Beyond Doing Good: An Interview with Dr. Kirsten Johnson on the Canadian Disaster and Humanitarian Response Training Program

Compte-rendu / Review

Elementary School Principals in Low-Socioeconomic-Status Schools: A University-Based Research Program Designed to Support Mandated Reform

This paper presents a reform initiative, the Supporting Montreal Schools Program (SMSP), created by the government of Quebec to assist 184 low socio-economic-status schools in Montreal implement seven reform strategies prescribed by the government. On a regular basis, the professional team of the SMSP engages in reflection and research with universities concerning one or more of the strategies they are charged with helping schools implement or the functioning of the SMSP more generally. The present research programme is part of the team’s ongoing reflection on a component of Strategy 4: professional development of school administrators and the school team. In this paper, we detail results from this initial and subsequent studies on the work of principals in low-performing schools. We also describe our collaborative relationship with the SMSP team, discuss the effectiveness of the SMSP in promoting the implementation of the seven governmentmandated strategies and critique the utility of our partnership with the SMSP and our use of that programme as a vehicle for linking research to practice.

Sediment Budgeting Studies for the Kollam Coast

The Sediment budgeting studies are done to bring out the coastal processes at work, to understand the beach-innershelf sedimentary dynamics and to assess the stability of any coastal stretch. There is a dearth of such studies as far as the Indian coast is concerned. The Chavara coast of Kollam district, Kerala, is world famous for its rich heavy mineral resources. These mineral resources are being commercially mined by the Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) and Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. (KMML), two Public Sector Undertakings located in the area. The impact of mining on stability of the beach has been a point of debate among the local people as well as researchers. The coastal stretch of 22km length from Neendakara to Kayamkulam which is referred to as the Chavara coast. The tidal, wind driven and continental shelf currents, there could also be the contribution of coastal trapped waves and baroclinic flow associated with the plumes of fresh water coming from the estuaries. The main objectives of the study are the hydrodynamic processes and mechanism involved in the sediment movement along the Chavara coast, Identify the different sources and sinks of beach sand along the coast, Quantify the sediment input/output into/from the coast and assess the erosion/accretion scenario of the coast.

EVALUATION OF THERMODYNAMIC PARAMETERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE BY A FORTRAN PROGRAM

Thermodynamic parameters of the atmosphere form part of the input to numerical forecasting models. Usually these parameters are evaluated from a thermodynamic diagram. Here, a technique is developed to evaluate these parameters quickly and accurately using a Fortran program. This technique is tested with four sets of randomly selected data and the results are in agreement with the results from the conventional method. This technique is superior to the conventional method in three respects: more accuracy, less computation time, and evaluation of additional parameters. The computation time for all the parameters on a PC AT 286 machine is II sec. This software, with appropriate modifications, can be used, for verifying various lines on a thermodynamic diagram

Code clones in program test sequence identification

Code clones are portions of source code which are similar to the original program code. The presence of code clones is considered as a bad feature of software as the maintenance of software becomes difficult due to the presence of code clones. Methods for code clone detection have gained immense significance in the last few years as they play a significant role in engineering applications such as analysis of program code, program understanding, plagiarism detection, error detection, code compaction and many more similar tasks. Despite of all these facts, several features of code clones if properly utilized can make software development process easier. In this work, we have pointed out such a feature of code clones which highlight the relevance of code clones in test sequence identification. Here program slicing is used in code clone detection. In addition, a classification of code clones is presented and the benefit of using program slicing in code clone detection is also mentioned in this work.

Coastal regulation zone rules in coastal panchayats (villages) of Kerala, India vis-a` -vis socio-economic impacts from the recently introduced peoples’ participatory program for local self-governance and sustainable development

Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest of Government of India in February 1991 as a part of the Environmental Protection Act of 1986 to protect the coast from eroding and to preserve its natural resources. The initial notification did not distinguish the variability and diversity of various coastal states before enforcing it on the various states and Union Territories. Impact assessments were not carried out to assess its impact on socio-economic life of the coastal population. For the very same reason, it was unnoticed or rather ignored till 1994 when the Supreme Court of India made a land mark judgment on the fate of the coastal aquaculture which by then had established as an economically successful industry in many South Indian States. Coastal aquaculture in its modern form was a prohibited activity within CRZ. Lately, only various stakeholders of the coast realized the real impact of the CRZ rules on their property rights andbusiness. To overcome the initial drawbacks several amendments were made in the regulation to suit regional needs. In 1995, another great transformation took place in the State of Kerala as a part of the reorganization of the local self government institutions into a decentralized three tier system called ‘‘Panchayathi Raj System’’. In 1997, the state government also decided to transfer the power with the required budget outlay to the grass root level panchayats (villages) and municipalities to plan and implement the various projects in their localities with the full participation of the local people by constituting Grama Sabhas (Peoples’ Forum). It is called the ‘‘Peoples’ Planning Campaign’’(Peoples’ Participatory Programme—PPP for Local Level Self-Governance). The management of all the resources including the local natural resources was largely decentralized to the level of local communities and villages. Integrated, sustainable coastal zone management has become the concern of the local population. The paper assesses the socio-economic impact of the centrally enforced CRZ and the state sponsored PPP on the coastal community in Kerala and suggests measures to improve the system and living standards of the coastal people within the framework of CRZ.

Relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater program to calculate potential-energy curves for diatomic molecules

A LCAO-MO (linear combination of atomic orbitals - molecular orbitals) relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater program is presented, which allows one to calculate accurate total energies for diatomic molecules. Numerical atomic Dirac-Fock-Slater wave functions are used as basis functions. All integrations as well as the solution of the Poisson equation are done fully numerical, with a relative accuracy of 10{^-5} - 10{^-6}. The details of the method as well as first results are presented here.

The Brazilian Zero Hunger social program implications in achieving sustainable development

This article aims to analyse the progress taken by Brazil towards the accomplishment of a sustainable development, mainly highlighting the success of the Zero Hunger social programme in achieving the elimination of starvation. As one of the essential pillars to the sustainable development, the State’s social performance demands actions directed to the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger, establishing a basis for equitable growth. It is necessary to clarify the juridical and constitutional framework of Brazil, aiming to emphasise the Zero Hunger importance in achieving the Brazilian Republic’s goals and reaching an international pattern on sustainable development. Also, it will be stressed that the international order influences Brazilian domestic law and is one of the main aspects for the Zero Hunger program development.

Procedures as a Representation for Data in a Computer Program for Understanding Natural Language

This paper describes a system for the computer understanding of English. The system answers questions, executes commands, and accepts information in normal English dialog. It uses semantic information and context to understand discourse and to disambiguate sentences. It combines a complete syntactic analysis of each sentence with a "heuristic understander" which uses different kinds of information about a sentence, other parts of the discourse, and general information about the world in deciding what the sentence means. It is based on the belief that a computer cannot deal reasonably with language unless it can "understand" the subject it is discussing. The program is given a detailed model of the knowledge needed by a simple robot having only a hand and an eye. We can give it instructions to manipulate toy objects, interrogate it about the scene, and give it information it will use in deduction. In addition to knowing the properties of toy objects, the program has a simple model of its own mentality. It can remember and discuss its plans and actions as well as carry them out. It enters into a dialog with a person, responding to English sentences with actions and English replies, and asking for clarification when its heuristic programs cannot understand a sentence through use of context and physical knowledge.

Preliminary Observations on Program Instability

This white paper reports emerging findings at the end of Phase I of the Lean Aircraft Initiative in the Policy focus group area. Specifically, it provides details about research on program instability. Its objective is to discuss high-level findings detailing: 1) the relative contribution of different factors to a program’s overall instability; 2) the cost impact of program instability on acquisition programs; and 3) some strategies recommended by program managers for overcoming and/or mitigating the negative effects of program instability on their programs. Because this report comes as this research is underway, this is not meant to be a definitive document on the subject. Rather, is it anticipated that this research may potentially produce a number of reports on program instability-related topics. The government managers of military acquisition programs rated annual budget or production rate changes, changes in requirements, and technical difficulties as the three top contributors, respectively, to program instability. When asked to partition actual variance in their program’s planned cost and schedule to each of these factors, it was found that the combined effects of unplanned budget and requirement changes accounted for 5.2% annual cost growth and 20% total program schedule slip. At a rate of approximately 5% annual cost growth from these factors, it is easy to see that even conservative estimates of the cost benefits to be gained from acquisition reforms and process improvements can quickly be eclipsed by the added cost associated with program instability. Program management practices involving the integration of stakeholders from throughout the value chain into the decision making process were rated the most effective at avoiding program instability. The use of advanced information technologies was rated the most effective at mitigating the negative impact of program instability.

Preliminary Observations on Program Instability

This white paper reports emerging findings at the end of Phase I of the Lean Aircraft Initiative in the Policy focus group area. Specifically, it provides details about research on program instability. Its objective is to discuss high-level findings detailing: 1) the relative contribution of different factors to a program’s overall instability; 2) the cost impact of program instability on acquisition programs; and 3) some strategies recommended by program managers for overcoming and/or mitigating the negative effects of program instability on their programs. Because this report comes as this research is underway, this is not meant to be a definitive document on the subject. Rather, is it anticipated that this research may potentially produce a number of reports on program instability-related topics. The government managers of military acquisition programs rated annual budget or production rate changes, changes in requirements, and technical difficulties as the three top contributors, respectively, to program instability. When asked to partition actual variance in their program’s planned cost and schedule to each of these factors, it was found that the combined effects of unplanned budget and requirement changes accounted for 5.2% annual cost growth and 20% total program schedule slip. At a rate of approximately 5% annual cost growth from these factors, it is easy to see that even conservative estimates of the cost benefits to be gained from acquisition reforms and process improvements can quickly be eclipsed by the added cost associated with program instability. Program management practices involving the integration of stakeholders from throughout the value chain into the decision making process were rated the most effective at avoiding program instability. The use of advanced information technologies was rated the most effective at mitigating the negative impact of program instability.

Effects of In-Kind transfers on female labor supply: evidence from the food supply program comedores comunitarios

En la literatura se argumenta que las transferencias en especie podrían tener efectos positivos sobre la oferta laboral. En este trabajo utilizamos el programa de nutrición de la ciudad de Bogotá, Comedores Comunitarios, para esclarecer dicho punto. El programa otorga un almuerzo diario a las personas pobres que son vecinas de los comedores. Utilizando la técnica de emparejamiento con la Encuesta de Calidad de Vida 2007, una encuesta de corte transversal, se encuentra tanto efectos significativos positivos como negativos en la oferta laboral femenina para diferentes grupos de mujeres (con diferencias en edad, composición del hogar y acceso a redes sociales). Estos resultados son relevantes para entender los incentivos al trabajo heterogéneos generados cuando se aplica esta clase de programas.

Questionmark Perception v5 Beta Program

Powerpoint for Questionmark Perception v5 Beta Program *University Confidential*