International review of computer usage and applications by construction project managers

As computer applications become more available—both technically and economically—construction project managers are increasingly able to access advanced computer tools capable of transforming the role that project managers have typically performed. Competence at using these tools requires a dual commitment in training—from the individual and the firm. Improving the computer skills of project managers can provide construction firms with a competitive advantage to differentiate from others in an increasingly competitive international market. Yet, few published studies have quantified what existing level of competence construction project managers have. Identification of project managers’ existing computer application skills is a necessary first step to developing more directed training to better capture the benefits of computer applications. This paper discusses the yet to be released results of a series of surveys undertaken in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and the United States through QUT’s School of Construction Management and Property and the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction at the University of Florida. This international survey reviews the use and reported competence in using a series of commercially-available computer applications by construction project managers. The five different country locations of the survey allow cross-national comparisons to be made between project managers undertaking continuing professional development programs. The results highlight a shortfall in the ability of construction project managers to capture potential benefits provided by advanced computer applications and provide directions for targeted industry training programs. This international survey also provides a unique insight to the cross-national usage of advanced computer applications and forms an important step in this ongoing joint review of technology and the construction project manager.

Measuring urban form : a comparative analysis of South East Queensland and South Florida

At first glance the built environments of South Florida and South East Queensland appear very similar, particularly along the highly urbanized coast. However this apparent similarity belies some fundamental differences between the two regions in terms of context and the approach to regulating development. This paper describes some of these key differences, but focuses on two research questions: 1) do these differences affect the built environment; and 2) if so, how does the built form differ? There has been considerable research on how to best measure urban form, particularly as it relates to measuring urban sprawl (Schwarz 2010; Clifton et al. 2008). Some of the key questions identified by this research include: what are the best variables to use?; what scale should be used?; and what time period to use? We will assimilate this research in order to develop a methodology for measuring urban form and apply it to both case study regions. There are several potential outcomes from this research -- one is that the built form between the two regions is quite different; and the second is that it is similar. The first outcome is what might be expected given the differences in context and development regulation. However how might the second outcome be explained – major differences in context and development regulation resulting in minor differences in key measures of urban form? One explanation is that differences in the way development is regulated are not as important in determining the built form as are private market forces.

Do planning regulations matter? : a comparison of South East Queensland and South Florida

At one level the urban landscapes of South Florida and South East Queensland look quite similar. However at another level the context of planning and planning control and regulation is quite different. To understand the contextual differences between South Florida and South East Queensland, four themes will be used, some of which were based on Cullingworth and Booth. The four themes include: demography, governance, the law and regulatory philosophy. After having evaluated South Florida and South East Queensland across these four themes, we propose a framework for examining whether these differences have shaped planning outcomes and in particular, the built form.

Managing growth in the sunshine states : urbanization and planning in Queensland and Florida

This paper compares the urbanization and planning in the two sunshine states of Florida and Queensland highlighting the similarities and differences, evaluates how effective the growth management programs have been, and examines the recent changes and the challenges they bring to the respective states.

Sense of home, sense of place : a morpho-typological comparative study of Florida and Queensland

Cities in the 21st century have become layered and complex systems not only in terms of physical form, but also social and cultural structure. Consolidated tools to analyze the urban environment have today to be improved including a strong interdisciplinary perspective in order to understand and manage the unprecedented complexity our cities are facing. Redevelopments, new estates, internal and external migrations are all dynamics which are deeply modifying the built environment directly or indirectly also affecting local identity, culture and social structure. This paper investigates the relationship between urban form and social behaviors, with particular attention to the perception of the built environment and its use by long term residents, recent migrants as well as tourists. A comparative study is suggested between South East Queensland and Florida; this two regions share common features such as subtropical climate, similar lifestyle, leisure cities and canal estates. Neighborhoods on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts have been designed using the communities of Florida, such as Celebration or Seaside, as models. These regions share also significant migration processes, similar social problems and high crime rates, which directly affect the local economies. Comparing Florida and SEQ could provide an understanding of different strategies adopted and how urban development and lifestyle can be managed maintaining social equity and security. This study, investigates people’s perception of built form and how this affects the use of public space. The relationship between built environment and social behaviour has been previously investigated, for example by environmental psychology; the innovation proposed by this research is to study the perception of place in leisure cities at multiple levels. Locals, migrants and tourists have different understanding of the built form in the same location; this understanding affects the use of space and the attitude to visit or avoid some precincts. The research methodology integrates traditional morpho-typological investigations with qualitative methods; data are collected in the first phase through online surveys about perception of urban forms. Findings guide then the selection of neighbourhoods to be investigated in detail through questionnaires and Nolli maps, specifying morphological regions as well as recurrent building typologies. A final phase includes interviews with selected stakeholders. Major urban projects are discussed addressing how they are used and perceived by locals, migrants or tourists; the comparison between SEQ and Florida allows the identification of strategies to address migration issues in both regions with particular attention to urban form and placemaking dynamics.

Planning and governance approaches for protecting World Heritage Areas: A comparison of the Great Barrier Reef and the Florida Everglades

The focus of this paper is on two World Heritage Areas: the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia and the Everglades in Florida. While both are World Heritage listed by the UNESCO, the Everglades is on the "World Heritage in Danger" list and the Great Barrier Reef could be on this list within the next year if present pressures continue. This paper examines the planning approaches and governance structures used in these two areas (Queensland and Florida) to manage the growth and development pressures. To make the analysis manageable, given the scale of these World Heritage areas, case studies at the local government level will be used: the Cairns Regional Council in Queensland and Monroe County in Florida. The case study analysis will involve three steps: (1) examination of the various plans at the federal, state, local levels that impact upon environmental quality in the Great Barrier Reef and Everglades; (2) assessing the degree to which these plans have been implemented; and (3) determine if (and how) the plans have improved environmental quality. In addition to the planning analysis we will also examine the governance structures (Lebel et al. 2006) within which planning operates. In any comparative analysis context is important (Hantrais 2009). Contextual differences between Queensland and Florida have previously been examined by Sipe, et al. (2007) and will be used as the starting point for this analysis. Our operating hypothesis and preliminary analysis suggests that the planning approaches and governance structures used in Florida and Queensland are considerably different, but the environmental outcomes may be similar. This is based, in part, on Vella (2004) who did a comparative analysis of environmental practices in the sugar industry in Florida and Queensland. This research re-examines this hypothesis and broadens the focus beyond the sugar industry to growth and development more broadly.

Shimon Gottschalk with his wife Jo and family on his 70th birthday; Florida Portraits Family

Front row left to right: Tikkun, Back row: the twins, age 8, Shimon's wife Jo,, right: Ariela, age 28, the eldest

Characterization of highly informative cross-species microsatellite panels for the Australian dugong (Dugong dugon) and Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) including five novel primers

The Australian dugong (Dugong dugon) and Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) are threatened species of aquatic mammals in the order Sirenia. Sirenian conservation and management actions would benefit from a more complete understanding of genetic diversity and population structure. Generally, species-specific microsatellite markers are employed in conservation genetic studies; however, robust markers can be difficult and costly to isolate. To increase the number of available markers, dugong and manatee microsatellite primers were evaluated for cross-species amplification. Furthermore, one manatee and four dugong novel primers are reported. After polymerase chain reaction optimization, 23 (92%) manatee primers successfully amplified dugong DNA, of which 11 (48%) were polymorphic. Of the 32 dugong primers tested, 27 (84%) yielded product in the manatee, of which 17 (63%) were polymorphic. Dugong and manatee primers were compared and the most informative markers were selected to create robust and informative marker-panels for each species. These cross-species microsatellite marker-panels can be employed to assess other sirenian populations and can provide beneficial information for the protection and management of these unique mammals.

Sexing Sirenians: Validation of Visual and Molecular Sex Determination in Both Wild Dugongs (Dugong dugon) and Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

Sexing wild marine mammals that show little to no sexual dimorphism is challenging. For sirenians that are difficult to catch or approach closely, molecular sexing from tissue biopsies offers an alternative method to visual discrimination. This paper reports the results of a field study to validate the use of two sexing methods: (1) visual discrimination of sex vs (2) molecular sexing based on a multiplex PCR assay which amplifies the male-specific SRY gene and differentiates ZFX and ZFY gametologues. Skin samples from 628 dugongs (Dugong dugon) and 100 Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) were analysed and assigned as male or female based on molecular sex. These individuals were also assigned a sex based on either direct observation of the genitalia and/or the association of the individual with a calf. Individuals of both species showed 93 to 96% congruence between visual and molecular sexing. For the remaining 4 to 7%, the discrepancies could be explained by human error. To mitigate this error rate, we recommend using both of these robust techniques, with routine inclusion of sex primers into microsatellite panels employed for identity, along with trained field observers and stringent sample handling.

Shimon Gottschalk with his wife Jo and family on his 70th birthday; Florida Portraits Family

Front row left to right: Tikkun, Back row: the twins, age 8, Shimon's wife Jo,, right: Ariela, age 28, the eldest

Effect of Time of Planting and Plant Size on the Productivity of ‘Festival’ and ‘Florida Fortuna’ Strawberry Plants in a Subtropical Environment

The effect of time of planting and plant size on the performance of ‘Festival’ and ‘Florida Fortuna’ strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) plants was studied at Nambour in southeastern Queensland, Australia, over 2 years. The main objective of the work was to determine whether small plants yielded proportionally less than large plants as planting was delayed. First, bare-rooted transplants of ‘Festival’ were divided into small (crown diameters ranging from 6 to 10 mm) or large plants (10 to 17 mm) and planted in late March, mid-April, or late April. Second, transplants of ‘Florida Fortuna’ were divided into small (5 to 8 mm) or large plants (8 to 17 mm) and planted in early April, mid-April, or early May. The early planting for each cultivar corresponded with the time that the transplants are first available from commercial strawberry nurseries. Yields were generally greater in plants planted in late March/early April compared with plants planted later. Differences in yield between the small and large plants were consistent across the different times of planting, with the small plants always having lower yields. Small transplants are an issue for the productivity of strawberry fields in this environment whether they are planted early or late. Producers should consider paying a premium for large transplants delivered early in the season.

Variation in the hindgut microbial communities of the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris over winter in Crystal River, Florida

The Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris, is a hindgut-fermenting herbivore. In winter, manatees migrate to warm water overwintering sites where they undergo dietary shifts and may suffer from cold-induced stress. Given these seasonally induced changes in diet, the present study aimed to examine variation in the hindgut bacterial communities of wild manatees overwintering at Crystal River, west Florida. Faeces were sampled from 36 manatees of known sex and body size in early winter when manatees were newly arrived and then in mid-winter and late winter when diet had probably changed and environmental stress may have increased. Concentrations of faecal cortisol metabolite, an indicator of a stress response, were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Using 454-pyrosequencing, 2027 bacterial operational taxonomic units were identified in manatee faeces following amplicon pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V3/V4 region. Classified sequences were assigned to eight previously described bacterial phyla; only 0.36% of sequences could not be classified to phylum level. Five core phyla were identified in all samples. The majority (96.8%) of sequences were classified as Firmicutes (77.3 ± 11.1% of total sequences) or Bacteroidetes (19.5 ± 10.6%). Alpha-diversity measures trended towards higher diversity of hindgut microbiota in manatees in mid-winter compared to early and late winter. Beta-diversity measures, analysed through permanova, also indicated significant differences in bacterial communities based on the season.

Use of aerial survey and aerophotogrammetry methods in monitoring manatee populations

We evaluated the use of strip-transect survey methods for manatees through a series of replicate aerial surveys in the Banana River, Brevard County, Florida, during summer 1993 and summer 1994. Transect methods sample a representative portion of the total study area, thus allowing for statistical extrapolation to the total area. Other advantages of transect methods are less flight time and less cost than total coverage, ease of navigation, and reduced likelihood of double-counting. Our objectives were: (1) to identify visibility biases associated with the transect survey method and to adjust the counts accordingly; (2) to derive a population estimate with known variance for the Banana River during summer; and (3) to evaluate the potential value of this survey method for monitoring trends in manatee population size over time. (51 page document)

Status survey of two Florida seaside sparrows and taxonomic review of the Seaside Sparrow assemblage

The original primary intent of this project was to determine the population status of two relatively obscure subspecies of Seaside Sparrows in Florida, the Smyrna Seaside Sparrow Cammodramus maritimus Eelonota) and the Wakulla Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus juncicola) distinctiveness of these little known birds. As explained in the following section, a third and major objective appended to the project was to perform a taxonomic review of the entire Seaside Sparrow complex of nine subspecies. (170 page document)