Integrating a sustainable academic career around scholarly learning and teaching activities

To be scholarly in learning and teaching is rigorous academic work. It demands: currency and command of both discipline subject matter and educational theory; inquiring, methodical, and reflective approaches; the collection, evaluation and documentation of evidence of learning and teaching efficacy; and, optimally, entails participation in and communication among a community of teaching professionals. This chapter examines the author’s own practice in this regard to explicate the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of scholarly and scholarship approaches, as much as the ‘what’ and ‘where’ of that endeavour. In doing so, this meta‐analysis is made ‘community property’, in the same way that Shulman (1993: 6) exhorted we ‘change the status of teaching from private to community property’ so that teaching might be more greatly valued in the academy.

Gustav Holst and British Music Society of Victoria collections at the State Library of Victoria

The paper presents a content-based evaluation, tracing the historical background of two heritage music collections at the State Library of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia).  In the case of the Gustav Holst and the British Music Society of Victoria Collections, history and content intertwine for the reason that both collections were initiated at the same time and by the same visionary power. During the early 1930s Louise Hanson-Dyer, a patron of Gustav Holst, issued a complete catalogue of the composer’s works and donated to the State Library of Victoria the first batch of Holst scores. This was to be the initial installment of a complete collection of published British music, which, however, was stopped due to duty tax complications. At the same time, the British Music Society of Victoria, founded by Louise Hanson-Dyer in 1921, maintained the first open library of chamber music in Australia. The BMS of Victoria Collection came to the State Library of Victoria in the 1980s. The most valuable materials in the collection are manuscripts of Australian twentieth century works, concert programs and first publications of British music from the 1920s and 1930s, which also supplement the Gustav Holst Collection. The collections are valuable reference and research collections, which document musical taste and music-making in Melbourne from 1920s well into the 1970s. The collections are also sources for studies into Louise Hanson-Dyer’s gift in collection development and her efforts to raise the professional standards of music performance in Melbourne and Australia.

Negotiation strategy for mobile agent-based e-negotiation

Negotiation is a vital component of electronic trading. It is the key decision-making approach used to reach consensus between trading partners. Generally, the trading partners implement various negotiation strategies in an attempt to maximize their utilities. As negotiation strategies have impact on the outcomes of negotiation, it is imperative to have efficient negotiation strategies that truly maximize clients’ utilities. In this paper, we propose a multi-attribute mobile agent-based negotiation strategy that maximizes client’s utility. The strategy focuses on one-to-many bilateral negotiation. It considers different factors that have significant effect on the scheduling of various negotiation phases: offer collection, evaluation, negotiation, and bid settlement. The factors include offers expiry time, market search space, communication delays, processing queues, and transportation times. We reasoned about the correctness of the proposed negotiation strategy with respect to the existing negotiation strategies. The analysis showed that the proposed strategy boosts client’s utility, shortens negotiation time, and ensures adequate market search.

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2006-2007

Includes bibliography

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007-2008: Macroeconomic policy and volatility

Includes bibliography

Ergonomia de quadras urbanas: condição térmica do pedestre

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Aplicación de métodos bibliométricos a la evaluación de colecciones : El caso de la Biblioteca del Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía

Con el objetivo de determinar el grupo de publicaciones nucleares a considerar en el desarrollo de la colección de la Biblioteca del IAR, se realiza un estudio bibliométrico de la producción y del consumo de literatura científica de los investigadores de la institución a la que la biblioteca pertenece. A partir del análisis de referencias de los trabajos publicados por los investigadores se determinan la obsolescencia y la utilidad de la literatura consultada. Mediante la extracción de palabras clave y de los autores se determinan también los frentes de investigación del instituto y los grupos de investigadores que trabajan en esos frentes, aplicando los métodos de análisis de co-ocurrencia de palabras, coautorías y análisis de redes sociales. Los resultados dan cuenta de una baja obsolescencia para la literatura consultada, de una elevada preferencia para consultar y publicar en dos o tres títulos de publicaciones periódicas de la disciplina, y demuestran finalmente la existencia de dos frentes de investigación dentro de la institución

Aplicación de métodos bibliométricos a la evaluación de colecciones : El caso de la Biblioteca del Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía

Con el objetivo de determinar el grupo de publicaciones nucleares a considerar en el desarrollo de la colección de la Biblioteca del IAR, se realiza un estudio bibliométrico de la producción y del consumo de literatura científica de los investigadores de la institución a la que la biblioteca pertenece. A partir del análisis de referencias de los trabajos publicados por los investigadores se determinan la obsolescencia y la utilidad de la literatura consultada. Mediante la extracción de palabras clave y de los autores se determinan también los frentes de investigación del instituto y los grupos de investigadores que trabajan en esos frentes, aplicando los métodos de análisis de co-ocurrencia de palabras, coautorías y análisis de redes sociales. Los resultados dan cuenta de una baja obsolescencia para la literatura consultada, de una elevada preferencia para consultar y publicar en dos o tres títulos de publicaciones periódicas de la disciplina, y demuestran finalmente la existencia de dos frentes de investigación dentro de la institución

Aplicación de métodos bibliométricos a la evaluación de colecciones : El caso de la Biblioteca del Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía

Con el objetivo de determinar el grupo de publicaciones nucleares a considerar en el desarrollo de la colección de la Biblioteca del IAR, se realiza un estudio bibliométrico de la producción y del consumo de literatura científica de los investigadores de la institución a la que la biblioteca pertenece. A partir del análisis de referencias de los trabajos publicados por los investigadores se determinan la obsolescencia y la utilidad de la literatura consultada. Mediante la extracción de palabras clave y de los autores se determinan también los frentes de investigación del instituto y los grupos de investigadores que trabajan en esos frentes, aplicando los métodos de análisis de co-ocurrencia de palabras, coautorías y análisis de redes sociales. Los resultados dan cuenta de una baja obsolescencia para la literatura consultada, de una elevada preferencia para consultar y publicar en dos o tres títulos de publicaciones periódicas de la disciplina, y demuestran finalmente la existencia de dos frentes de investigación dentro de la institución

Study for the rehabilitation of vernacular architecture with sustainable criteria

This paper assesses rural vernacular heritage established in a warm temperate climate, with dry, hot summer, in São Vicente e Ventosa (SVV), Alentejo, Portugal, and takes part in a larger investigation intending to create rehabilitation guidelines, with sustainable criteria and integration of recent technologies, to improving indoor comfort, and revert the state of deterioration. To further reach this aim, this paper proposes a four phases methodology: data collection, evaluation, simulation and development; a first survey data analysis, including climate data and the adapted comfort climograph and isopleth diagram, allows an understanding of thermal comfort and main constraints in site, as well as suitable bioclimatic strategies for SVV: high thermal inertia for tempering extreme summer conditions and the considerable temperature amplitudes throughout the year, complementarily night ventilation for passive cooling, small-sized window openings and movable shading systems for solar radiation protection. An efficient behaviour in stabilizing indoor temperature swings is revealed.

EVALUACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE CIENCIAS APLICADAS (600 DEWEY) DE LA COLECCIÓN DE LA BIBLIOTECA “JOAQUIN GARCÍA MONGE”

Con esta investigación se pretende determinar la calidad, actualidad, grado de satisfacción de los usuarios, uso y pertinencia de la colección del área de Ciencias Aplicadas de la Biblioteca “Joaquín García Monge” en relación con las necesidades de los usuarios.Se seleccionó como estudio de caso la colección del área de Ciencias Aplicadas de la Biblioteca “Joaquín García Monge” que cubre ciencias ambientales, agrarias y forestales; física y química industrial; medicina veterinaria, psiquiatría, administración, contabilidad, mercadeo, manualidades y mecanografía. Se evaluará el fondo bibliográfico correspondiente únicamente a los libros de la colección y material bibliográfico de referencia.

Evaluation of saliva collection devices for the analysis of proteins

Background: Human saliva mirrors the body's health and can be collected non-invasively, does not require specialized skills and is suitable for large population based screening programs. The aims were twofold: to evaluate the suitability of commercially available saliva collection devices for quantifying proteins present in saliva and to provide levels for C-reactive protein (CRP), myoglobin, and immunoglobin E (IgE) in saliva of healthy individuals as a baseline for future studies. Methods: Saliva was collected from healthy volunteers (n = 17, ages 18-33 years). The following collection methods were evaluated: drool; Salimetrics (R) Oral Swab (SOS); Salivette (R) Cotton and Synthetic (Sarstedt) and Greiner Bio-One Saliva Collection System (GBO SCS (R)). We used AlphaLISA (R) assays to measure CRP, IgE and myoglobin levels in human saliva. Results: Significant (p<0.05) differences in the salivary flow rates were observed based on the method of collection, Le. salivary flow rates were significantly lower (p<0.05) in unstimulated saliva (Le. drool and SOS), when compared with mechanically stimulated methods (p<0.05) (Salivette (R) Cotton and Synthetic) and acid stimulated method (p<0.05) (SCS (R)). Saliva collected using SOS yielded significantly (p<0.05) lower concentrations of myoglobin and CRP, whilst, saliva collected using the Salivette (R) Cotton and Synthetic swab yielded significantly (p<0.05) lower myoglobin and IgE concentrations respectively. Conclusions: The results demonstrated significantly relevant differences in analyte levels based on the collection method. Significant differences in the salivary flow rates were also observed depending on the saliva collection method. The data provide preliminary baseline values for salivary CRP, myoglobin, and IgE levels in healthy participants and based on the collection method. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 004 (C004) aerosol retrievals at Kanpur, Indo-Gangetic basin

[1] We have compared the spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD, tau lambda) and aerosol fine mode fraction (AFMF) of Collection 004 (C004) derived from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Terra and Aqua platforms with that obtained from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) at Kanpur (26.45 degrees N, 80.35 degrees E), India for the period 2001-2005. The spatially-averaged (0.5 degrees x 0.5 degrees centered at AERONET sunphotometer) MODIS Level-2 aerosol parameters (10 km at nadir) were compared with the temporally averaged AERONET-measured AOD (within +/- 30 minutes of MODIS overpass). We found that MODIS systematically overestimated AOD during the pre-monsoon season (March to June, known to be influenced by dust aerosols). The errors in AOD at 0.66 mu m were correlated with the apparent reflectance at 2.1 mu m (rho*(2.1)) which MODIS C004 uses to estimate the surface reflectance in the visible channels (rho(0.47) = rho*(2.1)/ 4, rho(0.66) = rho*(2.1)/ 2). The large errors in AOD (Delta tau(0.66) > 0.3) are found to be associated with the higher values of rho*(2.1) (0.18 to 0.25), where the uncertainty in the ratios of reflectance is large (Delta rho(0.66) +/- 0.04, Delta rho(0.47) +/- 0.02). This could have resulted in lower surface reflectance, higher aerosol path radiance and thus lead to overestimation in AOD. While MODIS-derived AFMF has binary distribution (1 or 0) with too low (AFMF < 0.2) during dust-loading period, and similar to 1 for the rest of the retrievals, AERONET showed range of values (0.4 to 0.9). The errors in tau(0.66) were also high in the scattering angle range 110 degrees - 140 degrees, where the optical effects of nonspherical dust particles are different from that of spherical particles.

Microbiological characterisation of soils : Evaluation of some critical steps in data collection and experimental design

The study of soil microbiota and their activities is central to the understanding of many ecosystem processes such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. The collection of microbiological data from soils generally involves several sequential steps of sampling, pretreatment and laboratory measurements. The reliability of results is dependent on reliable methods in every step. The aim of this thesis was to critically evaluate some central methods and procedures used in soil microbiological studies in order to increase our understanding of the factors that affect the measurement results and to provide guidance and new approaches for the design of experiments. The thesis focuses on four major themes: 1) soil microbiological heterogeneity and sampling, 2) storage of soil samples, 3) DNA extraction from soil, and 4) quantification of specific microbial groups by the most-probable-number (MPN) procedure. Soil heterogeneity and sampling are discussed as a single theme because knowledge on spatial (horizontal and vertical) and temporal variation is crucial when designing sampling procedures. Comparison of adjacent forest, meadow and cropped field plots showed that land use has a strong impact on the degree of horizontal variation of soil enzyme activities and bacterial community structure. However, regardless of the land use, the variation of microbiological characteristics appeared not to have predictable spatial structure at 0.5-10 m. Temporal and soil depth-related patterns were studied in relation to plant growth in cropped soil. The results showed that most enzyme activities and microbial biomass have a clear decreasing trend in the top 40 cm soil profile and a temporal pattern during the growing season. A new procedure for sampling of soil microbiological characteristics based on stratified sampling and pre-characterisation of samples was developed. A practical example demonstrated the potential of the new procedure to reduce the analysis efforts involved in laborious microbiological measurements without loss of precision. The investigation of storage of soil samples revealed that freezing (-20 °C) of small sample aliquots retains the activity of hydrolytic enzymes and the structure of the bacterial community in different soil matrices relatively well whereas air-drying cannot be recommended as a storage method for soil microbiological properties due to large reductions in activity. Freezing below -70 °C was the preferred method of storage for samples with high organic matter content. Comparison of different direct DNA extraction methods showed that the cell lysis treatment has a strong impact on the molecular size of DNA obtained and on the bacterial community structure detected. An improved MPN method for the enumeration of soil naphthalene degraders was introduced as an alternative to more complex MPN protocols or the DNA-based quantification approach. The main advantage of the new method is the simple protocol and the possibility to analyse a large number of samples and replicates simultaneously.