Linking territorial and coastal planning: the Venezuelan experience

Venezuela is located in central northern South America, with some 4 000 km of coastline and near 700 000 km2 of marine and submarine areas. The Venezuelan coastal zone is characterized by serious problems of land use and utilisation of its natural resources, caused by a generally anarchical spatial occupation and lack of sufficient legal and administrative means for control. In this paper, a synthesis of the Venezuelan approach to attaining a sustainable development of its marine and coastal zones is presented. This means the accomplishment of the social and economic development of the Venezuelan population in general, and specifically the coastal inhabitants, taking into account the legal and administrative patterns that govern land use planning and the utilisation of natural resources, particularly in marine and coastal areas. The paper is organised in three parts: (1) the diagnosis of the current situation; (2) the presentation of a hypothesis based on present trends (trend scenario); and (3) the statement and application of a sound and adequate solution (desirable and possible scenario).

Study on sensing properties of tin oxide CO gas sensor with low power consumption

In this paper, the fabrication method of a new type of carbon monoxide gas sensor based on SnOx with low power consumption and its sensing characteristics have been reported. The electric conductance of this type of sensor evolves oscillation form regularly when the sensor is exposed to low level of CO gas. The oscillation amplitude is directly proportional to the concentration of CO gas over a wide range. The effects of relevant factors. such as. humidity, temperature and interference gases on the sensor properties were examined. The sensing oscillation response mechanism was also discussed.

Cultivation of the intertidal brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura: mass production of zygote-derived seedlings under commercial cultivation conditions, a case study experience

Mariculture of the brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura as an export-oriented human food has been there more for than 20 years in China. It is now one of the five major farmed algal species along the Chinese coast. Stable and sufficient supply of young seedlings for scaling up the cultivation has been a problem throughout the farming history of this species due to the unique dioecious life cycle and relatively short time window of sexual reproduction in nature. These two factors led to a practical difficulty in obtaining zygotes at identical developmental stage in viable amounts for seedling production. A key solution to this problem is to control the synchronization of the receptacle development and to realize the simultaneous discharge of male and female gametes, such that the fertilization rate could be greatly enhanced. Focusing on one of the farmed populations in this report, we present our results on mass production of seedlings using the synchronization technique on a large scale performed in 2007. Totally 5.5 hundred million embryos were obtained from 100 kg female sporophytes. The seedlings were raised up to 3.5 mm in length in greenhouse tanks over a month and were further grown in open sea for over 3 months at two experimental sites. The success of mass production of seedlings in this alga helped to lay the basis for future trials in other species in the genus of Sargassum that have identical life cycle.

Effects of body size and water temperature on food consumption and growth in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) with special reference to aestivation

To investigate the effects of body size and water temperature on feeding and growth in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka), the maximum rate of food consumption in terms of energy (C-maxe; J day(-1)) and the specific growth rate in terms of energy (SGRe; % day(-1)) in animals of three body sizes (mean +/- SE) - large (134.0 +/- 3.5 g), medium (73.6 +/- 2.2 g) and small (36.5 +/- 1.2 g) - were determined at water temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees C. Maximum rate of food consumption in terms of energy increased and SGRe decreased with increasing body weight at 10, 15 and 20 degrees C. This trend, however, was not apparent at 25 and 30 degrees C, which could be influenced by aestivation. High water temperatures (above 20 degrees C) were disadvantageous to feeding and growth of this animal; SGRe of A. japonicus during aestivation was negative. The optimum temperatures for food consumption and for growth were similar and were between 14 and 15 degrees C, and body size seemed to have a slight effect on the optimal temperature for food consumption or growth. Because aestivation of A. japonicus was temperature dependent, the present paper also documented the threshold temperatures to aestivation as indicated by feeding cessation. Deduced from daily food consumption of individuals, the threshold temperature to aestivation for large and medium animals (73.3-139.3 g) was 24.5-25.5 degrees C, while that for small animals (28.9-40.7 g) was between 25.5 and 30.5 degrees C. These values are higher than previous reports; differences in sign of aestivation, experimental condition and dwelling district of test animals could be the reasons.

环渤海花岗岩体地下油库建设的工程地质力学研究

As a kind of strategic resource，petroleum play an very important role in current social stability, economic development and state safety. Since 1993 China has turned from a net oil exporter into a net oil importer, the figure of imported oil increased from then on. In 2004 China's total energy consumption exceeded Japan’s, and ranked in the second place, just inferior to America. Today China is the world’s third-largest importing nation, accounting for 6% of world imports and 8% of world consumption. Comparing with other strategic petroleum reserve schemes, underground oil storage possess many advantages, such as security, economy, less pollution, save land, suited for strategic reserve and so on, so it is the most ideal form for strategic petroleum reserve. In the background of China Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program started just now, this paper choose Circum-Bo sea region as a study area, and do some system study on the underground oil storage caverns constructed in inter-large granite rock masses in Circum-Bo sea region. On the foundation of a great amount of information come from both home and abroad, firstly this paper analysed the principle, economy, cavern shape, profile dimension, and gain some cognizances and logos, as follows: ①Hard rock mass such as granite is the major rock, in which underground oil storage are constructed; ②Unlined underground oil storage caverns had been wide spread used as a sort of oil storage form abroad, there already exist a suit of skilled experience and technologies to prevent oil product from leaking; ③Compared with surface tanks, underground oil storage cavern possess predominance in economy clearly. In general, it will be more economical when the storage capacity exceed 50000m3. The quality of rock mass is the most important factor for underground storage cost, however such as hydrogeology, storage capacity, the number of storage galleries, the length, storage product, mechanical equipments, geographic location also influent the cost. In designed depth of the underground storage, the rock mass of Jinzhou mainly belong to class Ⅱ, but parts with dykes, clayization alteration, and dense joints are Ⅲ, Ⅳ; ④Now, there are few underground oil storages span more than 25m in both abroad and home. The examples of some ancient underground works and modern underground excavation with wide span surely give us many precious elicitations to construct more great unlined storage caverns, when the rock mass quality is good, cavern shape and construction method also are proper, it is quite possible to construct underground oil storage cavern with span more than 30m . The main axis orientation of Jinzhou underground oil storage cavern is NW direction, the cavern's elevation locate between -53msl and -76msl. The storage's total volume is about 3×106m3, composed of 8 parallel galleries with 950m length, the pillars between them are 45m, and every two of galleries form one unit, which can deposit 75×104m3 for each unit. The product will be stored are Saudi light and Saudi medium crude oil, the main cavern's section is 411.5m2, with 23m height and 19m width. According to the principle and technique of engineering geomechanics, this study supply a sort of system scientific thinking and method for sitting location of underground oil storage in granite region: ① On the foundation of the earth crust stability sub-zone appraise of Circum-Bo sea region, farther research concerning granite distribution, genesis, geological period and fault structure are conducted in stable areas, generally, this paper select Liaoxi, east shore of Liaotung peninsula and Jiaotung peninsula as target areas for underground oil storage regions, where Mesozoic granite is magnitude; ②After roundly comparison in facts of geologic structure, engineering geology, hydrogeology, topography, transportation and so on of three granite distributed areas, at last, selecting Jingzhou granite zone in Liaoxi out as an ideal construction area; ③ Detailed investigation is conducted in the southeast of Baimashi in Jingzhou development district, the final field. Ultrasonic Borehole Television, as a major way to collect original information of borehole rock mass were used, which is very effective to appraise the quality of deep rock mass; ④ According to the field data of tectonic stress, rock mass quality, the spatial distribution of fracture water, some optimum designs in cross section, axial direction and cavern span have been designed for the underground oil storage cavern layout in Jinzhou. To understand the characteristics of swelling alteration rock in Jinzhou granite mass, collected abundant swelling alteration rock engineering examples in granite, which study them in detail, concluded the swelling alteration rock distribute nearly everywhere in China, intruded medium-basic dykes alteration, along discontinuities and mineral hydrothermal alteration with genesis of granite are three main forms clayization alteration rock in granite rock mass. In Jinzhou field, from macro to micro studied the swelling rock which induced by mid-basic dyke intrusion, with weak swelling. In conclusion, this paper conclude the distribution rule and features of expansion alteration rock in filed, and advise some technical suggestions for excavation at swelling alteration rock part. The main features of this paper: ①In the process of site selection, investigation and design, a suit of technique and method of engineering geomechanics metasynthesis were formed, which is significative to guide the large scale underground oil storage cavern sitting location, investigation and design in granite rock mass; ②The detailed discussion on the engineering geology problems in granite mass, such as weathering crust, faults, dykes and clayization alteration rock, are useful for other projects in aspects of site selection, engineering geology evaluation and stability estimation; ③The summary and integration of the genesis, type, countermeasure relate to swelling alteration rock, also is likely to be used for other underground oil storage caverns constructed in swelling alteration granite. In conclusion, this study is meaningful for guiding the large scale underground oil storage for site selection, investigation and design in granite rock mass.

Repairing Learned Knowledge Using Experience

Explanation-based learning occurs when something useful is retained from an explanation, usually an account of how some particular problem can be solved given a sound theory. Many real-world explanations are not based on sound theory, however, and wrong things may be learned accidentally, as subsequent failures will likely demonstrate. In this paper, we describe ways to isolate the facts that cause failures, ways to explain why those facts cause problems, and ways to repair learning mistakes. In particular, our program learns to distinguish pails from cups after making a few mistakes.

Partial Evaluation for Scientific Computing: The Supercomputer Toolkit Experience

We describe the key role played by partial evaluation in the Supercomputer Toolkit, a parallel computing system for scientific applications that effectively exploits the vast amount of parallelism exposed by partial evaluation. The Supercomputer Toolkit parallel processor and its associated partial evaluation-based compiler have been used extensively by scientists at M.I.T., and have made possible recent results in astrophysics showing that the motion of the planets in our solar system is chaotically unstable.

Adapting Home Service Robot Behaviours by Experience Reuse and Interaction with Humans

Meng, Q., Lee, M. (2003). Adapting Home Service Robot Behaviours by Experience Reuse and Interaction with Humans. 673-678. Paper presented at IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2003), Port Island, Kobe, Japan

Learning and Reuse of Experience in Behavior-Based Service Robots

M.H.Lee, Q. Meng and H. Holstein, ?Learning and Reuse of Experience in Behavior-Based Service Robots?, Seventh International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision (ICARCV2002), pp1019-24, December 2002, Singapore

Automatic Error Recovery in Behaviour-Based Assistive Robots with Learning from Experience

Meng Q. and Lee M.H., Automatic Error Recovery in Behaviour-Based Assistive Robots with Learning from Experience, in Proc. INES 2001, 5th IEEE Int. Conf. on Intelligent Engineering Systems, Helsinki, Finland, Sept 2001, pp291-296.

Listening to children in the field of education: experience in Wales

Listening to children in the field of education: experience in Wales, (2007) 19 Child and Family Law Quarterly 161-182 pp.161-182 RAE2008

Religiosity, Relationships and Consumption: A Study of Church Going in Ireland

Gallagher, Damian, and Palmer, Adrian, 'Religiosity, Relationships and Consumption: A Study of Church Going in Ireland', Consumption Markets and Culture (2007) 10(1) pp.31-49 RAE2008

Form, fi gure, and the experience of time in seven southern composers of the 1950s-60s

After the 1980s it is diffi cult, following stylistic criteria, to draw a map of contemporary academic music. All styles are compossible, and all are practiced. In this context, the geographical entity “South of Italy” does not stand out for a musical identity with special technical-stylistic features. Rather, at a socio-cultural level, the South remains today – in music no less than in all areas where there is a gap between top development and stagnation – a land of emigrants: six out of the seven composers treated (Ivan Fedele, Giuseppe Colardo, Rosario Mirigliano, Giuseppe Soccio, Nicola Cisternino, Biagio Putignano, Paolo Aralla) live in the North of Italy. The positive aspect of this is the affi nity of the South with the transnational and superstructural community of contemporary music, which from European and Western has now become almost global. The composers under consideration belong to the generation of the ‘50s, rooted in the serial and post-serial movements (from which Franco Donatoni, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, Salvatore Sciarrino, Giacinto Scelsi, are the principals models, to mention only the Italians), dipped in the general phenomenon of timbrism (particularly spectralism), and acquainted with electronics. They draw from these sources various instruments of compositional technique and aspects of their poetics. In particular these composers, active from the ‘80s, develop new ways of construction of the temporal form of music. They share the goal to establish a new continuity, different from the tonal one but at the same time transcending the serial and post-serial disintegration and fragmentation. The primary means to this end is a new enhancement of the category of fi gure, as a clear and distinct, recognizable aggregate of pitches, intervals, register, durations, timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture. Each composer elaborates the atonal fi gural material in different ways, emphasizing one aspect or another. For example, Fedele (1953) is a master in the management of form per se, Colardo (1953) in the activation of disturbed harmonic effects, Mirigliano (1950) in the creation of a slight tension from the smallest vibrations of sound, Soccio (1950) in the set up of movement by means of accumulations and discharges of energy, Cisternino (1957) in a Cagean-Scelsian emphasis on sound as such, Putignano (1960) in the suspension of time through the succession and transformation of images, Aralla (1960) in the foundation of form from below, from the concreteness of sound.

O comportamento do consumidor de software de gestão e contabilidade das PMEs em Portugal, França e Espanha

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Empresariais.