, however, lack a systematic approach for providing comprehensive pervasive healthcare solutions from data collection to data interpretation and from data analysis to data delivery. In this thesis we introduce a Context-aware Real-time Assistant (CARA) architecture that integrates novel approaches with state-of-the-art technology solutions to provide a full-scale pervasive healthcare solution with the emphasis on context awareness to help maintaining the well-being of elderly people. CARA collects information about and around the individual in a home environment, and enables accurately recognition and continuously monitoring activities of daily living. It employs an innovative reasoning engine to provide accurate real-time interpretation of the context and current situation assessment. Being mindful of the use of the system for sensitive personal applications, CARA includes several mechanisms to make the sophisticated intelligent components as transparent and accountable as possible, it also includes a novel cloud-based component for more effective data analysis. To deliver the automated real-time services, CARA supports interactive video and medical sensor based remote consultation. Our proposal has been validated in three application domains that are rich in pervasive contexts and real-time scenarios: (i) Mobile-based Activity Recognition, (ii) Intelligent Healthcare Decision Support Systems and (iii) Home-based Remote Monitoring Systems.

Experiences of the foster care process in the Republic of Ireland: retrospective accounts from biological children of foster carers

This thesis examines the experiences of the biological children of foster carers. In particular it explores their experiences in relation to inclusion, consultation and decision-making. The study also examines the support and training needs of birth children in foster families. Using a qualitative methodology in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen birth children of foster carers aged between 18 and 30 years. The research findings show that for the majority of birth children, fostering was overall a positive experience which helped them develop into individuals who were caring and nonjudgemental. However, from the data collected in this study, it is clear that fostering also brings a range of challenges for birth children in foster families, such as managing feelings of loss, grief, jealousy and guilt when foster children leave. Birth children are reluctant to discuss these issues with their parents and often did not approach fostering social workers as they did not have a meaningful relationship in order to discuss their concerns. The findings also demonstrate that birth children undertake a lot of emotional work in supporting their parents, birth siblings and foster siblings. Despite the important role played by birth children in the fostering process, this contribution often goes unrecognised and unacknowledged by fostering professionals and agencies with birth children not included or consulted about foster care decisions that affect them. It is argued here that birth children are viewed by foster care professionals and agencies from a deficit based perspective. However, this study contends that it is not just foster parents who are involved in the foster care process, but the entire foster family. The findings of this study show that birth children are competent social actors capable of making valuable contributions to foster care decisions that affect their lives and that of their family.

Response to the review of the white paper on Irish aid. The urbanisation of poverty: drawing on the skills and techniques of spatial planning to support the aid programme

Submission on behalf of UCC to the Government Consultation on the White paper on Irish Aid

The student bullying of teachers in Irish second level schools: exploring the influence of historical low state intervention in education on the development of contemporary policy responses in Ireland

The student bullying of teachers (SBT) is a distinct and complex form of bullying with a multiplicity of diverse, changeable and intersecting causes which is experienced by and affects teachers in a variety of ways. SBT is both a national and an international phenomenon which is under-recognised in academic, societal and political spheres, resulting in limited conceptual understanding and awareness of the issue. This study explores teachers’ experiences of SBT behaviours in Irish second level schools as well as teachers’ perceptions regarding training, policies and supports in Ireland to address the issue. Specifically, the study seeks to explore the influence of historical low State intervention in education on contemporary policies and supports to deal with SBT in Ireland. A mixed methods approach involving a survey of 531 second level school teachers and 17 semi-structured interviews with teachers, Year Heads and representatives from teacher trade unions and school management bodies was employed to collect and analyse data. Findings indicate that SBT behaviours are prevalent in many forms in Irish second level schools. The hidden nature of the phenomenon has simultaneously contributed to and is reinforced by limited understanding of the issue as well as teachers’ reluctance to disclose their experiences. Findings reveal that teachers perceive the contemporary policies, training and support structures in Ireland to be inadequate in equipping them to effectively deal with SBT. State intervention in addressing SBT behaviours to date, has been limited, therefore many teachers are forced to respond to the issue based on their own initiatives and assumptions rather than from an informed critically reflective approach, supported by national guidelines and sufficient State investment. This has resulted in a piecemeal, un-coordinated and ad-hoc approach to SBT in Irish schools both in terms of teachers’ management of SBT behaviours and with respect to the supports extended to staff. The potential negative consequences of SBT behaviours on teachers’ wellbeing and professional performance and thus, on the education system itself, underlines the need for a strategic, evidence-based, resourced and integrated approach which includes, as a pivotal component, consultation with teachers, whose contribution to the process is crucial.

An integrated alcohol abuse and medical treatment model for patients with hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have high rates of alcohol consumption, which is associated with progression of fibrosis and lower response rates to HCV treatment. AIMS: This prospective cohort study examined the feasibility of a 24-week integrated alcohol and medical treatment to HCV-infected patients. METHODS: Patients were recruited from a hepatology clinic if they had an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score >4 for women and >8 for men, suggesting hazardous alcohol consumption. The integrated model included patients receiving medical care and alcohol treatment within the same clinic. Alcohol treatment consisted of 6 months of group and individual therapy from an addictions specialist and consultation from a study team psychiatrist as needed. RESULTS: Sixty patients were initially enrolled, and 53 patients participated in treatment. The primary endpoint was the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) alcohol composite scores, which significantly decreased by 0.105 (41.7% reduction) between 0 and 3 months (P < 0.01) and by 0.128 (50.6% reduction) between 0 and 6 months (P < 0.01) after adjusting for covariates. Alcohol abstinence was reported by 40% of patients at 3 months and 44% at 6 months. Patients who did not become alcohol abstinent had reductions in their ASI alcohol composite scores from 0.298 at baseline to 0.219 (26.8% reduction) at 6 months (P = 0.08). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that an integrated model of alcohol treatment and medical care could be successfully implemented in a hepatology clinic with significant favorable impact on alcohol use and abstinence among patients with chronic HCV.