Development of a medium-capacity guideway transit planning guide

Rapid population increase and booming economic growth have caused a significant escalation in car ownership in many cities, leading to additional or, multiple traffic problems on congested roadways. The increase of automobiles is generating a significant amount of congestion and pollution in many cities. It has become necessary to find a solution to the ever worsening traffic problems in our cities. Building more roadways is nearly impossible due to the limitations of right-of-way in cities. Studies have shown that guideway transit could provide effective transportation and could stimulate land development. The Medium-Capacity Guideway Transit (MCGT) is one of the alternatives to solve this problem. The objective of this research was to better understand the characteristics of MCGT systems, to investigate the existing MCGT systems around the world and determine the main factors behind the planning of successful systems, and to develop a MCGT planning guide. The factors utilized in this study were determined and were analyzed using Excel. A MCGT Planning Guide was developed using Microsoft Visual Basic. ^ A MCGT was defined as a transit system whose capacity can carry up to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd). The results shown that Light Rail Transit (LRT) is favored when peak hour demand is less than 13,000 pphpd. Automated People Mover (APM) is favored when the peak hour demand is more than 18,000 pphpd. APM systems could save up to three times the waiting time cost compared to that of the LRT. If comfort and convenience are important, then using an APM does make sense. However, if cost is the critical factor, then LRT will make more sense because it is reasonable service at a reasonable price. If travel time and safety (accident/crush) costs were included in calculating life-cycle “total” costs, the capital cost advantage of LRT disappeared and APM could become very competitive. The results also included a range of cost-performance criteria for MCGT systems that help planners, engineers, and decision-makers to select the most feasible system for their respective areas. ^

The interactive effects of predators, resources, and disturbance on freshwater snail populations from the Everglades

The origins of population dynamics depend on interplay between abiotic and biotic factors; the relative importance of each changing across space and time. Predation is a central feature of ecological communities that removes individuals (consumption) and alters prey traits (non-consumptive). Resource quality mitigates non-consumptive predator effects by stimulating growth and reproduction. Disturbance resets predator-prey interactions by removing both. I integrate experiments, time-series analysis, and performance trials to examine the relative importance of these on the population dynamics of a snail species by studying a variety of their traits. A review of ninety-three published articles revealed that snail abundance was much less in the Everglades and similar ecosystems compared to all other freshwater ecosystems considered. Separating consumptive from non-consumptive (cues) predator effects at different phosphorous levels with an experiment determined that phosphorous stimulated, but predator cues inhibited snail growth (34% vs. 23%), activity (38% vs. 53%), and reproductive effort (99% vs. 90%) compared to controls. Cues induced taller shells and smaller openings and moved to refugia where they reduced periphyton by 8%. Consumptive predator effects were minor in comparison. In a reciprocal transplant cage experiment along a predator cue and phosphorous gradient created by a canal, snails grew 10% faster and produced 37% more eggs far from the canal (fewer cues) when fed phosphorous-enriched periphyton from near the canal. Time-series analysis at four sites and predator performance trials reveal that phosphorous-enriched regions support larger snail populations, seasonal drying removes snails at all sites, crayfish negatively affect populations in enriched regions, and molluscivorous fish consume snails in the wet season. Combining these studies reveals interplay between resources, predators, and seasonality that limit snail populations in the Everglades and lead to their low abundance compared to other freshwater ecosystems. Resource quality is emerging as the critical factor because improving resources profoundly improved growth and reproduction; seasonal drying and predation become important at times and places. This work contributes to the general understanding in ecology of the relative importance of different factors that structure populations and provides evidence that bolsters monitoring efforts to assess the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that show phosphorous enrichment is a major driver of ecosystem change.

Engagement experiences of Hispanic Generation 1.5 English language learners at a Massachusetts community college

Hispanic Generation 1.5 students are foreign-born, U.S. high school graduates who are socialized in the English dominant K-12 school system while still maintaining the native language and culture at home (Allison, 2006; Blumenthal, 2002; Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999; Rumbault & Ima, 1988). When transitioning from high school to college, these students sometimes assess into ESL courses based on their English language abilities, and because of this ESL placement, Hispanic Generation 1.5 students might have different engagement experiences than their mainstream peers. Engagement is a critical factor in student success and long-term retention because students’ positive and negative engagement experiences affect their membership and sense of belonging at the institution. The purpose of this study was to describe the engagement and membership experiences of Hispanic Generation 1.5 students’ at a Massachusetts community college. This study employed naturalistic inquiry within an embedded descriptive case study design that included three units of analysis: the students’ engagement experiences in (a) ESL courses, (b) developmental courses, and (c) mainstream courses. The main source of data was in-depth interviews with Hispanic Generation 1.5 students at Commonwealth of Massachusetts Community College. Criterion sampling was used to select the interview participants, ensuring that all participants were native Spanish speakers and were taking or had taken at least one ESL course at the institution. The study findings show that these Hispanic Generation 1.5 students at the college did not perceive peer engagement as critical to academic success. Most times the participants avoided peer engagement outside of the classroom, especially with fellow Hispanic students, who they felt would deter them from their English language development and general academic work. Engagement with ESL faculty and ESL academic support staff played the most critical role in the participants’ sense of belonging and success, and students who were required to engage with faculty and academic support staff outside of the classroom were the most satisfied with their educational experiences. While the participants were all disappointed with some aspect of their ESL placement, they valued the ESL engagement experiences more than the engagement experiences while completing developmental and credit coursework.

A quantitative approach to the organizational design problem

The span of control is the most discussed single concept in classical and modern management theory. In specifying conditions for organizational effectiveness, the span of control has generally been regarded as a critical factor. Existing research work has focused mainly on qualitative methods to analyze this concept, for example heuristic rules based on experiences and/or intuition. This research takes a quantitative approach to this problem and formulates it as a binary integer model, which is used as a tool to study the organizational design issue. This model considers a range of requirements affecting management and supervision of a given set of jobs in a company. These decision variables include allocation of jobs to workers, considering complexity and compatibility of each job with respect to workers, and the requirement of management for planning, execution, training, and control activities in a hierarchical organization. The objective of the model is minimal operations cost, which is the sum of supervision costs at each level of the hierarchy, and the costs of workers assigned to jobs. The model is intended for application in the make-to-order industries as a design tool. It could also be applied to make-to-stock companies as an evaluation tool, to assess the optimality of their current organizational structure. Extensive experiments were conducted to validate the model, to study its behavior, and to evaluate the impact of changing parameters with practical problems. This research proposes a meta-heuristic approach to solving large-size problems, based on the concept of greedy algorithms and the Meta-RaPS algorithm. The proposed heuristic was evaluated with two measures of performance: solution quality and computational speed. The quality is assessed by comparing the obtained objective function value to the one achieved by the optimal solution. The computational efficiency is assessed by comparing the computer time used by the proposed heuristic to the time taken by a commercial software system. Test results show the proposed heuristic procedure generates good solutions in a time-efficient manner.

Comparison of Belowground Biomass in C3- and C4-Dominated Mixed Communities in a Chesapeake Bay Brackish Marsh

Belowground biomass is a critical factor regulating ecosystem functions of coastal marshes, including soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation and the ability of these systems to keep pace with sea-level rise. Nevertheless, belowground biomass responses to environmental and vegetation changes have been given little emphasis marsh studies. Here we present a method using stable carbon isotopes and color to identify root and rhizomes of Schoenoplectus americanus (Pers.) Volk. ex Schinz and R. Keller (C3) and Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl. (C4) occurring in C3− and C4-dominated communities in a Chesapeake Bay brackish marsh. The functional significance of the biomass classes we identified is underscored by differences in their chemistry, depth profiles, and variation in biomass and profiles relative to abiotic and biotic factors. C3 rhizomes had the lowest concentrations of cellulose (29.19%) and lignin (14.43%) and the lowest C:N (46.97) and lignin:N (0.16) ratios. We distinguished two types of C3 roots, and of these, the dark red C3 roots had anomalously high C:N (195.35) and lignin:N (1.14) ratios, compared with other root and rhizome classes examined here and with previously published values. The C4-dominated community had significantly greater belowground biomass (4119.1 g m−2) than the C3-dominated community (3256.9 g m−2), due to greater total root biomass and a 3.6-fold higher C3-root:rhizome ratio in the C4-dominated community. C3 rhizomes were distributed significantly shallower in the C4-dominated community, while C3 roots were significantly deeper. Variability in C3 rhizome depth distributions was explained primarily by C4 biomass, and C3 roots were explained primarily by water table height. Our results suggest that belowground biomass in this system is sensitive to slight variations in water table height (across an 8 cm range), and that the reduced overlap between C3 and C4 root profiles in the C4-dominated community may account for the greater total root biomass observed in that community. Given that future elevated atmospheric CO2 and accelerated sea-level rise are likely to increase C3 abundance in Atlantic and Gulf coast marshes, investigations that quantify how patterns of C3 and C4 belowground biomass respond to environmental and biological factors stand to improve our understanding of ecosystem-wide impacts of global changes on coastal wetlands.

The mediating effect of innovation on the relationship between corporate reputation and performance in U.S. firms

In recent years, corporate reputation has gained the attention of many scholars in the strategic management and related fields. There is a general consensus that higher corporate reputation is positively related to firm success or performance. However, the link is not always straightforward; as a result, it calls for researchers to dedicate their efforts to investigate the causes and effects of firm reputation and how it is related to performance. In this doctoral dissertation, innovation is suggested as a mediating variable in this relationship. Innovation is a critical factor for firm success and survival. Highly reputed firms are in a more advantageous position to attract critical resources for innovation such as human and financial capital. These firms face constant pressure from external stakeholders, e.g. the general public, or customers, to achieve and remain at high levels of innovativeness. As a result, firms are in constant search, internally or externally, for new technologies expanding their knowledge base. Consequently, these firms engage in firms acquisitions. In the dissertation, the author assesses the effects of domestic versus international acquisitions as well as related versus unrelated acquisitions on the level of innovativeness and performance. Building upon an established measure of firm-level degree of internationalization (DOI), the dissertation proposes a more detailed and enhanced measure for the firm's DOI. It is modeled as an interaction effect between corporate reputation and resources for innovation. More specifically, firms with higher levels of internationalization will have access to resources for innovation, i.e. human and financial capital, at a global scale. Additionally, the distance between firms and higher education institutions, i.e. universities, is considered as another interaction effect for the human capital attraction. The dissertation is built on two theoretical frameworks, the resource-based view of the firm and institutional theory. It studies 211 U.S. firms using a longitudinal panel data structure from 2006 to 2012. It utilizes a linear dynamic panel data estimation methodology for its hypotheses analyses. Results confirm the hypotheses proposed in the study.

A Comparison of the Impacts of Lithium Extraction and Lithium Recycling Processes

Lithium is used in the cathode and electrolyte of rechargeable batteries in many portable electronics and electric vehicles, and is thus seen as a critical component of modern technology (Gruber et al., 2011). Electric vehicles are promoted as a way to reduce carbon emissions associated with the transportation sector, which accounts for 14.3% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (OECD International Transport Forum, 2010). However, the sustainability of lithium procurement will influence the overall environmental impact of this proposed “green” solution. It is estimated that 66% of the world’s lithium resource is contained in natural brines, 24% in pegmatites, and 8% in sedimentary rocks such as hectorite clays (Gruber et al., 2011). It has been shown that “[r]ecycling of lithium from Li-ion batteries may be a critical factor in balancing the supply of lithium with future demand” (Gruber et al., 2011). In an attempt to quantify energy and materials consumption associated with production of a unit of useful lithium compounds, industry reports and peer-reviewed scientific literature concerning lithium mining and lithium recycling were reviewed and compared. Other aspects of sustainability, such as waste or by-products produced in the production of a unit of useful lithium, were also explored. Thus, this paper will serve to further the evaluation of the comparative environmental consequences associated with lithium production via extraction versus recycling. Efficiencies must be made in both processes to maximize productivity while minimizing ecological harm.

A disappearing act performed by magnesium: the nucleotide exchange mechanism of Ran GTPase by Quantum mechanics/Molecular mechanics studies

The Ran GTPase protein is a guanine nucleotide-binding protein (GNBP) with an acknowledged profile in cancer onset, progression and metastases. The complex mechanism adopted by GNBPs in exchanging GDP for GTP is an intriguing process and crucial for Ran viability. The successful completion of the process is a fundamental aspect of propagating downstream signalling events. QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations were employed in this study to provide a deeper mechanistic understanding of the initiation of nucleotide exchange in Ran. Results indicate significant disruption of the metal-binding site upon interaction with RCC1 (the Ran guanine nucleotide exchange factor), overall culminating in the prominent shift of the divalent magnesium ion. The observed ion drifting is reasoned to occur as a consequence of the complex formation between Ran and RCC1 and is postulated to be a critical factor in the exchange process adopted by Ran. This is the first report to observe and detail such intricate dynamics for a protein in Ras superfamily.

FE simulation and experimental tests of high-strength structural bolts under tension

Experimental tests have been completed for high-strength 8.8 bolts for studying their mechanical performance subjected to tensile loading. As observed from these tests, failure of structural bolts has been identified as in one of two ways: threads stripping and necking of the threaded portion of the bolt shank, which is possibly due to the degree of fit between internal and external threads. Following the experimental work, a numerical approach has been developed for demonstration of the tensile performance with proper consideration of tolerance class between bolts and nuts. The degree of fit between internal and external threads has been identified as a critical factor affecting failure mechanisms of high-strength structural bolts in tension, which is caused by the machining process. In addition, different constitutive material laws have been taken into account in the numerical simulation, demonstrating the entire failure mechanism for structural bolts with different tolerance classes in their threads. It is also observed that the bolt capacities are closely associated with their failure mechanisms.

Session organiser/chair: The architecture of coal and other energies

Coal ignited the industrial revolution. An organic sedimentary rock that energized the globe, transforming cities, landscapes and societies for generations, the importance of ‘King Coal’ to the development and consolidation of modernity has been well-recognised. And yet, as a critical factor in the production of modern architecture, coal—as well as other forms of energy—has been mostly overlooked.

From Appalachia to Lanarkshire, from the pits of northern France, Belgium and the Ruhr valley, to the monumental opencast excavations of Russia, China, Africa and Australia, mining operations have altered the immediate social and physical landscapes of coal-rich areas. But in contrast to its own underground conditions of production, the winning of coal, especially in the twentieth-century, has produced conspicuously enlightened and humane approaches to architecture and urbanism. In the twentieth century, educational buildings, holiday camps, hospitals, swimming pools, convalescent homes and housing prevailed alongside model collieries in mining settlements and areas connected to them. In 1930s Britain, pit head baths—funded by a levy on each ton produced—were often built in the International Style. Many won praise for architectural merit, appearing in Nicholas Pevsner’s guides to the buildings of England alongside cathedrals, village manors and Masonic halls as testimonies to the public good.

The deep relationships between coal and modernity, and the expressions of architecture it has articulated, in the collieries from which it was hewn, the landscape and towns it shaped, and the power stations and other infrastructure where it was used, offer innumerable opportunities to explore how coal produced architectures which embodied and expressed both social and technological conditions. While proposals on coal are preferred, we also welcome papers that interrogate the complexity, heterogeneity and hybridity of other forms of energy production and how these have also interceded into architectural form at a range of scales.

Hur ett tvärfunktionellt samarbete kan motverka stuprörsstrukturer : Kommunikationens roll i det organisatoriska gränssnittet mellan olika avdelningar

Stovepipes, or also called silos, appear in many different organizations and sectors and contribute to problems when employees or managers tend to look more to their own, or the individual departments, objectives rather than to the organizations. The purpose of this study was to identify different communicative factors that promote stovepipes in order to further identify the most critical factor to disarm. A case study has been done at a selected company, with a stovepipe structure, in order to achieve the purpose of the study. The case study has included interviews and observations to identify different problem areas which then have been compared with three communicative factors identified in previous studies. The factor that had the most connections to the problem areas have been considered the most critical factor. The result of the study indicates that “A lack of understanding each other's work” is the most critical factor in stovepipe structures and that it can be prevented by following five recommendations: bring up positive collaboration continually, raise problems with each other instead of with others, identify different communication paths in and between the departments, implement a long-term model for preventing stovepipes and set up workshops between the involved departments. The conclusion of the study is that stovepipes create several undesirable effects in the organization but that the efforts to counter these problems do not have to be complicated. Following five small steps into a better collaboration and communication can be enough to be on your way to a better organizational structure.

Percepções de maturidade em gerenciamento de projetos à luz da nova gestão pública: uma investigação com gestores das secretarias estaduais do Rio Grande do Norte

This study aimed to measure the perception of maturity project management of state boards of Rio Grande do Norte by the perception of its managers. Argues that project management has been highlighted as a critical factor for the success of any organization, because the projects are directly related to the set of activities that result in organizational innovation as products, services and processes and the improvement of project management is directly aligned with the main pillars of the New Public Management. Methodologically, this is a quantitative research of a descriptive nature in which 161 forms were applied with coordinators and subcoordinators of state departments of Rio Grande do Norte, culminating in a sampling error of less than 6% to 95% confidence according to the procedures finite sampling. The process of tabulation and analysis was done using the package Statistical Package for Social Sciences - SPSS 18.0 and worked with techniques such as mean, standard deviation, frequency distributions, cluster analysis and factor analysis. The results indicate that the levels of maturity in project management in state departments of Rio Grande do Norte is below the national average and that behavioral skills are the main problem for improving management in these departments. It was possible to detect the existence of two groups of different perceptions about the management of projects, indicating, according to the managers, there are islands of excellence in project management in some sectors of the state departments. It was also observed that there are eight factors that affect maturity in project management: Planning and Control , Development of Management Skills , Project Management Environment , Acceptance of the Subject Project Management , Stimulus to Performance , Project Evaluation and Learning , Project Management Office and Visibility of Project Managers . It concludes that the project management in state departments of Rio Grande do Norte has no satisfactory levels of maturity in project management, affecting the levels of efficiency and effectiveness of the state apparatus, which shows that some of the assumptions that guide the New Public Management are not getting the levels of excellence nailed by this management model

Modelo de gestión del desempeño como base de los programas de gestión humana

La evaluación del desempeño se ha convertido en un factor crítico para el éxito de las organizaciones, ya que realizarla de forma consciente y adecuada permite tomar decisiones y acciones que llevan a la obtención de mejores resultados. El presente trabajo muestra el impacto que tiene la evaluación del desempeño en los demás procesos de Gestión Humana: Incorporación, Desarrollo Humano (Formación y Capacitación, Plan Carrera y Bienestar) y Compensación. Se realizó una encuesta a los colaboradores de una empresa de servicio de tercerización de procesos de negocio (o BPO por sus siglas en inglés) de la ciudad de Medellín para conocer la percepción que tienen acerca de la importancia y utilidad de la evaluación de desempeño dentro de la organización, realizando una comparación con la teoría y encontrando que existen algunos procesos que las personas sienten que no son tan impactados por la evaluación del desempeño, por ejemplo, selección. Se plantea un modelo capaz de demostrar la forma como afecta la evaluación del desempeño los demás procesos de Gestión Humana y los resultados de la organización desde el momento en que la persona se incorpora a la misma, siendo fundamental el rol de los líderes, el análisis de las competencias de las personas y la alineación con la estrategia organizacional.

Ensihoitopalvelun kysynnän ja kapasiteetin hallinta ennakoitavissa palvelutarpeen muutoksissa

Ensihoidossa kysynnän ja kapasiteetin hallinta on toiminnan kriittinen tekijä. Potilaiden hoidontarve asettaa ensihoitopalvelulle varsin tiukat ajalliset ja laadulliset suorituskykyvaatimukset, joista poikkeaminen vaikuttaa suoraan hoidon tuloksiin. Tässä työssä tarkasteltiin ensihoitopalvelun kysynnän ja kapasiteetin hallintaa ennakoitavissa palvelutarpeen muutoksissa. Työn tavoitteena oli kehittää kohdeorganisaation ensihoitopalveluun toimintamalli, jonka avulla se voi nykyistä paremmin tunnistaa normaalista poikkeavat palvelutarpeen muutokset, arvioida niiden vaikutukset ja tarpeet sekä suunnitella ja toteuttaa toiminnan turvallisesti ja tehokkaasti. Työ tehtiin laadullisena toimintatutkimuksena. Empirian osalta työssä perehdyttiin ensihoidon palvelutuotannon vaatimuksiin sekä kohdeorganisaation toimintaan, tarpeisiin ja menetelmiin. Teoriassa tukeuduttiin pääasiassa palvelun kysynnän ja kapasiteetin hallinnan teoriaan. Toimintamallin kehittämisessä hyödynnettiin kohdeorganisaation kokemusta ja asiantuntemusta ratkaisumallien arvioinnissa. Työn tuloksena määriteltiin toimintamalli, jonka avulla kohdeorganisaatio voi systemaattisesti tunnistaa ja analysoida normaalivaihtelusta poikkeavia palvelutarpeen muutoksia, määritellä kysynnän ja kapasiteetin, suunnitella ja toteuttaa toiminnan sekä arvioida ja kehittää menettelyä systemaattisesti.

Innovation from below: dynamic capabilities of the territory as a source for new social ventures

Social innovation is a critical factor for the conception of new strategies to deal with increasingly complex social problems. Many of these initiatives are pursued at the local level and are based on the dynamic capabilities of a given territory. Through the analysis of the Cooperative Terra Chã, we assess whether dynamic capabilities of a territory can generate opportunities for social innovation and how they can be exploited by local communities. We observe that by using a integrated strategy for the management of the capabilities of a territory, new social ventures are able to cope with severe social issues that are not being adequately addressed by other stakeholders.