The importance of environmental issues and costs in Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) for highway projects

Sustainability has been increasingly recognised as an integral part of highway infrastructure development. In practice however, the fact that financial return is still a project’s top priority for many, environmental aspects tend to be overlooked or considered as a burden, as they add to project costs. Sustainability and its implications have a far-reaching effect on each project over time. Therefore, with highway infrastructure’s long-term life span and huge capital demand, the consideration of environmental cost/ benefit issues is more crucial in life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA). To date, there is little in existing literature studies on viable estimation methods for environmental costs. This situation presents the potential for focused studies on environmental costs and issues in the context of life-cycle cost analysis. This paper discusses a research project which aims to integrate the environmental cost elements and issues into a conceptual framework for life cycle costing analysis for highway projects. Cost elements and issues concerning the environment were first identified through literature. Through questionnaires, these environmental cost elements will be validated by practitioners before their consolidation into the extension of existing and worked models of life-cycle costing analysis (LCCA). A holistic decision support framework is being developed to assist highway infrastructure stakeholders to evaluate their investment decision. This will generate financial returns while maximising environmental benefits and sustainability outcome.

Recommending people in social networks using data mining

This thesis improves the process of recommending people to people in social networks using new clustering algorithms and ranking methods. The proposed system and methods are evaluated on the data collected from a real life social network. The empirical analysis of this research confirms that the proposed system and methods achieved improvements in the accuracy and efficiency of matching and recommending people, and overcome some of the problems that social matching systems usually suffer.

Particle Swarm algorithm with Fuzzy decision making for a multi-objective economic and environmental optimization of design of a thermal system

Multi-Objective optimization for designing of a benchmark cogeneration system known as CGAM cogeneration system has been performed. In optimization approach, the thermoeconomic and Environmental aspects have been considered, simultaneously. The environmental objective function has been defined and expressed in cost terms. One of the most suitable optimization techniques developed using a particular class of search algorithms known as; Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) algorithm has been used here. This approach has been applied to find the set of Pareto optimal solutions with respect to the aforementioned objective functions. An example of fuzzy decision-making with the aid of Bellman-Zadeh approach has been presented and a final optimal solution has been introduced.

Detecting news topics from microblogs using sequential pattern mining

This thesis presents a sequential pattern based model (PMM) to detect news topics from a popular microblogging platform, Twitter. PMM captures key topics and measures their importance using pattern properties and Twitter characteristics. This study shows that PMM outperforms traditional term-based models, and can potentially be implemented as a decision support system. The research contributes to news detection and addresses the challenging issue of extracting information from short and noisy text.

Interpretation of association rules with multi-tier granule mining

This study was a step forward to improve the performance for discovering useful knowledge – especially, association rules in this study – in databases. The thesis proposed an approach to use granules instead of patterns to represent knowledge implicitly contained in relational databases; and multi-tier structure to interpret association rules in terms of granules. Association mappings were proposed for the construction of multi-tier structure. With these tools, association rules can be quickly assessed and meaningless association rules can be justified according to the association mappings. The experimental results indicated that the proposed approach is promising.

Aspect-based opinion mining from product reviews using conditional random fields

Product reviews are the foremost source of information for customers and manufacturers to help them make appropriate purchasing and production decisions. Natural language data is typically very sparse; the most common words are those that do not carry a lot of semantic content, and occurrences of any particular content-bearing word are rare, while co-occurrences of these words are rarer. Mining product aspects, along with corresponding opinions, is essential for Aspect-Based Opinion Mining (ABOM) as a result of the e-commerce revolution. Therefore, the need for automatic mining of reviews has reached a peak. In this work, we deal with ABOM as sequence labelling problem and propose a supervised extraction method to identify product aspects and corresponding opinions. We use Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) to solve the extraction problem and propose a feature function to enhance accuracy. The proposed method is evaluated using two different datasets. We also evaluate the effectiveness of feature function and the optimisation through multiple experiments.

Enhancement of relevant features for text mining

With the explosion of information resources, there is an imminent need to understand interesting text features or topics in massive text information. This thesis proposes a theoretical model to accurately weight specific text features, such as patterns and n-grams. The proposed model achieves impressive performance in two data collections, Reuters Corpus Volume 1 (RCV1) and Reuters 21578.

Population dynamics of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in north eastern Australia: simulated responses to control

Wild European rabbits are a serious problem to agriculture in Australia, with an estimated annual cost of A$ 113 million. Biological control agents (myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus) have caused large and sustained declines in rabbit populations throughout Australia. A simulation model incorporates these diseases as well as warren destruction as methods of controlling rabbit populations in Queensland, north eastern Australia. These diseases reduced populations by 90-99% and the combination of these and warren destruction led to 100% control in simulations at six sites across southern Queensland. Increasing monthly pasture growth by 15% had little effect on simulated populations whereas a 15% decrease reduced populations by 0-50%. An increase in temperature of 2.5 °C would lead to a 15-60% decrease in populations. These effects suggest that climate change will lead to a decrease in the population of rabbits in Queensland and a retraction in the northern limit of their distribution in Australia.

Scientific and technological aspects of fixed bed biomass gasification

In recent years new emphasis has been placed on problems of the environmental aspects of waste disposal, especially investigating alternatives to landfill, sea dumping and incineration. There is also a strong emphasis on clean, economic and efficient processes for electric power generation. These two topics may at first appear unrelated. Nevertheless, the technological advances are now such that a solution to both can be combined in a novel approach to power generation based on waste-derived fuels, including refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and sludge power (SP) by utilising a slagging gasifier and advance fuel technology (AFT). The most appropriate gasification technique for such waste utilisation is the British Gas/Lurgi (BGL) high pressure, fixed bed slagging gasifier where operation on a range of feedstocks has been well-documented. This gasifier is particularly amenable to briquette fuel feeding and, operating in an integrated gasification combined cycle mode (IGCC), is particularly advantageous. Here, the author details how this technology has been applied to Britain's first AFT-IGCC Power Station which is now under development at Fife Energy Ltd., in Scotland, the former British Gas Westfield Development Centre.

Proceedings of the Workshop on the Okhotsk Sea and Adjacent Areas [Vladivostok, June 1995]

I REPORT OF THE PICES WORKSHOP ON THE OKHOTSK SEA AND ADJACENT AREAS (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 1. Outline of the workshop 2. Summary reports from sessions 3. Recommendations of the workshop 4. Acknowledgments II SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SUBMITTED FROM SESSIONS 1. Physical Oceanography Sessions (pdf, 4 Mb) A. Circulation and water mass structure of the Okhotsk Sea and Northwestern Pacific Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov Seasonal variability of the pycnocline in La Perouse Strait and Aniva Gulf Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov Modeling of the typical water circulations in the La Perouse Strait and Aniva Gulf region Nina A. Dashko, Sergey M. Varlamov, Young-Ho Han & Young-Seup Kim Anticyclogenesis over the Okhotsk Sea and its influence on weather Boris S. Dyakov, Alexander A. Nikitin & Vadim P. Pavlychev Research of water structure and dynamics in the Okhotsk Sea and adjacent Pacific Howard J. Freeland, Alexander S. Bychkov, C.S. Wong, Frank A. Whitney & Gennady I. Yurasov The Ohkotsk Sea component of Pacific Intermediate Water Emil E. Herbeck, Anatoly I. Alexanin, Igor A. Gontcharenko, Igor I. Gorin, Yury V. Naumkin & Yury G. Proshjants Some experience of the satellite environmental support of marine expeditions at the Far East Seas Alexander A. Karnaukhov The tidal influence on the Sakhalin shelf hydrology Yasuhiro Kawasaki On the formation process of the subsurface mixed water around the Central Kuril Islands Lloyd D. Keigwin Northwest Pacific paleohydrography Talgat R. Kilmatov Physical mechanisms for the North Pacific Intermediate Water formation Vladimir A. Luchin Water masses in the Okhotsk Sea Andrey V. Martynov, Elena N. Golubeva & Victor I. Kuzin Numerical experiments with finite element model of the Okhotsk Sea circulation Nikolay A. Maximenko, Anatoly I. Kharlamov & Raissa I. Gouskina Structure of Intermediate Water layer in the Northwest Pacific Nikolay A. Maximenko & Andrey Yu. Shcherbina Fine-structure of the North Pacific Intermediate Water layer Renat D. Medjitov & Boris I. Reznikov An experimental study of water transport through the Straits of Okhotsk Sea by electromagnetic method Valentina V. Moroz Oceanological zoning of the Kuril Islands area in the spring-summer period Yutaka Nagata Note on the salinity balance in the Okhotsk Sea Alexander D. Nelezin Variability of the Kuroshio Front in 1965-1991 Vladimir I. Ponomarev, Evgeny P. Varlaty & Mikhail Yu. Cheranyev An experimental study of currents in the near-Kuril region of the Pacific Ocean and in the Okhotsk Sea Stephen C. Riser, Gennady I. Yurasov & Mark J. Warner Hydrographic and tracer measurements of the water mass structure and transport in the Okhotsk Sea in early spring Konstantin A. Rogachev & Andrey V. Verkhunov Circulation and water mass structure in the southern Okhotsk Sea, as observed in summer, 1994 Lynne D. Talley North Pacific Intermediate Water formation and the role of the Okhotsk Sea Anatoly S. Vasiliev & Fedor F. Khrapchenkov Seasonal variability of integral water circulation in the Okhotsk Sea B. Sea ice and its relation to circulation and climate V.P. Gavrilo, G.A. Lebedev & A.P. Polyakov Acoustic methods in sea ice dynamics studies Nina M. Pestereva & Larisa A. Starodubtseva The role of the Far-East atmospheric circulation in the formation of the ice cover in the Okhotsk Sea Yoshihiko Sekine Anomalous Oyashio intrusion and its teleconnection with Subarctic North Pacific circulation, sea ice of the Okhotsk Sea and air temperature of the northern Asian continent C. Waves and tides Vladimir A. Luchin Characteristics of the tidal motions in the Kuril Straits George V. Shevtchenko On seasonal variability of tidal constants in the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea D. Physical oceanography of the Japan Sea/East Sea Mikhail A. Danchenkov, Kuh Kim, Igor A. Goncharenko & Young-Gyu Kim A “chimney” of cold salt waters near Vladivostok Christopher N.K. Mooers & Hee Sook Kang Preliminary results from a numerical circulation model of the Japan Sea Lev P. Yakunin Influence of ice production on the deep water formation in the Japan Sea 2. Fisheries and Biology Sessions (pdf, 2.8 Mb) A. Communities of the Okhotsk Sea and adjacent waters: composition, structure and dynamics Lubov A. Balkonskaya Exogenous succession of the southwestern Sakhalin algal communities Tatyana A. Belan, Yelena V. Oleynik, Alexander V. Tkalin & Tat’yana S. Lishavskaya Characteristics of pelagic and benthic communities on the North Sakhalin Island shelf Lev N. Bocharov & Vladimir K. Ozyorin Fishery and oceanographic database of Okhotsk Sea Victor V. Lapko Interannual dynamics of the epipelagic ichthyocen structure in the Okhotsk Sea Valentina I. Lapshina Quantitative seasonal and year-to-year changes of phytoplankton in the Okhotsk Sea and off Kuril area of the Pacific Lyudmila N. Luchsheva Biological productivity in anomalous mercury conditions (northern part of Okhotsk Sea) Inna A. Nemirovskaya Origin of hydrocarbons in the ecosystems of coastal region of the Okhotsk Sea Tatyana A. Shatilina Elements of the Pacific South Kuril area ecosystem Vyacheslav P. Shuntov & Yelena P. Dulepova Biota of the Okhotsk Sea: Structure of communities, the interannual dynamics and current status B. Abundance, distribution, dynamics of the common fishes of the Okhotsk Sea Yuri P. Diakov Influence of some abiotic factors on spatial population dynamics of the West Kamchatka flounders (Pleuronectidae) Gordon A. McFarlane, Richard J. Beamish & Larisa M. Zverkova An examination of age estimates of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) from the Sea of Okhotsk using the burnt otolith method and implications for stock assessment and management Larisa P. Nikolenko Migration of Greenland turbot (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in the Okhotsk Sea Galina M. Pushnikova Fisheries impact on the Sakhalin-Hokkaido herring population Vidar G. Wespestad Is pollock overfished? C. Salmon of the Okhotsk Sea: biology, abundance and stock identification Vladimir A. Belyaev, Alexander Yu. Zhigalin Epipelagic Far Eastern sardine of the Okhotsk Sea Yuri E. Bregman, Victor V. Pushnikov, Lyudmila G. Sedova & Vladimir Ph. Ivanov A preliminary report on stock status and productive capacity of horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii (Brandt) in the South Kuril Strait Natalia T. Dolganova Mezoplankton distribution in the West Japan Sea Vladimir V. Efremov, Richard L. Wilmot, Christine M. Kondzela, Natalia V. Varnavskaya, Sharon L. Hawkins & Maria E. Malinina Application of pink and chum salmon genetic baseline to fishery management Vyacheslav N. Ivankov & Valentina V. Andreyeva Strategy for culture, breeding and numerous dynamics of Sakhalin salmon populations Alla M. Kovalevskaya, Natalia I. Savelyeva & Dmitry M. Polyakov Primary production in Sakhalin shelf waters Tatyana N. Krupnova Some reasons for resource reduction of Laminaria japonica (Primorye region) Lyudmila N. Luchsheva & Anatoliy I. Botsul Mercury in bottom sediments of the northeastern Okhotsk Sea Pavel A. Luk’yanov, Natalia I. Belogortseva, Alexander A. Bulgakov, Alexander A. Kurika & Olga D. Novikova Lectins and glycosidases from marine macro and micro-organisms of Japan and Okhotsk Seas Boris A. Malyarchuk, Olga A. Radchenko, Miroslava V. Derenko, Andrey G. Lapinski & Leonid L. Solovenchuk PCR-fingerprinting of mitochondrial genome of chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta Alexander A. Mikheev Chaos and relaxation in dynamics of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) returns for two regions Yuri A. Mitrofanov & Larisa N. Lesnikova Fish-culture of Pacific Salmons increases the number of heredity defects Larisa P. Nikolenko Abundance of young halibut along the West Kamchatka shelf in 1982-1992 Sergey A. Nizyaev Living conditions of golden king crab Lithodes aequispina in the Okhotsk Sea and near the Kuril Islands Ludmila A. Pozdnyakova & Alla V. Silina Settlements of Japanese scallop in Reid Pallada Bay (Sea of Japan) Galina M. Pushnikova Features of the Southwest Okhotsk Sea herring Vladimir I. Radchenko & Igor I. Glebov Present state of the Okhotsk herring stock and fisheries outlook Alla V. Silina & Ida I. Ovsyannikova Distribution of the barnacle Balanus rostratus eurostratus near the coasts of Primorye (Sea of Japan) Galina I. Victorovskaya Dependence of urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius reproduction on water temperature Anatoly F. Volkov, Alexander Y. Efimkin & Valery I. Chuchukalo Feeding habits of Pacific salmon in the Sea of Okhotsk and in the Pacific waters of Kuril Islands in summer 1993 Larisa M. Zverkova & Georgy A. Oktyabrsky Okhotsk Sea walleye pollock stock status Tatyana N. Zvyagintseva, Elena V. Sundukova, Natalia M. Shevchenko & Ludmila A. Elyakova Water soluble polysaccharides of some Far-Eastern seaweeds 3. Biodiversity Program (pdf, 0.2 Mb) A. Biodiversity of island ecosystems and seasides of the North Pacific Larissa A. Gayko Productivity of Japanese scallop Patinopecten yessoensis (IAY) culture in Posieta Bay (Sea of Japan) III APPENDICES 1. List of acronyms 2. List of participants (Document pdf contains 431 pages)

Traçadores isotópicos (Pb) e concentrações de metais em sedimentos superficiais: ferramentas na caracterização da poluição no setor oeste da baía de Sepetiba-RJ (SE do Brasil)

Este estudo teve como objetivo principal utilizar os teores de elementos-traço e análise isotópica de Pb (204Pb,206Pb,207Pb,208Pb) como ferramentas na caracterização da poluição da Baía de Sepetiba-RJ. As coletas de sedimento superficiais de fundo foram realizadas em três campanhas, em novembro de 2010, no setor oeste da Baía de Sepetiba RJ. A malha amostral é composta por 66 amostras (BSEP 001 a BSEP 066) coletadas com busca-fundo Van Veen. O pré-processamento das amostras ocorreu no Laboratório Geológico de Preparação de Amostras do Departamento de Geologia da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A digestão parcial das amostras de sedimento (< 0.072 mm) para obtenção do teor parcial dos elementos-traço (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, U, Zn) e de isótopo de Pb (lixiviação) foi executada no Laboratório de Geoquímica Analítica do Instituto de Geociências da UNICAMP e a leitura foi executada através do ICP-MS. Já as análises das concentrações totais dos elementos-traço (inclusive, Hg) e de isótopos de Pb (dissolução total) foram realizadas no laboratório ACTLABS (Ontário-Canadá) através do ICP Varian Vista. As leituras isotópicas foram feitas somente nas amostras que apresentaram concentrações parciais de Pb, acima de 0,5 g/g, totalizando 21 estações. Pôde-se constatar a existência de um enriquecimento de elementos-traço no setor oeste da Baía de Sepetiba. As médias dos teores totais de Ag (0,4 g/g), Cd (0,76 g/g), Cu (62,59 g/g), Li (43,29 g/g), Ni (16,65 g/g), Pb (20,08 g/g), Sr (389,64 g/g) e Zn (184,82 g/g) excederam os limites recomendados ou valores naturais. Isto pode ser reflexo da influência antrópica na região, principalmente relacionada à atividade de dragagem e à permanência dos resíduos de minério da desativada companhia de minério Ingá, na Ilha da Madeira. Os mapas de distribuição da concentração dos metais-traço destacaram a presença de vários sítios de deposição ao longo do setor oeste da baía de Sepetiba, com destaque para a região entre a porção centro oeste da Ilha de Itacuruça e o continente; Saco da Marambaia e Ponta da Pombeba; e porção oeste da Ponta da Marambaia. As razões isotópicas 206Pb/207Pb da área estudada variaram entre 1,163 a 1,259 para dissolução total e 1,1749-1,1877 para técnica de lixiviação, valores considerados como assinaturas de sedimentos pós-industriais ou comparados à assinatura de gasolina. Ainda sobre a técnica de lixiviação, destaca-se que os sedimentos superficiais do setor oeste (206Pb/207Pb: 1,1789) da baía de Sepetiba apresentaram uma assinatura uniforme e menos radiogênica do que setor leste (206Pb/207Pb: 1,2373 e 1,2110) desta baía. Através da assinatura isotópica de Pb encontrada nesta região é possível destacar a pouca contribuição das águas oceânicas para esse sistema, entretanto, a circulação interna intensa das águas da baía permite a homogeneização destas. O emprego destes tipos de ferramentas no monitoramento ambiental da área mostrou-se bastante eficiente, sendo importante a continuidade desta abordagem de pesquisa a fim de auxiliar na implementação de um plano de manejo local.

Probabilistic modelling of soil moisture dynamics of irrigated cropland in the North China Plain

A probabilistic soil moisture dynamic model is used to estimate the soil moisture probability distribution and plant water stress of irrigated cropland in the North China Plain. Soil moisture and meteorological data during the period of 1998 to 2003 were obtained from an irrigated cropland ecosystem with winter wheat and maize in the North China Plain to test the probabilistic soil moisture dynamic model. Results showed that the model was able to capture the soil moisture dynamics and estimate long-term water balance reasonably well when little soil water deficit existed. The prediction of mean plant water stress during winter wheat and maize growing season quantified the suitability of the wheat-maize rotation to the soil and climate environmental conditions in North China Plain under the impact of irrigation. Under the impact of precipitation fluctuations, there is no significant bimodality of the average soil moisture probability density function.

Multiple Response System: Evaluation of Policy Change in North Carolina's Child Welfare System.

Systemic challenges within child welfare have prompted many states to explore new strategies aimed at protecting children while meeting the needs of families, but doing so within the confines of shrinking budgets. Differential Response has emerged as a promising practice for low or moderate risk cases of child maltreatment. This mixed methods evaluation explored various aspects of North Carolina's differential response system, known as the Multiple Response System (MRS), including: child safety, timeliness of response and case decision, frontloading of services, case distribution, implementation of Child and Family Teams, collaboration with community-based service providers and Shared Parenting. Utilizing Child Protective Services (CPS) administrative data, researchers found that compared to matched control counties, MRS: had a positive impact on child safety evidenced by a decline in the rates of substantiations and re-assessments; temporarily disrupted timeliness of response in pilot counties but had no effect on time to case decision; and increased the number of upfront services provided to families during assessment. Qualitative data collected through focus groups with providers and phone interviews with families provided important information on key MRS strategies, highlighting aspects that families and social workers like as well as identifying areas for improvement. This information is useful for continuous quality improvement efforts, particularly related to the development of training and technical assistance programs at the state and local level.

An overview of plankton ecology in the North Sea

The purpose of this report is to give an overview of plankton ecology in the North Sea, and the processes that effect it, as derived from current research. The Sir Alister Hardy Foundation has extensive data for the North Sea area, and other sources have also been used to provide information for this report. Shortfalls in current research have also been highlighted. The information contained herein is to be contributed towards an information base for the Strategic Environmental Assessment. The North Sea is an extension of the North Atlantic that has an area of 574,980 km2. The deepest area is off the coast of Norway (660m), with a number of shallow areas, such as the Dogger Bank (15m). The North Sea represents a large source of hydrocarbons that have been exploited since the early 1970s. The aim of this study is to provide the Department of Trade and Industry with biological data on the planktonic community of the North Sea, as a contribution towards the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA 2). An overview of phyto- and zoo- plankton community composition, plankton blooms, Calanus, mero-, pico- and megaplankton, sensitivity to disturbance / contamination, phytodetritus and vertical fluxes and the resting stages of phytoplankton is made using the results of the survey database. Additional published literature has also been used, and gaps in available data have been highlighted. 1.3 The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey provides a unique long-term dataset of plankton abundance in the North Atlantic and North Sea (Warner and Hays 1994). The survey has been running for almost 70 years, using ‘ships of opportunity’ to tow CPRs on regular, and incidental routes, sampling at a depth of 10 m. Each sample represents 18 km of tow and approximately 3 m3 of filtered seawater. Over 400 taxa of plankton are routinely identified by a team of taxonomists. The samples are also compared to colour charts to give an indication of ‘greenness’, which provides a visual index of chlorophyll value. CPRs have been towed for over 4 million nautical miles, accumulating almost 200,000 samples. The design of the CPR has remained virtually unchanged since sampling started, thus providing a consistency of sampling that provides good historical comparisons. By systematically monitoring the plankton over a period, changes in abundance and long term trends can be distinguished. From this baseline data, inferences can be made, particularly concerning climate change and potentialanthropogenic impacts.

Environmental impact assessment: looking at sediments in Nootka Sound for traces of pulp mill effluent

Senior thesis written for Oceanography 445