Field Studies

Gongs are one of the key elements of traditional culture and play a significant role in the lives of indigenous peoples. This article, based on the author's field research conducted in 2017–2018, is dedicated to comparing and describing the functions and practices of using gongs among the indigenous peoples of Cambodia and the Philippines. The author provides a description of the gongs' appearance, compares various sound production techniques, discusses practices and rituals involving the instrument, and explores the gong's role as a status symbol in the traditional culture of indigenous peoples.

Гонги являются одним из ключевых элементов традиционной культуры и играют важную роль в жизни коренных народов. Настоящая статья, основанная автором на материалах полевых исследований 2017–2018 гг., посвящена сравнению и описанию функций, практик использования гонгов коренных народов Камбоджи и Филиппин. Автор составляет описание внешнего вида гонгов, приводит сравнение различных способов звукоизвлечения, рассказывает о практиках и ритуалах, подразумевающих использование инструмента, о роли гонга как статусной вещи в традиционной культуре коренных народов.

This article considers methodological issues arising from recent efforts to provide field tests of eyewitness identification procedures. We focus in particular on a field study (Mecklenburg 2006) that examined the ''double blind, sequential'' technique, and consider the implications of an acknowledged methodological confound in the study. We explain why the confound has severe consequences for assessing the real-world implications of this study.

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This paper presents a novel task-oriented, user-centered, multi-method evaluation (TUME) technique and shows how it is useful in providing a more complete, practical and solution-oriented assessment of the accessibility and usability of Learning Management Systems (LMS) for blind and visually impaired (BVI) students. Novel components of TUME include a purposeful integration of a multi-theoretic foundation and multiple methods to accurately identify users' accessibility and usability problems in Web interaction and identify design problems and solutions to ensure technical feasibility of recommendations. The problems identified by TUME remain hidden from extant evaluation methods-therefore, these problems remain in Web-based applications. As a result, evaluation of Web-based applications remains confounded by users' Web interaction challenges; their utility for specific user types remains unclear. Without appropriate evaluation of users' problems and challenges in using Web-based applications, we cannot begin to solve these problems and challenges. This paper demonstrates how TUME can be used to identify the unique problems and challenges of specific user types in using Web-based applications and suggests potential solutions. The outcome is an accurate understanding of specific design elements that present roadblocks and challenges for the user in interacting with the Web-based application and feasible design modifications to potentially improve the utility of these applications for specific user types. We illustrate the application of TUME to test the utility of LMS for BVI students. We use a popular LMS and an on-line exam as a representative task. We present results from three assessments that are essential components of TUME. Assessment I uses verbal protocol analysis to identify where and why BVI participants face LMS interaction problems in completing an exam. Assessment II performs text analysis of accessibility and usability design standards to identify design errors in the LMS exam environment. As-Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee.

II. Record babbling [1.2.3]. III. Elicit and record imitation of prosodic aspects of speech according to standardized tests [1.2.2]. IV. Elicit and record imitation of phonological aspects of speech according to standardized tests [1.2.2, 1.3.13. V. Elicit and list initial vocabulary [1.2.4, 1.3.1]. VI. Record free interaction between child and mother (or mothersurrogate) for intensive grammatical analysis [1.4.1]. VII. Elicit and record imitation of systematically constructed model sentences [1.4.2]. VIII. Administer standard speech comprehension tests [1.4.3]. IX. Elicit and record production of grammatical speech according to standardized tests [1.4.4]. X. Describe child's interaction networks and standard daily activities, over the course of a year, on the basis of observation and interview of child and parents [1.5.1]. XI. Record and observe dialogs between children [1.5.2). XII. Record speech of mother to child [1.5.3). XIII. Observe communicative routines [1.5.4]. XIV. Interview adults concerning beliefs about language acquisition and use [1.6]. At the completion of: Motor Development Vocalization and Language 12 weeks Supports head when in prone position; weight is on elbows; hands mostly open; no grasp reflex. Markedly less crying than at 8 weeks; when talked to and nodded at, smiles, followed by squealinggurgling sounds usually called cooinii, which is vowel-like in character and pitch-modulated; sustains cooing for 15-20 seconds. Section 1.1 was written by Dan I. Slobin.

The Mount Ousley Road section of the M1 Princes Motorway is one of the main transportation links between the cities of Sydney and Wollongong, New South Wales (NSW), on the east coast of Australia. The road was originally constructed during World War II as an alternative defense route and now supports approximately 50,000 vehicle movements per day. The road negotiates 4.4km of the Illawarra escarpment at grades up to 1:8. A section of the road traverses the largest landslide in the Wollongong Landslide Inventory, Site 141. The surface area of the landslide is 67,000m2, which includes a 350m section of Mount Ousley Road affecting all six lanes. The landslide is a deep seated, episodically active translational debris slide with a maximum depth of sliding of 20.5m. The landslide is managed by a continuous real-time monitoring system and is dewatered by nine 30m deep pumping wells to maintain lower ground water levels. The dewatering system was installed in 1988, but has been upgraded th...

Randomized field experiments have been regarded as a gold standard in producing good evidence about the effects of social programs. But they have not been easy to conduct. I n the past decade, the use of alternative randomimtion plans and incentives has contributed to their operational feasibility; legal, ethical, and professional arguments for experimentation have matured; and expectations have become better aligned with practical constraints that are likely to be encountered. Conducting Social Experiments Robert E Boruch The concern among evaluators lies with an important means of discovering what is good, in a special sense, about a class of societal action. T h e focus is on randomized field tests of social programs, projects, or program elements. Such tests involve the random assignment of individuals or other entities to one of two or more regimens to permit a fair comparison. One virtue of the random assignment is the guarantee of equivalence of the groups so assigned, at least in the long run, apart from the relative effects of the regimens. This virtue was recognized over a century ago by Jastrow and Peirce in psychophysical laboratory experiments (Stigler, 1978). The second virtue, actualized more recently by Kempthorne (1952), is that one can construct a statistically coherent statement of one's confidence in the randomized experiment's results. The ability to construct such a statement is important in medicine, education, engineering, and Work on this topic has been supported at Northwestern University by the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation and at the Center for Advanced Study, in the Behavioral Sciences by the Spencer Foundation. Excerpts were presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, October 31, 1986. I am indebted to Byron Brown, She1 Stryker, Lincoln Moses, Phoebe Cottingham, and Rob Hollister for recent conversation on the topic.

Behavioral change interventions based on social norms have proven to be a popular and cost-effective way in which both researchers and practitioners attempt to transform behavior in order to increase environmental and social sustainability in real-world contexts. In this paper, we present a systematic review of over 90 empirical studies that have applied behavioral change interventions based on social norms in field settings. Building on previous research about the sources of information that people use to understand social norms and other local determinants of behavior, we propose a framework organized along two axes that describe intervention context (situated interventions applied in the same context where the target behavior happens versus remote interventions that are applied away from that context) and type of normative information leveraged (interventions that provide summary information about a group versus interventions that expose participants to the opinions and behaviors...

Buildings give rise to several environmental problems over the whole life cycle. To reduce these, technical measures with focus on energy are commonly used. However, environmental problems are more than energy and cannot be solved with technical measures alone. This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between organisation and the environment. The question is how environmental effects of organising can be studied and how organisation and management influence environmental performance. These issues are explored in the field of housing management and life cycle assessment (LCA). Understanding is sought through comparative studies of housing management companies and their buildings, in which qualitative organisational data were collected from interviews, observations and internal documents and quantitative data were collected from internal documents (Papers II and III). A 'hybrid' methodology based on the concept of environmental assessment of organising (EAO) has been developed here (Paper I). Research literature on environmental management and indicators are also explored and compared with housing management practice (Paper IV). Furthermore, a life cycle methodology was used for the comparison of passive and conventional building chains including actors and their choices along the chain (Paper V). This thesis has shown that it is possible to study the environmental effects of organising by including humans in the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The way organisation and management influence environmental performance is through the combination of many actions. The concept of 'action nets' and the 'theory of practice' are found to be especially useful here. It is concluded that organising matters for the environment. A form of organising that pays close attention to the building and its physical flows seems to be important for a better environmental performance. Environmental indicators need to be specific for work processes and physical environmental flows. Passive house buildings are not always better than conventional buildings and that resident's choice of eco-labelled electricity matters most.

Ice clouds, especially cirrus, have been shown in general circulation model (GCM) and satellite studies to have a major effect on the Earth's radiation balance and climate as a result of the significant contribution they make to the diabatic heating of the upper troposphere. An accurate description is needed not only of the cloud microphysics, but also of cloud-radiative interactions. The weakest physical link for the representation of microphysics and radiation in cloud and larger scale models are their connected descriptions. Because of complex non-linear interactions between radiation and microphysics, it has been necessary to parameterize or simplify the results of detailed radiative transfer models for incorporation into cloud and larger scale models. Many parameterizations of the short-wave optical properties of ice clouds in terms of ice water content (IWC), effective radius (re), and temperature have been developed (e.g., Ebert and Curry 1992; Fu 1996) assuming various i...

Information about the effects of agriculturally derived insecticide input on the aquatic fauna in the field is sparse. Runoff-related insecticide input and the resulting toxicological effects on the aquatic fauna (abundance, drift, emergence) at three sampling sites at different distances (450-1150 m) from the input location of contaminated edge-of-field runoff (erosion rill) were investigated. By means of event-triggered sampling it was shown that the transient (about 1 h) insecticide contamination in the stream was very high (e.g. 6 mg l − 1 parathion-ethyl in water, 302 mg kg − 1 fenvalerate in suspended particulates). The rates of loss of applied substance calculated on the basis of the application rate, the concentrations measured in the stream, and discharge data for both insecticides were below 0.1%, the value usually reported in the literature. The measured insecticide contamination in the stream had a strong negative effect on the aquatic macroinvertebrate community. Eight of the 11 common species vanished from 19 May on for a period of 3-6 months, although their life cycles include much longer aquatic stages. The remaining three species were significantly (P B0.001) reduced in their population density, although in their normal life cycle the population density would increase due to summer reproduction. These effects were observed for the entire longitudinal stream section investigated (up to 1150 m from the edge-of-field runoff location). In contrast, the increase of drift rate (mainly G. pulex) and of the mortality in the drift (mainly caddisfly species), declined with increasing distance from the runoff site. The comparison of runoff events with and without insecticide contamination substantiates the crucial importance of the insecticide contamination for the observed effects. There was no correlation between the hydraulic component (discharge), turbidity or nutrient content and the observed toxicological effects (decrease in number of species, increased drift; increased mortality in the drift) on the aquatic fauna. Considering all these facts, it can be concluded that agricultural insecticide input may play an important role in the dynamics of macroinvertebrate communities in agricultural streams.

Author(s): Wu, L.Y.; Kellogg, L.E.; Schadt, C.W.; Devol, A.H.; Tiedje, J.M.; Zhou, J.Z. | Abstract: Marine sediments play important roles in global biogeochemical processes such as carbon degradation and nutrient cycles. To determine the metabolic potential and structure of marine sediment microbial communities, marine sediments were collected from two collection stations (GMT and GMS) in the Gulf of Mexico and analyzed with a functional gene array containing g2000 probes from the genes involved in carbon fixation, organic carbon degradation, contaminant degradation, metal resistance, and nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorous cycling. Several environmental variables were also measured, including ammonium, nitrate, sulfate, phosphorus, and sulfate reduction. A total of 1343 genes or 67% of the probes showed significant hybridization with at least one of the 12 samples. A total of 722 genes were detected at GMT and 844 were detected at GMS. Two times more genes on the array hybridized in ...

The first field measurements of volcanic gases using mid-IR difference frequency laser spectroscopy are reported. The results were obtained at the summit crater of Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, with the gases being drawn into a multi pass cell and measured at reduced pressure. Automated sensitive and selective detection of CO 2 , SO 2 , H 35,37 Cl, H 2 O, and CH 4 was achieved. Simultaneous measurements obtained with open-path Fourier transform spectroscopy provide a useful comparison of the two optical techniques. We also consider the potential measurement of CO 2 isotopic ratios in volcanic gases using laser-based spectroscopy.

Which is the strongest predictor of Duchenne smiles? Is it emotion or sociality? Two field studies on the production of facial behavior by winning judo fighters (N = 174) are presented, testing if judo fighters smiled while being happy or while they were engaged in social interaction with the audience. Our studies simultaneously meet important methodological requirements: intense emotions; precise moment-to-moment coding of facial expressions; behavioral records long enough to allow smiles to unfold; discrimination between records of interactive and non-interactive behavior, and self-reports of emotional experience after winning a medal. We found that Duchenne smiles were not a necessary sign of happiness. Although all the judo fighters won their respective matches, they displayed a very low proportion of Duchenne smiles (.15 in Study 1, and .21 in Study 2). Being engaged in social interaction (communicative gestures with arms and hands while facing the audience) was found to be the strongest predictor for the occurrence of Duchenne smiles. Our studies provide support for the view that facial expressions are tools for social interaction (Behavioral Ecology Theory), rather than read-outs of basic emotions (Facial Expression Program).

Premessa e obiettivi. La viticoltura in Italia è un’attività secolare, ma anche un’importante fonte di reddito. Per proteggere il raccolto da malattie indesiderate, sono usati prodotti fitosanitari, e di conseguenza i lavoratori agricoli sono potenzialmente esposti a sostanze pericolose. Il monitoraggio ambientale e biologico per la valutazione del rischio raramente è applicabile ad un gran numero di lavoratori e nella maggior parte dei casi per il monitoraggio biologico non esistono valori limite e BEI. E’ quindi necessario proporre per i lavoratori agricoli, esposti a pesticidi, una valutazione del rischio più semplice, e predisporre misure di prevenzione mirate.

The application of ICT in education in rural and remote contexts is rapidly evolving and is actively being pursued as a solution to educational issues. ICT in education involves technological as well as pedagogical and social dimensions. This paper examines approaches being taken in developing ICT usage in Northern Territory schools for teaching and learning. It covers both technological and pedagogical issues. It discusses issues of access, professional development, leadership and support. It discusses how teachers in three schools are applying computer-based technology in their classes. The paper highlights the need for teacher professional development, the need for high-speed broadband access for effective application of ICT in rural and remote education and for the sustainability of infrastructure and practices.

Author(s): Bauman, Fred; Raftery, Paul; Schiavon, Stefano; Karmann, Caroline; Pantelic, Jovan; Duarte, Carlos; Woolley, Jonathan; Dawe, Megan; Graham, Lindsay T; Miller, Dana; Cheng, Hwakong; Feng, Jingjuan (Dove); Heinzerling, David; Higgins, Cathy; Carbonnier, Kevin; Paliaga, Gwelen; Pande, Abhijeet; Farahmand, Farhad | Abstract: Radiant cooling and heating systems provide an opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, peak demand reduction, load shifting, and thermal comfort improvements compared to conventional all-air systems. As a result, application of these systems has increased in recent years, particularly in zero-net-energy (ZNE) and other advanced low-energy buildings. Despite this growth, completed installations to date have demonstrated that controls and operation of radiant systems can be challenging due to a lack of familiarity within the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) design and operations professions, often involving new concepts (particul...

Author(s): Bauman, Fred; Raftery, Paul; Schiavon, Stefano; Karmann, Caroline; Pantelic, Jovan; Duarte, Carlos; Woolley, Jonathan; Dawe, Megan; Graham, Lindsay T; Miller, Dana; Cheng, Hwakong; Feng, Jingjuan (Dove); Heinzerling, David; Higgins, Cathy; Carbonnier, Kevin; Paliaga, Gwelen; Pande, Abhijeet; Farahmand, Farhad | Abstract: Radiant cooling and heating systems provide an opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, peak demand reduction, load shifting, and thermal comfort improvements compared to conventional all-air systems. As a result, application of these systems has increased in recent years, particularly in zero-net-energy (ZNE) and other advanced low-energy buildings. Despite this growth, completed installations to date have demonstrated that controls and operation of radiant systems can be challenging due to a lack of familiarity within the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) design and operations professions, often involving new concepts (particul...

River Influences on Shelf Ecosystems (RISE) is the first comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the rates and dynamics governing the mixing of river and coastal waters in an eastern boundary current system, as well as the effects of the resultant plume on phytoplankton standing stocks, growth and grazing rates, and community structure. The RISE Special Volume presents results deduced from four field studies and two different numerical model applications, including an ecosystem model, on the buoyant plume originating from the Columbia River. This introductory paper provides background information on variability during RISE field efforts as well as a synthesis of results, with particular attention to the questions and hypotheses that motivated this research. RISE studies have shown that the maximum mixing of Columbia River and ocean water occurs primarily near plume liftoff inside the estuary and in the near field of the plume. Most plume nitrate originates from upwelled shelf water, and plume phytoplankton species are typically the same as those found in the adjacent coastal ocean. River-supplied nitrate can help maintain the ecosystem during periods of delayed upwelling. The plume inhibits iron limitation, but nitrate limitation is observed in aging plumes. The plume also has significant effects on rates of primary productivity and growth (higher in new plume water) and microzooplankton grazing (lower in the plume near field and north of the river mouth); macrozooplankton concentration (enhanced at plume fronts); offshelf chlorophyll export; as well as the development of a chlorophyll ''shadow zone'' off northern Oregon.

Alongside growing research interest in the lifestyles of young people has come recognition of the need for ethical codes of conduct to protect children and young people from exploitation. While many academic papers provide valuable guidelines for researchers, little consideration has been given to how methodological issues are actually played out in practice. In particular, the practicalities of fulfilling methodological obligations whilst at the same time managing often challenging research situations is elided. In this paper I foreground how methodological considerations impact upon research with both individuals and groups of young people in the countryside.

Runoff from hillslopes is generated by processes such as infiltration‐excess and saturation overland flow, subsurface stormflow and subsurface return flow. Preferential flow through macropores can affect any one of these runoff generation processes. Field studies at the Hitachi Ohta Experimental Watershed in Japan have noted that self‐organization processes may manifest the connectivity of such subsurface flow paths, particularly via macropores, from hillslopes to stream channels. It is well established from soil physics principles that the connectivity of macropore networks depends on soil wetness and this has been shown experimentally at Hitachi Ohta where subsurface flow and streamflow respond to thresholds of wetness. Numerical solutions to the three‐dimensional Richards equation are derived for a sloping soil block containing a population of disconnected macropores of various sizes, shapes and orientations. Solutions for the case of steady water flux applied to the surface of t...

Estimates of the costs of including hands-on measures of science skills in large-scale assessment programs are drawn from afield trial involving more than 2,000 fifth-and sixth-grade students. These estimates include the resources needed to develop, administer, and score the tasks. They suggest that performance measures are far more expensive than typical multiple-choice tests for an equal amount of testing time, and the cost increases even further for an equally reliable score on an individual student. Because of the complexities of equipment and materials, hands-on measures in science are about three times more expensive than open-ended writing assessments. Alternative approaches to development and administration (such as using less expensive equipment and having the tasks administered by classroom teachers rather than trained Exercise Administrators) could reduce costs by up to 50%, but these practices may reduce the quality of the data obtained. However, including performance assessments in a state's testing program may have many positive effects, including fostering standards-based educational reform and encouraging more effective teaching methods. The challenge is to determine whether these potential benefits actually exist and if they do, how they can be realized within the budget constraints of most testing programs.

Estimates of the costs of including hands-on measures of science skills in large-scale assessment programs are drawn from a field trial involving more than 2,000 fifth- and sixth-grade students. These estimates include the resources needed to develop, administer, and score the tasks. They suggest that performance measures are far more expensive than typical multiple-choice tests for an equal amount of testing time, and the cost increases even further for an equally reliable score on an individual student. Because of the complexities of equipment and materials, hands-on measures in science are about three times more expensive than open-ended writing assessments. Alternative approaches to development and administration (such as using less expensive equipment and having the tasks administered by classroom teachers rather than trained Exercise Administrators) could reduce costs by up to 50%, but these practices may reduce the quality of the data obtained. However, including performance ...

The Louisiana Intern Teacher Assessment Program, part of the Louisiana Teacher Appraisal System, began with a preliminary field test, followed by a pilot test and implementation in 1993-94. Evaluation of the preliminary field test was conducted through responses of 223 assessors, intern teachers, principals, and assessor trainers to nine different questionnaires and responses in focus group interviews. The analysis and results of the focus groups interviews (conducted with 74 assessors, intern teachers, principals, and trainers in 10 groups) form the basis of this study. In all, evaluators collected 15 hours of audiotaped proceedin3s from the focus groups. Focus group participants offered solutions to the problems they perceived with the field test and with the research methodology. In general, participants felt that the system of appraisal had merit, although there were concerns about the rating scales used and assessor training. One table describes the focus groups. (Contains 5 references.) (SLD)

Multiyear monitoring and simulation of a conservative tracer was used in this study to investigate preferential flow and macropore-matrix interactions in low permeability, macroporous soil. 2,6-Difluorobenzoic acid (DFBA) tracer was applied to a 20 3 20 m drip irrigated test plot situated over two tile drains. Tracer movement over the 2009 and 2010 field seasons was monitored using tile drain effluent, suction lysimeters, monitoring wells, and soil cores. Despite similar volumes of water application to the plot in each season, 10 times more water and 14 times more DFBA were captured by the drains in 2010 due to wetter regional hydrologic conditions. The importance of preferential flow along macropores was shown by rapid DFBA breakthrough to the tile (<47 h), and DFBA detections in sand units below the tile drains. Preferential flow resulted in less than 8% of the DFBA mass being captured by the tiles over both years. With much of the DFBA mass (75%) retained in the upper 0.25 m of the soil at the end of 2009, numerical simulations were used to quantify the migration of this in situ tracer during the subsequent 2010 field season. Dual permeability and dual porosity models produced similar matches to measured tile drain flows and concentrations, but solute leaching was captured more effectively by the dual permeability formulation. The simulations highlighted limitations in current descriptions for small-scale mass transfer between matrix and macropore domains, which do not consider time-dependent transfer coefficients or nonuniform distributions of solute mass within soil matrix blocks.

Applying pig slurry to the land as fertilizer at appropriate agronomic rates is important to close nutrient cycles and optimize the value of organic matter. However a long-term discussion has taken place about its effects on soil quality. In the northeast of Spain, eight fertilization strategies were evaluated on the soil quality parameters aggregate stability, soil organic matter (SOM) physical fractions and soil microbial biomass (SMB). Six strategies used different pig slurries (PS) which provided organic matter from 1.7 to 2.6 t ha-1 yr-1 , the rest (mineral N fertilization and a control) did not. Pig slurries were applied at sowing and/or at cereal tillering, as sidedressing. Field experiments were maintained for an 8-year period, in a silty loam soil devoted to a rainfed winter cereal. Soil samples were taken once, before the last sidedressing in 2011. Aggregate stability was quantified using the standard water-stable aggregate method but including a modification which meant that pre-wetting was avoided (WSA MOD). When using the WSA MOD method, we found a tendency for the percentage of water-stable aggregates to increase due to PS application (differences of up to 74% in the increment) and it was more marked the nearer they were measured to the application time (3 months vs 12 months). The strategies which include PS show a positive effect on the SOM amount, mainly in the 0.05-0.2 mm light fraction, which increased by up to 34% with every 10 t ha-1 organic C applied, and on SMB (up to 53% increment). There is a positive and significant linear relationship (p<0.05, R 2 =0.75) between the SOM light fraction (%) and the water-stable aggregates soil content (%, WSA MOD). Thus, the introduction of PS in fertilization strategies improves soil quality parameters. However, the soil quality benefits need to be balanced with any other potential environmental impact.

Operating modern multi-modal surface transportation systems are becoming increasingly automated and driven by decision support systems. One aspect necessary for successful, safe, reliable, and efficient operation of any transportation network is real-time and forecasted weather and pavement condition information. Providing such information requires an adaptive system capable of blending large amounts of observational and model data that arrives quickly, in disparate formats and times, and blends and optimizes their use via expert systems and machine-learning algorithms. Quality control of the data is also essential, and historical data is required to both develop expert-based empirical algorithms and train machine learning models. This paper reports on the open-source Pikalert® system that brings together weather information and real-time data from connected vehicles to provide crucial information to enhance the safety and efficiency of surface transportation systems. This robust framework can be applied to a diverse array of user community specifications and is designed to rapidly ingest more, unique data sets as they become available. Ultimately, the developmental framework of this system will provide critical environmental information necessary to promote the development, growth, refinement, and expanded adoption of automated and connected multi-modal vehicular systems globally.

Zoonoses are increasingly recognized as an important burden on global public health in the 21 st century. High-resolution, long-term field studies are critical for assessing both the baseline and future risk scenarios in a world of rapid changes. We have used a three-decadelong field study on hantavirus, a rodent-borne zoonotic pathogen distributed worldwide, coupled with epidemiological data from an endemic area of China, and show that the shift in the ecological dynamics of Hantaan virus was closely linked to environmental fluctuations at the human-wildlife interface. We reveal that environmental forcing, especially rainfall and resource availability, exert important cascading effects on intra-annual variability in the wildlife reservoir dynamics, leading to epidemics that shift between stable and chaotic regimes. Our models demonstrate that bimodal seasonal epidemics result from a powerful seasonality in transmission, generated from interlocking cycles of agricultural phenology and rodent behavior driven by the rainy seasons.

Multilevel designs are used by researchers in many areas (Raudenbush and Bryk (2002) and Milliken and Johnson (1992)) and those researchers have used different terminologies to describe the designs. Multilevel designs are designs that involve more than one size of experimental unit, thus the name, multilevel. Split-plot designs are multilevel designs and have been used by physical and biological science researchers since the 1930s. Hierarchical designs and now multilevel designs have been used by social science researchers the past few years. The structures are identical and the models needed to describe resulting data are identical. This presentation provides a general frame work within which to identify and then analyze multilevel designs whether called split-plot, hierarchical, or multilevel. Repeated measures designs are multilevel designs. The stripplot is also a multilevel design that is not a hierarchical design and is a structure not generally considered by those using multi...

In 1989, a landmark pavement project was opened to traffic in Blair County, Pennsylvania, that received national attention. The pavement was a two-mile section of prestressed concrete pavement that was constructed on the northbound lanes of what is now Interstate 99. The pavement has now started to show signs of distress, including transverse cracks, longitudinal cracks, spalling, and seal failure at the armored contraction joints. In addition, there are signs of shoulder separation and some localized subgrade failure. However, the ride quality of the pavement is still very good. Due to the uniqueness of this pavement section, and the lack nationally of any other similar sections in terms of design and age, traditional rehabilitation and overlay options are not necessarily directly applicable. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for feasible rehabilitation strategies for the prestressed concrete pavement on I-99 in Blair County. As part of the work, the expected design lives and cost-effectiveness of the strategies were evaluated.

This paper presents a general methodology to model and activate the energy flexibility of electrically heated school buildings. The proposed methodology is based on the use of archetypes of resistance–capacitance thermal networks for representative thermal zones calibrated with measured data. Using these models, predictive control strategies are investigated with the aim of reducing peak demand in response to grid requirements and incentives. A key aim is to evaluate the potential of shifting electricity use in different archetype zones from on-peak hours to off-peak grid periods. Key performance indicators are applied to quantify the energy flexibility at the zone level and the school building level. The proposed methodology has been implemented in an electrically heated school building located in Québec, Canada. This school has several features (geothermal heat pumps, hydronic radiant floors, and energy storage) that make it ideal for the purpose of this study. The study shows tha...

The first field measurements of volcanic gases using mid-IR difference frequency laser spectroscopy are reported. The results were obtained at the summit crater of Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, with the gases being drawn into a multi pass cell and measured at reduced pressure. Automated sensitive and selective detection of CO 2 , SO 2 , H 35,37 Cl, H 2 O, and CH 4 was achieved. Simultaneous measurements obtained with open-path Fourier transform spectroscopy provide a useful comparison of the two optical techniques. We also consider the potential measurement of CO 2 isotopic ratios in volcanic gases using laser-based spectroscopy.

This article describes an application of nonparametric regression to study the spatial structure and identify persistent spatial patterns of the perennial weed Convolvulus arvensis L. in four years of wheat-sunflower crop rotation in Southern Spain. The annual spatial distributions of weed patches over the study field are estimated using local linear regression. These are then used to delimit areas whose infestation is above an economic threshold. In order to identify the areas at the highest risk of weed infestation across years, a multi-year index is developed and mapped. A parametric bootstrap is used to quantify the variability of the multi-year map. In a precision agriculture environment, such maps can be a useful component of a long-term weed management strategy.

Ferrous iron rapidly oxidizes to Fe (III) and precipitates as hydrous Fe (III) oxides in acid mine waters. This study examines the effect of Fe precipitation on the rare earth element (REE) geochemistry of acid mine waters to determine the pH range over which REEs behave conservatively and the range over which attenuation and fractionation occur. Two field studies were designed to investigate REE attenuation during Fe oxidation in acidic, alpine surface waters. To complement these field studies, a suite of six acid mine waters with a pH range from 1.6 to 6.1 were collected and allowed to oxidize in the laboratory at ambient conditions to determine the partitioning of REEs during Fe oxidation and precipitation. Results from field experiments document that even with substantial Fe oxidation, the REEs remain dissolved in acid, sulfate waters with pH below 5.1. Between pH 5.1 and 6.6 the REEs partitioned to the solid phases in the water column, and heavy REEs were preferentially removed compared to light REEs. Laboratory experiments corroborated field data with the most solid-phase partitioning occurring in the waters with the highest pH.

This study aims at investigating the use of critical thinking in high school social science textbooks based on Fars Province teachers' attitudes in order to present a model for textbook development. To achieve this goal, the use of the following skills in the social science textbooks was analyzed: reasoning, questioning, assessment of examples and statements, group work, interpretation, true judgment about issues, analysis and evaluation, logicality, and explicitness. It is a field study which was conducted in several high schools of Fars Province in Iran. The population of this study included 568 social science teachers. The sample was selected based on the stratified random sampling procedure so that 153 teachers participated in this study. The data were collected using a forty-four-item questionnaire based on Likert-scale, which was developed and validated by the researcher himself and some experts. The reliability coefficient was also estimated as 0.86. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, standard deviation, and coefficient of variations) and inferential statistics (Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis Non-parametric tests). The result showed that the teachers of the Social Studies Textbook evaluated assessment of examples and statements, and analysis and evaluation skills as not satisfactory respectively. They evaluated the other skills as fairly satisfactory. Teachers of Sociology Textbook 1 evaluated explicitness, assessment of examples and statements, analysis and evaluation, and interpretation skills as not satisfactory respectively. They also evaluated other skills as fairly satisfactory. Teachers of Sociology Textbook 2 evaluated explicitness as not satisfactory, logicality as satisfactory, and other skills as fairly satisfactory. Therefore it is possible to rank order the social science textbooks of high school as satisfactory and not satisfactory with regard to the use of critical thinking. In other words, Sociology Textbook 2, Social Studies Textbook, and Sociology Textbook 1 were ordered on a continuum of satisfaction from satisfactory to unsatisfactory, respectively.

We believe that ecology field laboratories are not being taught as they should be. In these laboratories, students should be using the scientific method and working in carefully designed long-term field experiments. Instead, many undergraduate ecology laboratories involve mensurative field observations, such as observational guided nature walks, listing species abundances from contrasting areas, or short-term manipulative experiments in the greenhouse. At best, these approaches are natural snapshot experiments (Diamond 1986) in which ecosystems that differ from one another in only one or two characteristics (for example, number of species in polluted versus unpolluted areas) are compared. These experiences are invaluable in the teaching of environmental sciences (Carter 1993) and are well integrated into many environmental science curricula. However, they do not provide a thorough training in the scientific method or reflect the way in which much of the best ecological research is conducted. The typical approach outlined above is in contrast to a large proportion of empirical ecological and environmental research that is based upon field experiments and the scientific method. Further, there is an increasing reliance on long-term field experiments in the development and testing of modern

A methodological-experimental approach is here given, aiming to foresee, during the phase of mix design in laboratory, the physical and functional properties of bituminous layers once in place, by means of characterization tests and by taking into account the most common raw materials, techniques for mixtures production, and laying process used in maintenance works. In detail, it has been validated a testing protocol for in situ tests for determining the functional and physical characteristics that is possible to obtain for wearing courses, as a function of the final thickness of the layer, once in place.

The concept of user-centered systems design (UCSD) has no agreed upon definition. Consequently, there is a great variety in the ways it is applied, which may lead to poor quality and poor usability in the resulting systems, as well as misconceptions about the effectiveness of UCSD. The purpose of this chapter is to propose a definition of UCSD. We have identified 12 key principles for the adoption of a user-centered development process, principles that are based on existing theory, as well as research in and experiences from a large number of software development projects. The initial set of principles were applied and evaluated in a case study and modified accordingly. These principles can be used to communicate the nature of UCSD, evaluate a develop-