Integrating the impact of climate into event based failure models for water pipes

This paper presents an event-based failure model to predict the number of failures that occur in water distribution assets. Often, such models have been based on analysis of historical failure data combined with pipe characteristics and environmental conditions. In this paper weather data have been added to the model to take into account the commonly observed seasonal variation of the failure rate. The theoretical basis of existing logistic regression models is briefly described in this paper, along with the refinements made to the model for inclusion of seasonal variation of weather. The performance of these refinements is tested using data from two Australian water authorities.

Sewer performance reporting : factors that influence blockages

Managing sewer blockages represents a significant operational challenge for water utilities. In Australia, company-level blockage rates are used to compare the effectiveness of the management strategies of different utilities. Anecdotal evidence suggests this may not be a fair basis for comparison because blockages are influenced by a range of factors beyond management control and that vary from company to company. This issue was investigated as part of a broader research effort on sewer blockage management undertaken in conjunction with the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and its members. A Web-based survey was used to collate expert opinion on factors that influence blockage rate. The identified factors were then investigated in an exploratory analysis of blockage-related data provided by two participating utilities, supported by literature reviews. The results indicate that blockage rate is influenced by a range of factors, including asset attributes, climatic conditions, water consumption, and soil type. Since these factors vary from utility to utility, this research supports the assertion that company-level blockage rate is not in itself an appropriate metric for comparing management effectiveness.

Understanding how the Australian climate can affect pipe failure

This paper details a statistical analysis of historical failure data, which focuses on determining the manner in which local climate affects pipe failure rates. It was found that seasonality exists in the data, indicating an affect of local climate on failure rate. Significant variation in failure rates was seen between the months of December and May, especially in February/March, whilst limited variations were seen in other months of the year. Further analysis found that failure rates were strongly correlated with minimum antecedent precipitation index and net evaporation and that climate affected failure rate by influencing soil moisture content. Interaction affects between static attributes of the pipe-environment system and local climate were also investigated.

The Formality and Informality of HRM Practices in Small Firms

The formality and informality of HRM practices in small firms Rowena Barrett and Susan Mayson Introduction The nature of human resource management in small firms is understood to be characterized by ad hoc and idiosyncratic practices. The liability of smallness (Heneman and Berkley, 1999) and resource poverty (Welsh and White, 1981) presents unique challenges to managing human resources in small firms. The inability to achieve economies of scale can mean that implementing formalized HRM practices is costly in terms of time and money for small firms (Sels et al., 2006a; 2006b). These, combined with small firm owner–managers’ lack of strategic capabilities and awareness (Hannon and Atherton, 1998) and a lack of managerial resources and expertise in HRM (Cardon and Stevens, 2004) can lead to informal and ad hoc HRM practices. For some this state of affairs is interpreted as problematic as the normative and formalized HRM practices in the areas of recruitment, selection, appraisal, training and rewards are not present (see Marlow, 2006 and Taylor, 2006 for a critique). However, a more nuanced analysis of the small firm and its practices in their context can tell a different story (Barrett and Rainnie, 2002; Harney and Dundon, 2006). In this chapter we contribute to our understanding of small firm management practices by investigating a series of questions in relation to HRM in small firms.

Women's views of ultrasonography: A comparison of women's experiences of antenatal ultrasound screening with cerebral ultrasound of their newborn infant

Ultrasound screening is now a routine procedure which forms part of antenatal care provision. Within this routine context ultrasound technology has been found to be generally acceptable and indeed is positively demanded by many women. This paper raises the question whether the routine presentation of ultrasound implicitly conveys the message that is use in antenatal care is both valuable and safe. It examines women's views of ultrasound technology beyond a routine context. In a study designed to examine women's reactions to cerebral ultrasound on their normal term infants mothers were asked their views and knowledge of ultrasound and a comparison with their antenatal experience of ultrasound was elicited. A generalized concern about ultrasound techniques was found to underlie many of the women's comments. This raised questions concerning the current practice in the presentation of ultrasound to women attending for antenatal care.

Physical, Metabolic, and Energetic Investigations of Methane-Metabolizing Microbial Communities

Understanding the roles of microorganisms in environmental settings by linking phylogenetic identity to metabolic function is a key challenge in delineating their broad-scale impact and functional diversity throughout the biosphere. This work addresses and extends such questions in the context of marine methane seeps, which represent globally relevant conduits for an important greenhouse gas. Through the application and development of a range of culture-independent tools, novel habitats for methanotrophic microbial communities were identified, established settings were characterized in new ways, and potential past conditions amenable to methane-based metabolism were proposed. Biomass abundance and metabolic activity measures – both catabolic and anabolic – demonstrated that authigenic carbonates associated with seep environments retain methanotrophic activity, not only within high-flow seep settings but also in adjacent locations exhibiting no visual evidence of chemosynthetic communities. Across this newly extended habitat, microbial diversity surveys revealed archaeal assemblages that were shaped primarily by seepage activity level and bacterial assemblages influenced more substantially by physical substrate type. In order to reliably measure methane consumption rates in these and other methanotrophic settings, a novel method was developed that traces deuterium atoms from the methane substrate into aqueous medium and uses empirically established scaling factors linked to radiotracer rate techniques to arrive at absolute methane consumption values. Stable isotope probing metaproteomic investigations exposed an array of functional diversity both within and beyond methane oxidation- and sulfate reduction-linked metabolisms, identifying components of each proposed enzyme in both pathways. A core set of commonly occurring unannotated protein products was identified as promising targets for future biochemical investigation. Physicochemical and energetic principles governing anaerobic methane oxidation were incorporated into a reaction transport model that was applied to putative settings on ancient Mars. Many conditions enabled exergonic model reactions, marking the metabolism and its attendant biomarkers as potentially promising targets for future astrobiological investigations. This set of inter-related investigations targeting methane metabolism extends the known and potential habitat of methanotrophic microbial communities and provides a more detailed understanding of their activity and functional diversity.

No Coração das Trevas: o paraíso e inferno do outro em Bernardo Carvalho e Joseph Conrad

Esta dissertação estuda o papel do sujeito na literatura e sua relação com a cultura e alteridade através da análise de duas obras: Nove noites, de Bernardo de Carvalho e Coração das Trevas de Joseph Conrad. As obras estudadas mostram a crise que atinge os protagonistas dos dois livros depois do encontro com outras culturas. Em Nove noites o outro é representado pelo índio e em Coração das Trevas pelos africanos. Em Nove noites o antropólogo Buell Quain se suicida depois de uma estada entre os índios Krahô, e em Coração das Trevas vemos a deterioração do homem branco representada pelo personagem de Kurtz. Considerado um homem notável e um altruísta na Europa, Kurtz teria se corrompido no contato com a realidade do Congo e se torna, nas palavras do narrador Marlow, um dos demônios da terra. A dissolução da personalidade e código moral do homem branco, representada pelos dois personagens, será estudada analisando a relação entre personalidade e cultura e como a falta de apoio e controle grupal desarticula valores até então considerados estáveis, assim como o contato com o outro. Esta desarticulação do sujeito causada pelo choque cultural se soma à crise geral do sujeito moderno e ao mal-estar na civilização, como descrito por Freud. A posição paradoxal do antropólogo, que se situa entre duas culturas, faz parte desta análise, do mesmo modo questões pertinentes a posição dos índios e africanos no Congo. No caso específico de Coração das Trevas trabalha-se a interseção entre a análise do sujeito, e suas implicações, e a construção do personagem de Kurtz como símbolo da violência colonial. O trabalho analisa também as semelhanças entre as duas obras, tanto temáticas como em suas técnicas narrativas e a influência da obra de Conrad nos romances de Carvalho

The effects of water quality on freshwater fish populations - final report

There is a need to determine quantitative relationships between fishery status and water quality in order to make informed judgements concerning fishery health and the setting of environmental quality standards for fishery protection. Such relationships would also assist in the formulation of a system for classifying fisheries. A national database of fisheries and water quality has been collated from the archives of pollution control authorities throughout the UK. A number of probable and potential water quality effects on fish populations have been identified from a thorough analysis of the database, notwithstanding large confounding effects such as habitat variation and fish mobility, and the generally sparse nature of water quality information. A number of different approaches to data analysis was utilised, and the value of each has been appraised. Recommendations concerning the integration of water quality assessment approaches have been made and further research on fishery status, and its measurement, in relation to water quality has been suggested.

Neurodevelopmental and respiratory follow-up results at 7 years for children from the United Kingdom and Ireland enrolled in a randomized trial of early and late postnatal corticosteroid treatment, systemic and inhaled (the Open Study of Early Corticosteroid Treatment)

The goals were to compare early school-age neurodevelopmental and respiratory outcomes for children who were treated with either early (15 days) postnatal corticosteroid therapy and to compare systemic dexamethasone treatment with inhaled budesonide treatment.

Women artists of the international avant-garde: the case of "Abstraction-Création" (1931-1936)

Women’s contribution to abstract art in the interwar period is a subject that, to date, has received very little attention. In this article we deal with the untold story of the participation of women artists in Abstraction-Création, the foremost international group dedicated to abstract art in the 1930s. Founded in Paris in 1931, the group took on the work of two previous collectives to become a platform for the dissemination and promotion of abstract art and consisted of around a hundred members. Twelve of these were women, whose writings and works were published in the group’s annual magazine, abstraction creátion art non figuratif (1932-1936), and who participated in a number of the group’s exhibitions. Compared to what had occurred in previous groups, the participation of women, although reduced in number, was comparable to that of the male artists and being members of the group had a generally positive impact on the women’s careers. However, all this came at the expense of relinquishing any gender specificity in their work and the public presentation of it, and demonstrates that the normalization of women’s contributions to the avant-garde could only be brought about alongside a questioning of the more dogmatic views of modernity.

The University Incubator: Insights in the Entrepreneurial Process from a Network Perspective

Research to date has identified incubator units as an effective mechanism for supporting the growth and development of small entrepreneurial firms. Advantages are gained not only from the provision of appropriate facilities and external managerial expertise on site, but also from the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial networks facilitated by the spatial proximity of incubator firms. Therefore, the research question upon which the paper is based investigates the impact of context, in other words the degree to which the networking opportunities provided by the university incubator support the small firm in its pursuit of sustainability and growth