Experience of the Surveyor Mobile robot at Nine Mile Point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kniazewycz, B.G.; Irving, T.L.

1987-01-01

A successful test and evaluation program was recently conducted on a commercial-ready, wireless, remotely operated surveillance system for use in nuclear power plants. This evaluation of the Surveyor Mobile Surveillance System took place at Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's (NMPC) Nine Mile Point (NMP) Nuclear Power Station. The remotely operated vehicles measures radiation, temperature and relative humidity and provides optical inspection capability. The vehicle is readily maneuvered through 36 inch wide passageways and labyrinth entries and can climb stairs, negotiating 180 degree turns on stair landings. The Surveyor systems consists of a Supervisory Control Station and a rugged, remotely operated, battery-powered vehicle. The Surveyor system is specifically designed to decrease personnel radiation exposure by supplementing the functions of an auxiliary operator or Health Physics Technician to perform periodic component inspections inside particular areas within a nuclear power plant. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the recent efforts, achievements and experiences of the personnel at NMP Unit 1. In particular, this will address the test and evaluation program for the Surveyor Mobile Surveillance Robot

Leading global projects for professional and accidental project leaders

CERN Document Server

Moran, Robert T

2008-01-01

This book is a must-read for anyone responsible for projects and initiatives that span functional and geographical divides. Authors Moran and Youngdahl bring extensive experience and learning from industry practice to present a clear and straightforward treatment of the leadership skills and knowledge required to lead projects that are global in nature. They have written the first book of its kind to address the three essential skills of global project leaders - strategic project management, project leadership, and cross-cultural leadership. The authors argue that global project leadership is an essential skill in our project-based world and that we are all either intentional or accidental project leaders. Intentional project leaders pursue formal project management education and even certification whereas accidental project leaders find themselves leading global projects and initiatives as a result of a special assignment or promotion. Moran and Youndahl have found that the vast majority of global projects ...

Mars Global Surveyor Ka-Band Frequency Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Morabito, D.; Butman, S.; Shambayati, S.

2000-01-01

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft, launched on November 7, 1996, carries an experimental space-to-ground telecommunications link at Ka-band (32 GHz) along with the primary X-band (8.4 GHz) downlink. The signals are simultaneously transmitted from a 1.5-in diameter parabolic high gain antenna (HGA) on MGS and received by a beam-waveguide (BWG) R&D 34-meter antenna located in NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Network (DSN) complex near Barstow, California. The projected 5-dB link advantage of Ka-band relative to X-band was confirmed in previous reports using measurements of MGS signal strength data acquired during the first two years of the link experiment from December 1996 to December 1998. Analysis of X-band and Ka-band frequency data and difference frequency (fx-fka)/3.8 data will be presented here. On board the spacecraft, a low-power sample of the X-band downlink from the transponder is upconverted to 32 GHz, the Ka-band frequency, amplified to I-W using a Solid State Power Amplifier, and radiated from the dual X/Ka HGA. The X-band signal is amplified by one of two 25 W TWTAs. An upconverter first downconverts the 8.42 GHz X-band signal to 8 GHz and then multiplies using a X4 multiplier producing the 32 GHz Ka-band frequency. The frequency source selection is performed by an RF switch which can be commanded to select a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) or USO (Ultra-Stable Oscillator) reference. The Ka-band frequency can be either coherent with the X-band downlink reference or a hybrid combination of the USO and VCO derived frequencies. The data in this study were chosen such that the Ka-band signal is purely coherent with the X-band signal, that is the downconverter is driven by the same frequency source as the X-band downlink). The ground station used to acquire the data is DSS-13, a 34-meter BWG antenna which incorporates a series of mirrors inside beam waveguide tubes which guide the energy to a subterranean pedestal room, providing a stable environment

Remote Sensing of Mars: Detection of Impact Craters on the Mars Global Surveyor DTM by Integrating Edge- and Region-Based Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Athanassas, C. D.; Vaiopoulos, A.; Kolokoussis, P.; Argialas, D.

2018-03-01

This study integrates two different computer vision approaches, namely the circular Hough transform (CHT) and the determinant of Hessian (DoH), to detect automatically the largest number possible of craters of any size on the digital terrain model (DTM) generated by the Mars Global Surveyor mission. Specifically, application of the standard version of CHT to the DTM captured a great number of craters with diameter smaller than 50 km only, failing to capture larger craters. On the other hand, DoH was successful in detecting craters that were undetected by CHT, but its performance was deterred by the irregularity of the topographic surface encompassed: strongly undulated and inclined (trended) topographies hindered crater detection. When run on a de-trended DTM (and keeping the topology unaltered) DoH scored higher. Current results, although not optimal, encourage combined use of CHT and DoH for routine crater detection undertakings.

Experience with the Surveyor mobile robot in radioactive work environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kniazewycz, B.G.; Darvish, A.R.; Irving, T.L.

1986-01-01

This paper summarizes the development and implementation history of the Surveyor mobile robotic device from November 1985 through August 1986. This two-tracked remotely controlled tetherless device is used to conduct surveillance and inspection and light maintenance missions in nuclear power plants. Surveyor's relatively light weight (<400 lb) can easily be transported manually from location to location. The total maximum payload of the device, which is able to climb 40-deg stairs, is up to 300 lb when transported on a level floor. Surveyor can traverse through 14 in. of water and over 9-in.-high obstacles. Standard accessories include radiation detector, humidity monitor, temperature measurement, sound detection and position/ranging, and a standard video or CCD camera having a wide angle and telephoto lens. These devices are mounted on a 3 degree-of-freedom articulated arm with halogen lights

Surveyor mobile surveillance system for hazardous environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silverman, E.B.; Simmons, R.K.; Kniazewycz, B.G.; Darvish, A.R.; Irving, T.L.

1987-01-01

A successful program was recently conducted to test and evaluate a commercial-ready, wireless, remotely operated surveillance system for use in nuclear power plants. This evaluation of the Surveyor mobile surveillance system took place at Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Station. The remotely operated vehicle measures radiation, temperature and relative humidity and provides optical inspection capability. The vehicle is readily maneuvered in 36-inch wide passageways and labyrinth entries and can climb stairs, negotiating 180-degree turns on stair landings. The system consists of a supervisory control station and a rugged, remotely-operated, battery-powered vehicle. The surveyor system is specifically designed to decrease personnel radiation exposure by supplementing the functions of an auxiliary operator or wealth physics technician to perform periodic component inspections inside particular areas within a nuclear power plant

46 CFR 42.05-65 - Surveyor.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Surveyor. 42.05-65 Section 42.05-65 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) LOAD LINES DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN VOYAGES BY SEA Definition of... American Bureau of Shipping or other classification society recognized by the Commandant as the person who...

Rapid geophysical surveyor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roybal, L.G.; Carpenter, G.S.; Josten, N.E.

1993-01-01

The Rapid Geophysical Surveyor (RGS) is a system designed to rapidly and economically collect closely-spaced geophysical data used for characterization of Department of Energy (DOE) waste sites. Geophysical surveys of waste sites are an important first step in the remediation and closure of these sites; especially older sties where historical records are inaccurate and survey benchmarks have changed due to refinements in coordinate controls and datum changes. Closely-spaced data are required to adequately differentiate pits, trenches, and soil vault rows whose edges may be only a few feet from each other. A prototype vehicle designed to collect magnetic field data was built at the Idaho national Engineering Laboratory (INEL) during the summer of 1992. The RGS was one of several projects funded by the Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration (BWID) program. This vehicle was demonstrated at the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) within the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) on the INEL in September of 1992. Magnetic data were collected over two areas in the SDA, with a total survey area of about 1.7 acres. Data were collected at a nominal density of 2 1/2 inches along survey lines spaced 1 foot apart. Over 350,000 data points were collected over a 6 day period corresponding to about 185 man-days using conventional ground survey techniques. This report documents the design and demonstration of the RGS concept including the presentation of magnetic data collected at the SDA. The surveys were able to show pit and trench boundaries and determine details of their spatial orientation never before achieved

The surveyors get the measure of the LHC

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

The first to start work in the LHC tunnel, the surveyors are precisely marking out the positions of the future accelerator's magnets. A total of 7000 reference points will have to be marked out over two years.

Chemical Analysis of the Moon at the Surveyor VI Landing Site: Preliminary Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Turkevich, A L; Patterson, J H; Franzgrote, E J

1968-06-07

The alpha-scattering experiment aboard soft-landing Surveyor VI has provided a chemical analysis of the surface of the moon in Sinus Medii. The preliminary results indicate that, within experimental errors, the composition is the same as that found by Surveyor V in Mare Tranquillitatis. This finding suggests that large portions of the lunar maria resemble basalt in composition.

Research Ship Southern Surveyor Underway Meteorological Data, Quality Controlled

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Research Ship Southern Surveyor Underway Meteorological Data (delayed ~10 days for quality control) are from the Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic...

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) for AKARI

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kawada, Mitsunobu; Baba, Hajime; Barthel, Peter D.; Clements, David; Cohen, Martin; Doi, Yasuo; Figueredo, Elysandra; Fujiwara, Mikio; Goto, Tomotsugu; Hasegawa, Sunao; Hibi, Yasunori; Hirao, Takanori; Hiromoto, Norihisa; Jeong, Woong-Seob; Kaneda, Hidehiro; Kawai, Toshihide; Kawamura, Akiko; Kester, Do; Kii, Tsuneo; Kobayashi, Hisato; Kwon, Suk Minn; Lee, Hyung Mok; Makiuti, Sin'itirou; Matsuo, Hiroshi; Matsuura, Shuji; Mueller, Thomas G.; Murakami, Noriko; Nagata, Hirohisa; Nakagawa, Takao; Narita, Masanao; Noda, Manabu; Oh, Sang Hoon; Okada, Yoko; Okuda, Haruyuki; Oliver, Sebastian; Ootsubo, Takafumi; Pak, Soojong; Park, Yong-Sun; Pearson, Chris P.; Rowan-Robinson, Michael; Saito, Toshinobu; Salama, Alberto; Sato, Shinji; Savage, Richard S.; Serjeant, Stephen; Shibai, Hiroshi; Shirahata, Mai; Sohn, Jungjoo; Suzuki, Toyoaki; Takagi, Toshinobu; Takahashi, Hidenori; Thomson, Matthew; Usui, Fumihiko; Verdugo, Eva; Watabe, Toyoki; White, Glenn J.; Wang, Lingyu; Yamamura, Issei; Yamauchi, Chisato; Yasuda, Akiko

2007-01-01

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) is one of two focal-plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. FIS has four photometric bands at 65, 90, 140, and 160 mu m, and uses two kinds of array detectors. The FIS arrays and optics are designed to sweep the sky with high spatial resolution and redundancy. The

Whither the Nigerian Quantity Surveyors in the Information ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paucity of information on the computing status of the quantity surveyors in Nigeria have been scanty and without empirical substantiation. The basic platform for entry to the information technology gateway is the acquisition, adoption and utilization of the computer. Baseline information is therefore indispensable for the ...

Global Project Management: Graduate Course

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Beranek, Thomas R

2006-01-01

..., A. James Clark School of Engineering - Project Management Program. The course slides and suggested readings provide a general exploration of the nuances of doing projects globally as compared to domestically...

Thanks to CERN's team of surveyors, the Organization's stand at the Night of Science attracted a large number of visitors : the technology and tools used by the surveyors, such as the Terrameter shown here, attracted many visitors to the CERN stand

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

Thanks to CERN's team of surveyors, the Organization's stand at the Night of Science attracted a large number of visitors : the technology and tools used by the surveyors, such as the Terrameter shown here, attracted many visitors to the CERN stand

The Global Lives Project: Making New Media Matter in a Global World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasse Jørgensen, Stina

2010-01-01

Computing has infiltrated the everyday life of people all over the world. It is no longer merely a tool for communication and interaction, but also something-to-think-with, a medium that can give us new dimensions in the way we experience and engage with the world.Critical computing evokes...... in the user new ways of thinking and interacting with a globalized world. The Global Lives Project is a compelling example of this usage of computing technology. The GLP archive, which contains visual documentation of the lives of different people from around the world on a digital platform on the Internet......, enables users to actively engage with global cultures. As a critical computing project, the Global Lives Project hopes to bring a critical awareness of how culture is categorized and transformed by engaging users in a collaborative new media project....

Surveyor assay to diagnose persistent Müllerian duct syndrome in Miniature Schnauzers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young June; Kwon, Hyuk Jin; Byun, Hyuk Soo; Yeom, Donguk; Choi, Jea-Hong; Kim, Joong-Hyun; Shim, Hosup

2017-12-31

Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome (PMDS) is a pseudohermaphroditism in males characterized by the presence of Müllerian duct derivatives. As PMDS dogs often lack clinical symptoms, a molecular diagnosis is essential to identify the syndrome in these animals. In this study, a new molecular method using DNA mismatch-specific Surveyor nuclease was developed. The Surveyor nuclease assay identified the AMHR2 mutation that produced PMDS in a Miniature Schnauzer as accurately as that obtained by using the conventional method based on restriction digestion. As an alternative to the current molecular diagnostic method, the new method may result in increased accuracy when detecting PMDS.

Global Land Survey Impervious Mapping Project Web Site

Science.gov (United States)

DeColstoun, Eric Brown; Phillips, Jacqueline

2014-01-01

The Global Land Survey Impervious Mapping Project (GLS-IMP) aims to produce the first global maps of impervious cover at the 30m spatial resolution of Landsat. The project uses Global Land Survey (GLS) Landsat data as its base but incorporates training data generated from very high resolution commercial satellite data and using a Hierarchical segmentation program called Hseg. The web site contains general project information, a high level description of the science, examples of input and output data, as well as links to other relevant projects.

Further Analysis on the Mystery of the Surveyor III Dust Deposits

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Philip; Hintze, Paul; Trigwell, Steven; Lane, John

2012-01-01

The Apollo 12 lunar module (LM) landing near the Surveyor III spacecraft at the end of 1969 has remained the primary experimental verification of the predicted physics of plume ejecta effects from a rocket engine interacting with the surface of the moon. This was made possible by the return of the Surveyor III camera housing by the Apollo 12 astronauts, allowing detailed analysis of the composition of dust deposited by the LM plume. It was soon realized after the initial analysis of the camera housing that the LM plume tended to remove more dust than it had deposited. In the present study, coupons from the camera housing have been reexamined. In addition, plume effects recorded in landing videos from each Apollo mission have been studied for possible clues.

Project structure plan requirements for the deconstruction projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrasch, Peter; Schmitt, Christian; Stapf, Meike

2011-01-01

The deconstruction of nuclear facilities requires due to the particular conditions and the size of the project a special project planning. The authors analyze the possible requirements to be fulfilled by a project structure plan for nuclear facilities, including personnel resources, organization structure, budget questions, operation and project oriented measures, possibility of modifications and supplements. Further topics include controlling and project realization procedures, documentation, third party activities (authorities, consultants, surveyors), logistics and transport, and radiation protection issues. Several questions remain for plants-specific planning, including the integration of the plant personnel, administrative work, project management, economic and financial issues, radioactive waste management issues.

Potential and Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) During Pre-Construction, Construction and Post Construction Stage

OpenAIRE

Aw Nien Wei; Md Azree Othuman Mydin

2017-01-01

The construction industry is the main economic support for all countries around the world in which continually adapting to meet competitive challenges around the global market. Nevertheless, the construction project is becoming much more complex and difficult to manage. This is because the construction project involves a large number of stakeholder, for example, the consultant companies, architects, engineers, building surveyors and quantity surveyors. The technology current...

an examination of estate surveyors and valuers' perception of flood

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Osondu

2013-11-27

Nov 27, 2013 ... Key words: Estate Surveyors, Perception, Flood risk, Residential .... islands separated by creeks on a vast lagoon on ... the coastal low land of south western Nigeria – ... tropical continental with rainfall almost ... vegetation is salt water mangrove swamp forest .... have afforded them the opportunity of being.

Key Issues in Global Technological Innovation Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Sbragia

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This article aimed to identify those issues that were present in global technological innovation projects carried out by Brazilian multinational companies and which performance criterions these undertakings met. We investigated 36 global technological innovation projects from Brazilian multinational enterprises through a web-survey. Findings show that these companies went beyond the traditional iron triangle to evaluate their technological efforts and considered additional performance dimensions such as customer satisfaction, business results, and preparation for the future. Results also show high degree of presence for issues emerging from the industry, moderate degree of presence for issues emerging from both the project and R&D activities, and low degree of presence for issues emerging from the headquarters, the subsidiaries, and the external environment. Further research is needed to find out if and how these issues influenced the performance of the global technological innovation projects studied.DOI:10.5585/gep.v3i1.72

Design Factors Influencing Quality of Building Projects in Nigeria: Consultants' Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukumon Oyedele

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Various factors identified from the literature that caninfluence quality of building projects in Nigeria have beenstudied by means of questionnaire survey sent to architects,engineers and quantity surveyors in the industry. From atotal response of 107 consultants, the importance of eachfactor was obtained via severity and frequency responsesof the factors. Data analysis includes comparisons ofranking among consultants using severity, frequency andimportance indexes, correlation analysis, and percentagerank agreement factor (PRAF to measure the agreement inthe importance ranking among the consultants.Correlation results between the professionals are architects/quantity surveyors (0.75, architects/engineers (0.21 ,and engineers/quantity surveyors (0.24. The percentagerank agreement factor (PRAF shows that the five mostimportant factors affecting quality are 'design changes'(78.9%; 'inadequate involvement of other professionalsduring the design stage' (78.9%; 'insufficient andunrealistic constraints of project cost' (71.1 %; 'poor levelof commitment to quality improvement among designprofessionals' (63.2%; and 'making design decisions oncost and not value of work' (55.3%. The results of this studywould provide feedback for the clients, project and qualitymangers and all the consultants in the industry, so thateffective management of quality can be ensured from theconceptual-design stage of the project.

Eurasia: The Rivalry of Global Integration Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olesia Kobenko

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article reveals the Eurasian integration projects as major drivers of world globalization. Eurasian regionalism seems to be gaining attention in the scientific literature. Under the current political circumstance many regions are accelerating integration and many countries are opting for regional associations as a mechanism to help them overcome the global recession. Moreover, the global political leaders , some developed countries - the U.S., China, and the European Union (EU are interested to set up regional economic blocs such as Eurasian Economic Union (The EEU, the China's project 'One Belt One Road', the U.S's projects - The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP and The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP. The goal of this paper is to introduce a number of integration initiatives and to analyze the current strategies of Eurasian regionalism.

Correlates of job satisfaction amongst quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Ndubuisi Onukwube

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Job satisfaction is the sense of well- being, good feeling and positive mental state that emerge in an incumbent worker when his obtained reward consequent upon his performance is congruent with his equitable reward.The aim of this study is to ascertain the levels of job satisfaction amongst quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Biographical and job descriptive index questionnaires (JDI were administered to gather the data. The JDI measures job satisfaction on five facets, namely, pay, promotions, supervision, co-workers and the work itself. A total of 100 questionnaires were collected and used for the study. The survey covered quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos and the respondents were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, t-test and one way anova. Findings of the study revealed that the respondents were satisfied with the relationship with co-workers, nature of work and the supervision they receive. Major sources of dissatisfaction are promotion and salaries of the respondents. This finding is a bold step and necessary benchmark for resolving major sources of dissatisfaction among quantity surveyors in consulting firms. The roles of other contextual factors on job satisfaction need to be contemplated for future research.

Microwave Readout to Enable the Imaging Spectrometer for the X-ray Surveyor

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The X-ray Surveyor mission concept is one of NASA’s four large missions to be studied in the upcoming 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Review. It aims to be a true...

Toe of Ganges Chasma Landslide ( 8.0 S, 44.4W)

Science.gov (United States)

2001-01-01

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows shear striations, dark dunes banked up against the toe of the slide and over-riding light-toned ripples and boulders on surface of slide. These features can be used to determine quantitative aspects of surface processes.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Correlates of job satisfaction amongst quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Ndubuisi Onukwube

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Job satisfaction is the sense of well- being, good feeling and positive mental state that emerge in an incumbent worker when his obtained reward consequent upon his performance is congruent with his equitable reward.The aim of this study is to ascertain the levels of job satisfaction amongst quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Biographical and job descriptive index questionnaires (JDI were administered to gather the data. The JDI measures job satisfaction on five facets, namely, pay, promotions, supervision, co-workers and the work itself. A total of 100 questionnaires were collected and used for the study. The survey covered quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos and the respondents were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, t-test and one way anova. Findings of the study revealed that the respondents were satisfied with the relationship with co-workers, nature of work and the supervision they receive. Major sources of dissatisfaction are promotion and salaries of the respondents. This finding is a bold step and necessary benchmark for resolving major sources of dissatisfaction among quantity surveyors in consulting firms. The roles of other contextual factors on job satisfaction need to be contemplated for future research.

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept study: forging the path to NASA astrophysics 2020 decadal survey prioritization

Science.gov (United States)

Gaskin, Jessica; Özel, Feryal; Vikhlinin, Alexey

2016-07-01

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept is unique among those being studied for prioritization in the NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey. The X-Ray Surveyor mission will explore the high-energy Universe; providing essential and complimentary observations to the Astronomy Community. The NASA Astrophysics Roadmap (Enduring Quests, Daring Visions) describes the need for an X-Ray Observatory that is capable of addressing topics such as the origin and growth of the first supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and growth of the cosmic structure, and the origin and evolution of the stars that make up our Universe. To address these scientifically compelling topics and more, an Observatory that exhibits leaps in capability over that of previous X-Ray Observatories in needed. This paper describes the current status of the X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study and the path forward, which includes scientific investigations, technology development, and community participation.

The X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study: Forging the Path to NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey Prioritization

Science.gov (United States)

Gaskin, Jessica; Ozel, Feryal; Vikhlinin, Alexey

2016-01-01

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept is unique among those being studied for prioritization in the NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey. The X-Ray Surveyor mission will explore the high-energy Universe; providing essential and complimentary observations to the Astronomy Community. The NASA Astrophysics Roadmap (Enduring Quests, Daring Visions) describes the need for an X-Ray Observatory that is capable of addressing topics such as the origin and growth of the first supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and growth of the cosmic structure, and the origin and evolution of the stars that make up our Universe. To address these scientifically compelling topics and more, an Observatory that exhibits leaps in capability over that of previous X-Ray Observatories in needed. This paper describes the current status of the X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study and the path forward, which includes scientific investigations, technology development, and community participation.

Rapid Geophysical Surveyor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roybal, L.G.; Carpenter, G.S.; Josten, N.E.

1993-01-01

The Rapid Geophysical Surveyor (RGS) is a system designed to rapidly and economically collect closely-spaced geophysical data used for characterization of US Department of Energy waste sites. Geophysical surveys of waste sites are an important first step in the remediation and closure of these sites; especially older sites where historical records are inaccurate and survey benchmarks have changed because of refinements in coordinate controls and datum changes. Closely-spaced data are required to adequately differentiate pits, trenches, and soil vault rows whose edges may be only a few feet from each other. A prototype vehicle designed to collect magnetic field data was built at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) during the summer of 1992. The RGS was funded by the Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration program. This vehicle was demonstrated at the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) within the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at the INEL in September 1992. Magnetic data were collected over two areas in the SDA, with a total survey area of about 1.7 acres. Data were collected at a nominal density of 2 1/2 in. along survey lines spaced 1-ft apart. Over 350,000 data points were collected over a 6 day period corresponding to about 185 worker-days using conventional ground survey techniques

Adjusting forest density estimates for surveyor bias in historical tree surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Brice B. Hanberry; Jian Yang; John M. Kabrick; Hong S. He

2012-01-01

The U.S. General Land Office surveys, conducted between the late 1700s to early 1900s, provide records of trees prior to widespread European and American colonial settlement. However, potential and documented surveyor bias raises questions about the reliability of historical tree density estimates and other metrics based on density estimated from these records. In this...

Identifying and Describing Tutor Archetypes: The Pragmatist, the Architect, and the Surveyor

Science.gov (United States)

Harootunian, Jeff A.; Quinn, Robert J.

2008-01-01

In this article, the authors identify and anecdotally describe three tutor archetypes: the pragmatist, the architect, and the surveyor. These descriptions, based on observations of remedial mathematics tutors at a land-grant university, shed light on a variety of philosophical beliefs regarding and pedagogical approaches to tutoring. An analysis…

Constraints of fossil fuels depletion on global warming projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiari, Luca; Zecca, Antonio

2011-01-01

A scientific debate is in progress about the intersection of climate change with the new field of fossil fuels depletion geology. Here, new projections of atmospheric CO 2 concentration and global-mean temperature change are presented, should fossil fuels be exploited at a rate limited by geological availability only. The present work starts from the projections of fossil energy use, as obtained from ten independent sources. From such projections an upper bound, a lower bound and an ensemble mean profile for fossil CO 2 emissions until 2200 are derived. Using the coupled gas-cycle/climate model MAGICC, the corresponding climatic projections out to 2200 are obtained. We find that CO 2 concentration might increase up to about 480 ppm (445-540 ppm), while the global-mean temperature increase w.r.t. 2000 might reach 1.2 deg. C (0.9-1.6 deg. C). However, future improvements of fossil fuels recovery and discoveries of new resources might lead to higher emissions; hence our climatic projections are likely to be underestimated. In the absence of actions of emissions reduction, a level of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system might be already experienced toward the middle of the 21st century, despite the constraints imposed by the exhaustion of fossil fuels. - Highlights: → CO 2 and global temperature are projected under fossil fuels exhaustion scenarios. → Temperature is projected to reach a minimum of 2 deg. C above pre-industrial. → Temperature projections are possibly lower than the IPCC ones. → Fossil fuels exhaustion will not avoid dangerous global warming.

Constraints of fossil fuels depletion on global warming projections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chiari, Luca, E-mail: chiari@science.unitn.it [Department of Physics, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 14, 38123 Povo (Italy); Zecca, Antonio, E-mail: zecca@science.unitn.it [Department of Physics, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 14, 38123 Povo (Italy)

2011-09-15

A scientific debate is in progress about the intersection of climate change with the new field of fossil fuels depletion geology. Here, new projections of atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration and global-mean temperature change are presented, should fossil fuels be exploited at a rate limited by geological availability only. The present work starts from the projections of fossil energy use, as obtained from ten independent sources. From such projections an upper bound, a lower bound and an ensemble mean profile for fossil CO{sub 2} emissions until 2200 are derived. Using the coupled gas-cycle/climate model MAGICC, the corresponding climatic projections out to 2200 are obtained. We find that CO{sub 2} concentration might increase up to about 480 ppm (445-540 ppm), while the global-mean temperature increase w.r.t. 2000 might reach 1.2 deg. C (0.9-1.6 deg. C). However, future improvements of fossil fuels recovery and discoveries of new resources might lead to higher emissions; hence our climatic projections are likely to be underestimated. In the absence of actions of emissions reduction, a level of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system might be already experienced toward the middle of the 21st century, despite the constraints imposed by the exhaustion of fossil fuels. - Highlights: > CO{sub 2} and global temperature are projected under fossil fuels exhaustion scenarios. > Temperature is projected to reach a minimum of 2 deg. C above pre-industrial. > Temperature projections are possibly lower than the IPCC ones. > Fossil fuels exhaustion will not avoid dangerous global warming.

The ties that bind: Soil surveyor William Edgar Tharp and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp

Science.gov (United States)

Landa, Edward R.

The link between soil science and geology is personified in the American father and daughter: soil surveyor William Edgar Tharp (1870-1959) and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp (1920-2006). From 1904 to 1935, W.E. Tharp mapped soils in 14 states for the US Department of Agriculture, and campaigned during the late 1920s-early 1930s to raise awareness of the high rates of soil erosion from croplands. The lifestyle of the federal soil surveyor in the United States during the early 20th century involved frequent household moves, and it played a formative role in Marie Tharp’s childhood. Her path to a career in geology was molded by this family experience, by mentors encountered in the classroom, and by social barriers that faced women scientists of that era.

Assessment of Viability Appraisal Practice by Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oyetunji Abiodun Kolawale

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A capital investment appraisal is a means of ensuring value for money. It is not meant to provide an indication of profit or loss, but rather a comparison of costs in relation to those areas where there is an opportunity or an inclination for change. The decision to invest in a project is based on the expectation of future returns since a rational investor does not expect to incur loss on his capital outlay. This decision making is usually hinged on advice obtained during pre-investment appraisal. This study is aimed at evaluating the mode of practicing investment viability appraisal by Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Lagos metropolis. The data for the study was obtained by randomly administering structured questionnaires on eighty-seven (87 practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the study area and the findings were analyzed through descriptive statistical tools such as the Likert scale to present the result. Findings revealed that the payback period is the most adopted appraisal technique in practice as evidenced with a mean score of 3.57. The objective (s of the investor is also the most significant factor being considered while selecting appraisal technique with a mean score of 3.83 while the problems of actual return varying from the expected return and also difficulty in the repayment of loans always result when a wrong viability technique is employed. The success of any viability study goes beyond knowing the objective (s of the investor; therefore, it was recommended that appraisers should ensure that they are equipped with adequate knowledge required for the execution of feasibility and on viability studies because knowing the right viability criteria for a particular objective will help in advising an investor on a course of action that will best achieve the developer’s objective.

 Project Management as a Global Trend for Organization Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampf, Constance

in multination and global companies, understanding the power of visual rhetoric, genre and writing processes in the context of project management documentation can be an advantage for technical communicators.  In addition, project management tools and online documentation spaces are objects which cross...... Project Management as a Global Trend for Organization Work: Implications for Technical Communication Project Management tools and processes offer a visual approach to producing knowledge about a project in order to complete it.  As project management practices are used with increasing frequency......-cultural teams use to function.  This presentation will explore the potential of Project Management to be tightly integrated in Technical Communication curricula through a communications approach to project management.  Questions for discussion include: How tightly is project management integrated into different...

The surveyors' quest for perfect alignment

CERN Document Server

2003-01-01

Photogrammetry of a CMS endcap and part of the hadronic calorimeter.The structure was covered with targets photographed by digital cameras. Perfect alignment.... Although CERN's surveyors do not claim to achieve it, they are constantly striving for it and deploy all necessary means to come as close as they can. In their highly specialised field of large-scale metrology, the solution lies in geodesy and photogrammetry, both of which are based on increasingly sophisticated instruments and systems. In civil engineering, these techniques are used for non-destructive inspection of bridges, dams and other structures, while industrial applications include dimensional verification and deformation measurement in large mechanical assemblies. The same techniques also come into play for the metrology of research tools such as large telescopes and of course, particle accelerators. Particle physics laboratories are especially demanding customers, and CERN has often asked for the impossible. As a result, the alignment metro...

Globalization And Knowledge Management In Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bubel Dagmara

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Knowledge management is a field of management dealing with the use of knowledge, methods, and tools to effectively coordinate complex and unique projects. In accordance with this definition, project knowledge can be treated as a useful resource of information that allows projects to be implemented in compliance with its objectives: time, costs, and quality of results. Knowledge in the activity of an organization, including in the implementation of projects, has for many years been an area of interest to researchers, who confirmed its key importance for building permanent competitive advantages of companies and enterprises. In project management, this issue takes on a new character, as it is transferred to the field of dynamic, time restricted, temporary, and team-implemented projects. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a survey regarding the use of practices of knowledge management in projects in international organizations and to show that the concept of knowledge management in projects is a tool conducive to spreading the process of globalization.

Chemical Analysis of the Moon at the Surveyor VII Landing Site: Preliminary Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Turkevich, A L; Franzgrote, E J; Patterson, J H

1968-10-04

The alpha-scattering experiment aboard Surveyor VII has provided a chemical analysis of the moon in the area of the crater Tycho. The preliminary results indicate a chemical composition similar to that already found at two mare sites, but with a lower concentration of elements of the iron group (titanium through copper).

CERN’s surveyors send sparks flying

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2013-01-01

A few weeks ago, we published an article on the three-dimensional laser scanner technique used at CERN to produce 3D images of the LHC tunnels and experiments (see the article here). Photogrammetry is another technique in the CERN surveyors’ arsenal.   The ATLAS wheel during a photogrammetry measurement campaign. The white spots (see red arrows) dotted across the wheel are the retro-reflective "dot" targets. Used in a number of fields including topography, architecture, geology and archaeology, photogrammetry is a stereoscopy technique whereby 2D images taken from different angles can be used to reconstruct a 3D image of an object. Surveyors at CERN have been using this technique for over 15 years as a way of gaining precise information on the shape, size, deformation and position of the LHC detectors and their composite elements. The photogrammetry used at CERN is relatively “light” in terms of the equipment required, w...

Professional Risk Assessment on the Workplace of Surface Surveyor Employed in Measuring-Geological Department of Coalmine

Science.gov (United States)

Matuszewska, Ewa; Orwat, Justyna

2016-06-01

In this article were shown the identification of threats and the assessment of occupational risk for the surface surveyor by using the Five Steps method and taking into account the health state of workers.

Global energy / CO2 projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinyak, Y.

1990-09-01

Section headings are: (1) Social and economic problems of the 21 st century and the role of energy supply systems (2) Energy-environment interactions as a central point of energy research activities (3) New ways of technological progress and its impacts on energy demand and supply (4) Long-term global energy projections (5) Comparative analysis of global long-term energy / CO 2 studies (6) Conclusions. The author shows that, in order to alleviate the negative impacts of energy systems on the climate, it will be necessary to undertake tremendous efforts to improve the energy use efficiency, to drastically change the primary energy mix, and, at the same time, to take action to reduce greenhouse emissions from other sources and increase the CO 2 sink through enhanced reforestation. (Quittner)

GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) version 1.1 (NODC Accession 0001644)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) is a cooperative effort to coordinate global synthesis projects funded through NOAA/DOE and NSF as part of the Joint...

The Cultural Challenges of Managing Global Project Teams: A Study of Brazilian Multinationals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivete Rodrigues

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The internationalization of Brazilian companies brings a new reality: the need for implementation of global projects that bring, in turn, the challenge of managing multicultural teams. Since this is a recent phenomenon with little theoretical development, this study sought to understand the relationships between cultural characteristics and management teams of global projects in Brazilian multinationals. To carry this discussion forward, we studied six cases of Brazilian multinational companies, with the aim of deepening the understanding of the management of global teams, involving the planning, deployment, development and management of human resources. Among the projects studied, it was found that there is very little concern with the specific issue of multiculturalism and little inter-cultural incentive to the development of team members, which ends up hindering the construction of a global mindset, important for the Brazilian multinational companies to perform successfully abroad. Faced with this situation, each of the managerial processes mentioned were presented with a number of actions to be undertaken by the project manager in three different dimensions: the project itself, the organization and the global environment. The work contributes, thus, to enable Brazilian multinational companies to manage their global teams in order to maximize the advantages of global teams, such as increased creativity and innovative capacity, but avoid the problems that multiculturalism can bring, ranging from conflicts between people to project failure.

Global projections of extreme sea levels in view of climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Vousdoukas, M. I.; Feyen, L.; Voukouvalas, E.; Mentaschi, L.; Verlaan, M.; Jevrejeva, S.; Jackson, L. P.

2017-12-01

Global warming is expected to drive increasing extreme sea levels (ESLs) and flood risk along the world's coasts. The present contribution aims to present global ESL projections obtained by combining dynamic simulations of all the major ESL components during the present century, considering the latest CMIP5 projections for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Baseline values are obtained combining global re-analyses of tides, waves, and storm surges, including the effects of tropical cyclones. The global average RSLR is projected around 20 and 24 cm by the 2050s under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively and is projected to reach 46 and 67 cm by the year 2100. The largest increases in MSL are projected along the South Pacific, Australia and West Africa, while the smaller RSLR is projected around East North America, and Europe. Contributions from waves and storm surges show a very weak increasing global trend, which becomes statistically significant only towards the end of the century and under RCP8.5. However, for areas like the East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Alaska, East Bering Sea, as well as the Southern Ocean, climate extremes could increase up to 15%. By the end of this century the 100-year event ESL along the world's coastlines will on average increase by 48 cm for RCP4.5 and 75 cm for RCP8.5. The strongest rise is projected along the Southern Ocean exceeding 1 m under RCP8.5 by the end of the century. Increase exceeding 80 cm is projected for East Asia, West North America, East South America, and the North Indian Ocean. Considering always the business as usual and the year 2100, the lowest increase in ESL100 is projected along the East North America and Europe (below 50 cm). The present findings indicate that, under both RCPs, by the year 2050 the present day 100-year event will occur every 5 years along a large part of the tropics, rendering coastal zones exposed to intermittent flood hazard.

Global artificial photosynthesis project: a scientific and legal introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Faunce, Thomas

2011-12-01

With the global human population set to exceed 10 billion by 2050, its collective energy consumption to rise from 400 to over 500 EJ/yr and with the natural environment under increasing pressure from these sources as well as from anthropogenic climate change, political solutions such as the creation of an efficient carbon price and trading scheme may arrive too late. In this context, the scientific community is exploring technological remedies. Central to these options is artificial photosynthesis--the creation, particularly through nanotechnology, of devices capable to doing what plants have done for millions of years - transforming sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into food and fuel. This article argues that a Global Artificial Photosynthesis (GAP) project can raise the public profile and encourage the pace, complexity and funding of scientific collaborations in artificial photosynthesis research. The legal structure of a GAP project will be critical to prevent issues such as state sovereignty over energy and food resources and corporate intellectual monopoly privileges unduly inhibiting the important contribution of artificial photosynthesis to global public health and environmental sustainability. The article presents an introduction to the scientific and legal concepts behind a GAP project.

Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), Alpha Version

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), Alpha Version consists of estimates of human population for the years 1990, 1995, and 2000 by 30 arc-second (1km)...

What is excellence for Project Management knowledge in the context of globalization?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampf, Constance; Longo, Bernadette

2009-01-01

How can technical writers understand not only excellence in Project Management knowledge, but also the effects of globalization on how project management knowledge is used in project conception and project planning when major stakeholders live in third world countries? This study focuses in parti......How can technical writers understand not only excellence in Project Management knowledge, but also the effects of globalization on how project management knowledge is used in project conception and project planning when major stakeholders live in third world countries? This study focuses...... in particular on project conception for the use of cell phone and web 2.0 technologies with an NGO based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We found that students were able to use knowledge management and knowledge communication concepts to shape their project titles, goals and objectives, as well...

Thinking Globally, Interviewing Locally: Using an Intensive Interview Project to Teach Globalization and Social Change

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Norma J.

2017-01-01

In this article, I connect globalization and qualitative methodological practice, describing a semester-long intensive interview project about the anti-apartheid movement. I provide a detailed overview of the project as well as considerations for those who might want to adapt it for their own courses. Using students' reflections on the projects…

The ugly twins: Failed global sourcing projects and their substitutes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schiele, Holger; Horn, Philipp; Horn, Philipp; Werner, Welf

2010-01-01

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed: Analyzing the impact of failed global sourcing projects on the entire commodity group and exploring isomorphism as potential antecedent to the observed phenomenon. The paper is embedded in the global sourcing literature, as well as isomorphism and total

Coordination and Control of Globally Distributed Software Projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.C. van Fenema (Paul)

2002-01-01

textabstractRecently, software development and implementation projects have globalized at a rapid pace. Companies in North America, Europe, and the Far East are beginning to integrate international Information Technology (IT) resources to support operations across the globe. Offshore IT services

Management of Globally Distributed Software Development Projects in Multiple-Vendor Constellations

Science.gov (United States)

Schott, Katharina; Beck, Roman; Gregory, Robert Wayne

Global information systems development outsourcing is an apparent trend that is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. Thereby, IS-related services are not only increasingly provided from different geographical sites simultaneously but beyond that from multiple service providers based in different countries. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the involvement of multiple service providers affects the management of the globally distributed information systems development projects. As research on this topic is scarce, we applied an exploratory in-depth single-case study design as research approach. The case we analyzed comprises a global software development outsourcing project initiated by a German bank together with several globally distributed vendors. For data collection and data analysis we have adopted techniques suggested by the grounded theory method. Whereas the extant literature points out the increased management overhead associated with multi-sourcing, the analysis of our case suggests that the required effort for managing global outsourcing projects with multiple vendors depends among other things on the maturation level of the cooperation within the vendor portfolio. Furthermore, our data indicate that this interplay maturity is positively impacted through knowledge about the client that has been derived based on already existing client-vendor relationships. The paper concludes by offering theoretical and practical implications.

Education projects: an opportunity for student fieldwork in global health academic programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fyfe, Molly V

2012-01-01

Universities, especially in higher-income countries, increasingly offer programs in global health. These programs provide different types of fieldwork projects, at home and abroad, including: epidemiological research, community health, and clinical electives. I illustrate how and why education projects offer distinct learning opportunities for global health program fieldwork. As University of California students, we partnered in Tanzania with students from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science (MUHAS) to assist MUHAS faculty with a curricular project. We attended classes, clinical rounds, and community outreach sessions together, where we observed teaching, materials used, and the learning environment; and interviewed and gathered data from current students, alumni, and health professionals during a nationwide survey. We learned together about education of health professionals and health systems in our respective institutions. On the basis of this experience, I suggest some factors that contribute to the productivity of educational projects as global health fieldwork.

Global Analysis of Climate Change Projection Effects on Atmospheric Rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Espinoza, Vicky; Waliser, Duane E.; Guan, Bin; Lavers, David A.; Ralph, F. Martin

2018-05-01

A uniform, global approach is used to quantify how atmospheric rivers (ARs) change between Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 historical simulations and future projections under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP8.5 warming scenarios. The projections indicate that while there will be 10% fewer ARs in the future, the ARs will be 25% longer, 25% wider, and exhibit stronger integrated water vapor transports (IVTs) under RCP8.5. These changes result in pronounced increases in the frequency (IVT strength) of AR conditions under RCP8.5: 50% (25%) globally, 50% (20%) in the northern midlatitudes, and 60% (20%) in the southern midlatitudes. The models exhibit systematic low biases across the midlatitudes in replicating historical AR frequency ( 10%), zonal IVT ( 15%), and meridional IVT ( 25%), with sizable intermodel differences. A more detailed examination of six regions strongly impacted by ARs suggests that the western United States, northwestern Europe, and southwestern South America exhibit considerable intermodel differences in projected changes in ARs.

Global emission projections for the transportation sector using dynamic technology modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, F.; Winijkul, E.; Streets, D. G.; Lu, Z.; Bond, T. C.; Zhang, Y.

2014-06-01

In this study, global emissions of gases and particles from the transportation sector are projected from the year 2010 to 2050. The Speciated Pollutant Emission Wizard (SPEW)-Trend model, a dynamic model that links the emitter population to its emission characteristics, is used to project emissions from on-road vehicles and non-road engines. Unlike previous models of global emission estimates, SPEW-Trend incorporates considerable detail on the technology stock and builds explicit relationships between socioeconomic drivers and technological changes, such that the vehicle fleet and the vehicle technology shares change dynamically in response to economic development. Emissions from shipping, aviation, and rail are estimated based on other studies so that the final results encompass the entire transportation sector. The emission projections are driven by four commonly-used IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scenarios (A1B, A2, B1, and B2). With global fossil-fuel use (oil and coal) in the transportation sector in the range of 128-171 EJ across the four scenarios, global emissions are projected to be 101-138 Tg of carbon monoxide (CO), 44-54 Tg of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 14-18 Tg of non-methane total hydrocarbons (THC), and 3.6-4.4 Tg of particulate matter (PM) in the year 2030. At the global level, a common feature of the emission scenarios is a projected decline in emissions during the first one or two decades (2010-2030), because the effects of stringent emission standards offset the growth in fuel use. Emissions increase slightly in some scenarios after 2030, because of the fast growth of on-road vehicles with lax or no emission standards in Africa and increasing emissions from non-road gasoline engines and shipping. On-road vehicles and non-road engines contribute the most to global CO and THC emissions, while on-road vehicles and shipping contribute the most to NOx and PM emissions. At the regional level, Latin America and East Asia are the two

CooMan - a global collaborative project management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, J.M. de; Palma, S.

1994-01-01

Project Coordination and Management have long been recognized as an area with growing problems and unsatisfactory solutions. Conciliating flexibility with target achievements is historically the main problem to face. The difficulties have been growing at more than linear ratio with the size and complexity of the Projects being developed in the present days. The HEP communities suffer additional challenges because of the distributed nature of the collaborations, the novelty of each project; and the less authoritarian form of leadership and management of team and individual. This prevents the adoption of more centralized focus on decision. CooMan intends to be a Global Collaborative Project Management System. This paper discusses the basic aspects of the concepts involved, outlining how task coordination, acts of speech, and World-Wide hyper media can be used to support project management activities. A distributed tool to implement such proposition is described, and a first prototype is presented

Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT Project)

Data.gov (United States)

World Wide Human Geography Data Working Group — The Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT Project) monitors the world's broadcast, print, and web news from nearly every corner of every country in...

Cultural Issue and its Influence in the Management of Global Project Teams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadia Lima

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The interactions between the project manager and team members may be affected by several variables, such as culture, leadership style of the project manager, and the complexity of the developed tasks. Focused in this context, the objective of this paper is to investigate and describe how the culture issue can affect the anagement of global project teams. It is a qualitative, descriptive study conducted in a large multinational company in the automotive sector. The results of this research show that cultural issues can influence both positively and negatively the management of project global teams and the managers of these projects have to deal with several management challenges that require the adoption of certain ways of dealing with culture impacts in managing their teams to minimize potential problems in this context.

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) - Daily, Version 1.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) comprises a total of 27 products. The Version 1.2 Daily product covers the period October 1998 to the present,...

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) - Pentad, Version 2.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) comprises a total of 27 products. The Version 2.2 Pentad product covers the period January 1979 to the present,...

'Surveyor': An Underwater System for Threat Material Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valkovic, Vladivoj; Sudac, Davorin; Nad, Karlo; Obhodas, Jasmina; Matika, Dario; Kollar, Robert

2010-01-01

The bottoms of the coastal seas, and oceans as well, are contaminated by many man-made objects including a variety of ammunition. This contamination is world wide spread with some areas being highly polluted presenting a serious threat to local population and to visitors as well. All littoral nations are investing lots of effort into the remediation of their coastal areas. Once the presence of the anomaly on the bottom of the shallow coastal sea water is confirmed (by visual identification and by using one or several sensors, namely magnetometer, sonar and optical cameras) it is necessary to establish if it contains explosive/chemical warfare charge. In our work we propose this to be performed by using neutron sensor installed within an underwater vessel - 'Surveyor'. When positioned above the object, or to its side, the system inspects the object for the presence of the threat material by using alpha particle tagged neutrons from the sealed tube d+t neutron generator. (author)

Does the projected pathway to global warming targets matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Bärring, Lars; Strandberg, Gustav

2018-02-01

Since the ‘Paris agreement’ in 2015 there has been much focus on what a +1.5 °C or +2 °C warmer world would look like. Since the focus lies on policy relevant global warming targets, or specific warming levels (SWLs), rather than a specific point in time, projections are pooled together to form SWL ensembles based on the target temperature rather than emission scenario. This study uses an ensemble of CMIP5 global model projections to analyse how well SWL ensembles represent the stabilized climate of global warming targets. The results show that the SWL ensembles exhibit significant trends that reflect the transient nature of the RCP scenarios. These trends have clear effect on the timing and clustering of monthly cold and hot extremes, even though the effect on the temperature of the extreme months is less visible. In many regions there is a link between choice of RCP scenario used in the SWL ensemble and climate change signal in the highest monthly temperatures. In other regions there is no such clear-cut link. From this we conclude that comprehensive analyses of what prospects the different global warming targets bring about will require stabilization scenarios. Awaiting such targeted scenarios we suggest that prudent use of SWL scenarios, taking their characteristics and limitations into account, may serve as reasonable proxies in many situations.

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Combined Precipitation Dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Huffman, George J.; Adler, Robert F.; Arkin, Philip; Chang, Alfred; Ferraro, Ralph; Gruber, Arnold; Janowiak, John; McNab, Alan; Rudolf, Bruno; Schneider, Udo

1997-01-01

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) has released the GPCP Version 1 Combined Precipitation Data Set, a global, monthly precipitation dataset covering the period July 1987 through December 1995. The primary product in the dataset is a merged analysis incorporating precipitation estimates from low-orbit-satellite microwave data, geosynchronous-orbit -satellite infrared data, and rain gauge observations. The dataset also contains the individual input fields, a combination of the microwave and infrared satellite estimates, and error estimates for each field. The data are provided on 2.5 deg x 2.5 deg latitude-longitude global grids. Preliminary analyses show general agreement with prior studies of global precipitation and extends prior studies of El Nino-Southern Oscillation precipitation patterns. At the regional scale there are systematic differences with standard climatologies.

Global Climate Change Pilot Course Project

Science.gov (United States)

Schuenemann, K. C.; Wagner, R.

2011-12-01

In fall 2011 a pilot course on "Global Climate Change" is being offered, which has been proposed to educate urban, diverse, undergraduate students about climate change at the introductory level. The course has been approved to fulfill two general college requirements, a natural sciences requirement that focuses on the scientific method, as well as a global diversity requirement. This course presents the science behind global climate change from an Earth systems and atmospheric science perspective. These concepts then provide the basis to explore the effect of global warming on regions throughout the world. Climate change has been taught as a sub-topic in other courses in the past solely using scientific concepts, with little success in altering the climate change misconceptions of the students. This pilot course will see if new, innovative projects described below can make more of an impact on the students' views of climate change. Results of the successes or failures of these projects will be reported, as well as results of a pre- and post-course questionnaire on climate change given to students taking the course. Students in the class will pair off and choose a global region or country that they will research, write papers on, and then represent in four class discussions spaced throughout the semester. The first report will include details on the current climate of their region and how the climate shapes that region's society and culture. The second report will discuss how that region is contributing to climate change and/or sequestering greenhouse gases. Thirdly, students will discuss observed and predicted changes in that region's climate and what impact it has had, and could have, on their society. Lastly, students will report on what role their region has played in mitigating climate change, any policies their region may have implemented, and how their region can or cannot adapt to future climate changes. They will also try to get a feel for the region

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS): 38 GHz Detector Array of Bolometric Polarimeters

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, John W.; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Araujo, Derek; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

The cosmology large angular scale surveyor (CLASS): 38-GHz detector array of bolometric polarimeters

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, John W.; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Araujo, Derek; Bennet, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Crowe, Erik; Denis, Kevin; Dünner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Gothe, Dominik; Halpern, Mark; Harrington, Kathleen; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Huang, Caroline; Irwin, Kent; Jones, Glenn; Karakula, John; Kogut, Alan J.; Larson, David; Limon, Michele; Lowry, Lindsay; Marriage, Tobias; Mehrle, Nicholas; Miller, Amber D.; Miller, Nathan; Moseley, Samuel H.; Novak, Giles; Reintsema, Carl; Rostem, Karwan; Stevenson, Thomas; Towner, Deborah; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wagner, Emily; Watts, Duncan; Wollack, Edward; Xu, Zhilei; Zeng, Lingzhen

2014-07-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) experiment aims to map the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at angular scales larger than a few degrees. Operating from Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it will observe over 65% of the sky at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. In this paper we discuss the design, construction, and characterization of the CLASS 38 GHz detector focal plane, the first ever Q-band bolometric polarimeter array.

GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank Information Management System

Science.gov (United States)

The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world’s crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR ...

A Quantitative Study of Global Software Development Teams, Requirements, and Software Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Linda L.

2016-01-01

The study explored the relationship between global software development teams, effective software requirements, and stakeholders' perception of successful software development projects within the field of information technology management. It examined the critical relationship between Global Software Development (GSD) teams creating effective…

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriage, Tobias; Ali, Aamir; Appel, John; Bennett, Charles; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

Finite-time analysis of global projective synchronization on coloured ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A novel finite-time analysis is given to investigate the global projective synchronization on coloured networks. Some less conservative conditions are derived by utilizing finite-time control techniques and Lyapunov stability theorem. In addition, two illustrative numerical simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness of ...

Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathers, Colin D; Loncar, Dejan

2006-11-01

Global and regional projections of mortality and burden of disease by cause for the years 2000, 2010, and 2030 were published by Murray and Lopez in 1996 as part of the Global Burden of Disease project. These projections, which are based on 1990 data, continue to be widely quoted, although they are substantially outdated; in particular, they substantially underestimated the spread of HIV/AIDS. To address the widespread demand for information on likely future trends in global health, and thereby to support international health policy and priority setting, we have prepared new projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2030 starting from World Health Organization estimates of mortality and burden of disease for 2002. This paper describes the methods, assumptions, input data, and results. Relatively simple models were used to project future health trends under three scenarios-baseline, optimistic, and pessimistic-based largely on projections of economic and social development, and using the historically observed relationships of these with cause-specific mortality rates. Data inputs have been updated to take account of the greater availability of death registration data and the latest available projections for HIV/AIDS, income, human capital, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and other inputs. In all three scenarios there is a dramatic shift in the distribution of deaths from younger to older ages and from communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes to noncommunicable disease causes. The risk of death for children younger than 5 y is projected to fall by nearly 50% in the baseline scenario between 2002 and 2030. The proportion of deaths due to noncommunicable disease is projected to rise from 59% in 2002 to 69% in 2030. Global HIV/AIDS deaths are projected to rise from 2.8 million in 2002 to 6.5 million in 2030 under the baseline scenario, which assumes coverage with antiretroviral drugs reaches 80% by 2012. Under the optimistic scenario, which

Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin D Mathers

2006-11-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Global and regional projections of mortality and burden of disease by cause for the years 2000, 2010, and 2030 were published by Murray and Lopez in 1996 as part of the Global Burden of Disease project. These projections, which are based on 1990 data, continue to be widely quoted, although they are substantially outdated; in particular, they substantially underestimated the spread of HIV/AIDS. To address the widespread demand for information on likely future trends in global health, and thereby to support international health policy and priority setting, we have prepared new projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2030 starting from World Health Organization estimates of mortality and burden of disease for 2002. This paper describes the methods, assumptions, input data, and results. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Relatively simple models were used to project future health trends under three scenarios-baseline, optimistic, and pessimistic-based largely on projections of economic and social development, and using the historically observed relationships of these with cause-specific mortality rates. Data inputs have been updated to take account of the greater availability of death registration data and the latest available projections for HIV/AIDS, income, human capital, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and other inputs. In all three scenarios there is a dramatic shift in the distribution of deaths from younger to older ages and from communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes to noncommunicable disease causes. The risk of death for children younger than 5 y is projected to fall by nearly 50% in the baseline scenario between 2002 and 2030. The proportion of deaths due to noncommunicable disease is projected to rise from 59% in 2002 to 69% in 2030. Global HIV/AIDS deaths are projected to rise from 2.8 million in 2002 to 6.5 million in 2030 under the baseline scenario, which assumes coverage with antiretroviral drugs

Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030

Science.gov (United States)

Mathers, Colin D; Loncar, Dejan

2006-01-01

Background Global and regional projections of mortality and burden of disease by cause for the years 2000, 2010, and 2030 were published by Murray and Lopez in 1996 as part of the Global Burden of Disease project. These projections, which are based on 1990 data, continue to be widely quoted, although they are substantially outdated; in particular, they substantially underestimated the spread of HIV/AIDS. To address the widespread demand for information on likely future trends in global health, and thereby to support international health policy and priority setting, we have prepared new projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2030 starting from World Health Organization estimates of mortality and burden of disease for 2002. This paper describes the methods, assumptions, input data, and results. Methods and Findings Relatively simple models were used to project future health trends under three scenarios—baseline, optimistic, and pessimistic—based largely on projections of economic and social development, and using the historically observed relationships of these with cause-specific mortality rates. Data inputs have been updated to take account of the greater availability of death registration data and the latest available projections for HIV/AIDS, income, human capital, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and other inputs. In all three scenarios there is a dramatic shift in the distribution of deaths from younger to older ages and from communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes to noncommunicable disease causes. The risk of death for children younger than 5 y is projected to fall by nearly 50% in the baseline scenario between 2002 and 2030. The proportion of deaths due to noncommunicable disease is projected to rise from 59% in 2002 to 69% in 2030. Global HIV/AIDS deaths are projected to rise from 2.8 million in 2002 to 6.5 million in 2030 under the baseline scenario, which assumes coverage with antiretroviral drugs reaches 80% by 2012

Consistency of climate change projections from multiple global and regional model intercomparison projects

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Fernández, J.; Frías, M. D.; Cabos, W. D.; Cofiño, A. S.; Domínguez, M.; Fita, L.; Gaertner, M. A.; García-Díez, M.; Gutiérrez, J. M.; Jiménez-Guerrero, P.; Liguori, G.; Montávez, J. P.; Romera, R.; Sánchez, E.

2018-03-01

We present an unprecedented ensemble of 196 future climate projections arising from different global and regional model intercomparison projects (MIPs): CMIP3, CMIP5, ENSEMBLES, ESCENA, EURO- and Med-CORDEX. This multi-MIP ensemble includes all regional climate model (RCM) projections publicly available to date, along with their driving global climate models (GCMs). We illustrate consistent and conflicting messages using continental Spain and the Balearic Islands as target region. The study considers near future (2021-2050) changes and their dependence on several uncertainty sources sampled in the multi-MIP ensemble: GCM, future scenario, internal variability, RCM, and spatial resolution. This initial work focuses on mean seasonal precipitation and temperature changes. The results show that the potential GCM-RCM combinations have been explored very unevenly, with favoured GCMs and large ensembles of a few RCMs that do not respond to any ensemble design. Therefore, the grand-ensemble is weighted towards a few models. The selection of a balanced, credible sub-ensemble is challenged in this study by illustrating several conflicting responses between the RCM and its driving GCM and among different RCMs. Sub-ensembles from different initiatives are dominated by different uncertainty sources, being the driving GCM the main contributor to uncertainty in the grand-ensemble. For this analysis of the near future changes, the emission scenario does not lead to a strong uncertainty. Despite the extra computational effort, for mean seasonal changes, the increase in resolution does not lead to important changes.

Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Coastlines

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1) consists of estimates of human population for the years 1990, 1995, and 2000 by 30 arc-second (1km) grid...

Divergent surface and total soil moisture projections under global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Alexis; Sheffield, Justin; Milly, Paul C.D.

2017-01-01

Land aridity has been projected to increase with global warming. Such projections are mostly based on off-line aridity and drought metrics applied to climate model outputs but also are supported by climate-model projections of decreased surface soil moisture. Here we comprehensively analyze soil moisture projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5, including surface, total, and layer-by-layer soil moisture. We identify a robust vertical gradient of projected mean soil moisture changes, with more negative changes near the surface. Some regions of the northern middle to high latitudes exhibit negative annual surface changes but positive total changes. We interpret this behavior in the context of seasonal changes in the surface water budget. This vertical pattern implies that the extensive drying predicted by off-line drought metrics, while consistent with the projected decline in surface soil moisture, will tend to overestimate (negatively) changes in total soil water availability.

CLASS: The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

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Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Araujo, Derek; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.;

How do glacier inventory data aid global glacier assessments and projections?

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Hock, R.

2017-12-01

Large-scale glacier modeling relies heavily on datasets that are collected by many individuals across the globe, but managed and maintained in a coordinated fashion by international data centers. The Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G) provides the framework for coordinating and making available a suite of data sets such as the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI), the Glacier Thickness Dataset or the World Glacier Inventory (WGI). These datasets have greatly increased our ability to assess global-scale glacier mass changes. These data have also been vital for projecting the glacier mass changes of all mountain glaciers in the world outside the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet, a total >200,000 glaciers covering an area of more than 700,000 km2. Using forcing from 8 to 15 GCMs and 4 different emission scenarios, global-scale glacier evolution models project multi-model mean net mass losses of all glaciers between 7 cm and 24 cm sea-level equivalent by the end of the 21st century. Projected mass losses vary greatly depending on the choice of the forcing climate and emission scenario. Insufficiently constrained model parameters likely are an important reason for large differences found among these studies even when forced by the same emission scenario, especially on regional scales.

High-Resolution and Lightweight X-ray Optics for the X-Ray Surveyor

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Zhang, William

Envisioned in "Enduring Quest, Daring Visions" and under study by NASA as a potential major mission for the 2020s, the X-ray Surveyor mission will likely impose three requirements on its optics: (1) high angular resolution: 0.5 PSF, (2) large effective area: e10,000 cm2 or more, and (3) affordable production cost: $500M. We propose a technology that can meet these requirements by 2020. It will help the X-ray Surveyor secure the endorsement of the coming decadal survey and enable its implementation following WFIRST. The technology comprises four elements: (1) fabrication of lightweight single crystal silicon mirrors, (2) coating these mirrors with iridium to maximize effective area without figure degradation, (3) alignment and bonding of these mirrors to form meta-shells that will be integrated to make a mirror assembly, and (4) systems engineering to ensure that the mirror assembly meet all science performance and spaceflight environmental requirements. This approach grows out of our existing approach based on glass slumping. Using glass slumping technology, we have been able to routinely build and test mirror modules of 10half-power diameter (HPD). While comparable in HPD to XMM-Newtons electroformed nickel mirrors, these mirror modules are 10 times lighter. Likewise, while comparable in weight to Suzakus epoxy-replicated aluminum foil mirrors, these modules have 10 times better HPD. These modules represent the current state of the art of lightweight X-ray optics. Although both successful and mature, the glass slumping technology has reached its limit and cannot achieve sub-arc second HPD. Therefore, we are pursuing the new approach based on polishing single crystal silicon. The new approach will enable the building and testing of mirror modules, called meta-shells, capable of 3HPD by 2018 and 1HPD by 2020, and has the potential to reach diffraction limits ( 0.1) in the 2020s.

Projection of Heat Waves over China under Different Global Warming Targets

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Guo, Xiaojun; Luo, Yong; Huang, Jianbin; Zhao, Zongci

2015-04-01

Global warming targets, which are determined in terms of global mean temperature increases relative to pre-industrial temperature levels, have been one of the heated issues recently. And the climate change (especially climate extremes) and its impacts under different targets have been paid extensive concerns. In this study, evaluation and projection of heat waves in China were carried out by five CMIP5 global climate models (GCMs) with a 0.5°×0.5° horizontal resolution which were derived from EU WATCH project. A new daily observed gridded dataset CN05.1 (0.5°×0.5°) was also used to evaluate the GCMs. And four indices (heat waves frequency, longest heat waves duration, heat waves days and high temperature days) were adopted to analyze the heat waves. Compared with the observations, the five GCMs and its Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) have a remarkable capacity of reproducing the spatial and temporal characteristic of heat waves. The time correlation coefficients between MME and the observation results can all reach 0.05 significant levels. Based on the projection data of five GCMs, both the median year of crossing 1.5°C, 2°C, 2.5°, 3°C, 3.5°C, 4°C, 4.5°C and 5°C global warming targets and the corresponding climate change over China were analyzed under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, respectively. The results show that when the global mean surface air temperature rise to different targets with respect to the pre-industrial times (1861-1880), the frequency and intensity of heat waves will increase dramatically. To take the high emission scenario RCP8.5 as an example, under the RCP8.5 scenario, the warming rate over China is stronger than that over the globe, the temperature rise(median year) over China projected by MME are 1.77°C(2025), 2.63°C(2039), 3.39°C(2050), 3.97°C(2060), 4.82°C(2070), 5.47°C(2079) and 6.2°C(2089) under 1.5°C, 2°C, 2.5°C, 3°C, 3.5°C, 4°C and 4.5°C global warming targets, respectively. With the increase of the global

Global asymptotic stability of density dependent integral population projection models.

Science.gov (United States)

Rebarber, Richard; Tenhumberg, Brigitte; Townley, Stuart

2012-02-01

Many stage-structured density dependent populations with a continuum of stages can be naturally modeled using nonlinear integral projection models. In this paper, we study a trichotomy of global stability result for a class of density dependent systems which include a Platte thistle model. Specifically, we identify those systems parameters for which zero is globally asymptotically stable, parameters for which there is a positive asymptotically stable equilibrium, and parameters for which there is no asymptotically stable equilibrium. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contributing to the Global Agenda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2008-01-01

Stig Enemark, President of the International Federation of Surveyors, explains the organisation's role in the areas of geospatial information and land management. Link to full text: http://www.euinfrastructure.com/currentissue/article.asp?art=273895&issue=259......Stig Enemark, President of the International Federation of Surveyors, explains the organisation's role in the areas of geospatial information and land management. Link to full text: http://www.euinfrastructure.com/currentissue/article.asp?art=273895&issue=259...

Projected impacts of climate change on regional capacities for global plant species richness.

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Sommer, Jan Henning; Kreft, Holger; Kier, Gerold; Jetz, Walter; Mutke, Jens; Barthlott, Wilhelm

2010-08-07

Climate change represents a major challenge to the maintenance of global biodiversity. To date, the direction and magnitude of net changes in the global distribution of plant diversity remain elusive. We use the empirical multi-variate relationships between contemporary water-energy dynamics and other non-climatic predictor variables to model the regional capacity for plant species richness (CSR) and its projected future changes. We find that across all analysed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios, relative changes in CSR increase with increased projected temperature rise. Between now and 2100, global average CSR is projected to remain similar to today (+0.3%) under the optimistic B1/+1.8 degrees C scenario, but to decrease significantly (-9.4%) under the 'business as usual' A1FI/+4.0 degrees C scenario. Across all modelled scenarios, the magnitude and direction of CSR change are geographically highly non-uniform. While in most temperate and arctic regions, a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions. Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases. Independent of direction, we infer that all changes in regional CSR will probably induce on-site species turnover and thereby be a threat to native floras.

Nation state and the challenge of globalization: Project draft

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Obrenović Zoran G.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This project draft discusses the issues facing a nation state in the dynamic processes of globalization. First, the term globalization is tentatively defined as a decentralized process of condensation and homogenization of space and time. Then, the ambivalent structure of the globalization discourse, i.e. its semantic and pragmatic dimensions, are shown. The neo-liberal viewpoint is explored of the erosion and weakening of the nation state within the global capitalist power, both in terms of its (state's traditional functions, and in terms of its internal and external sovereignty. Against the neo-liberal thesis about the decline of the nation state many empirical arguments have been offered. Some of these are presented in this text. The main point of this argumentation consists in a general view that the decline of the nation state is strongly linked with the process of globalization. In view of the critical argumentation included in the paper, it is argued that in the environment of global processes only the societies which have a strong state behind them have a chance to succeed. Politics, not economy, still dominates international relations. Emphasis on state politics opens a new perspective in discussing the process of globalization. Current globalization processes cannot be judged accurately unless geopolitical interests and the changing balance of world power are understood. Finally, the paper points to the ideological nature of the neo-liberal discourse of globalization, questioning another basic assumption of the latter, namely, the idea that the process of globalization is at the same time a process of emancipation. By challenging the positing of a necessary link between globalization and emancipation we formulate a position that allows for a normative critique of current processes.

A Tri-Country Marketing Project--Preparing Students for the Realities of a Global Marketplace

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Ina; Knight, Peter; Butt, Irfan

2011-01-01

With rapidly increasing globalization, business students are required to understand complex global markets and adapt to the rapid changes in the global landscape. This paper discusses a project where students from International Marketing courses in Pakistan, the United States, and France used an interactive platform as a base to jointly explore…

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriange, Tobias; Aamir, Ali; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

The GED4GEM project: development of a Global Exposure Database for the Global Earthquake Model initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Gamba, P.; Cavalca, D.; Jaiswal, K.S.; Huyck, C.; Crowley, H.

2012-01-01

In order to quantify earthquake risk of any selected region or a country of the world within the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) framework (www.globalquakemodel.org/), a systematic compilation of building inventory and population exposure is indispensable. Through the consortium of leading institutions and by engaging the domain-experts from multiple countries, the GED4GEM project has been working towards the development of a first comprehensive publicly available Global Exposure Database (GED). This geospatial exposure database will eventually facilitate global earthquake risk and loss estimation through GEM’s OpenQuake platform. This paper provides an overview of the GED concepts, aims, datasets, and inference methodology, as well as the current implementation scheme, status and way forward.

Global Software and IT A Guide to Distributed Development, Projects, and Outsourcing

CERN Document Server

Ebert, Christof

2011-01-01

Global software engineering, implying both internal and outsourced development, is a fast-growing scenario within industry; the growth rates in some sectors are more than 20% per year. However, half of all offshoring activities are cancelled within the first 2 years, at tremendous unanticipated cost to the organization.   This book will provide a more balanced framework for planning global development, covering topics such as managing people in distributed sites, managing a project across locations, mitigating the risk of offshoring, processes for global development, practical outsourcin

Impact of revisions to the F-Tag 309 surveyors' interpretive guidelines on pain management among nursing home residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lapane, Kate L; Quilliam, Brian J; Chow, Wing; Kim, Myoung S

2012-05-01

On 31 March 2009, the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided revised guidance for meeting compliance in the evaluation and management of pain in nursing home residents, known as F-Tag 309. The aim of the study was to estimate the extent to which implementation of revisions to the surveyors' interpretive guidelines for F-Tag 309 improved recognition and management of pain among nursing home residents. The impact of the revisions to guidance on F-Tag 309 on pain in nursing home residents was investigated. The study was quasi-experimental in design and included 174 for-profit nursing homes in 19 US states. Nursing home residents with ≥2 Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments between 1 January 2007 and 30 March 2009 (before the revisions to the guidelines; n = 8449) and between 31 March 2009 and 31 December 2009 (after the revisions; n = 1400) were included. The MDS assessments provided information on pain, analgesic use and cognitive, functional and emotional status. Separate logistic regression models that adjusted for clustering effects of residents residing in nursing homes provided estimates of the relationship between the implementation of the revisions to F-Tag 309 and the prevalence of pain and its management. Pain was more likely to be documented in the period after the revisions were implemented. The odds of pain being documented on at least one of two consecutive MDS assessments increased after the revisions to the guidelines were implemented (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01, 1.31). Increases in scheduled analgesic prescription were observed in the post-revision era (adjusted OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.21,1.57). The implementation of revisions to the surveyors' interpretive guidelines for F-Tag 309 improved recognition and management of pain as well as analgesic use in nursing home residents with documented non-cancer pain. Use of directed language as part of the surveyors' interpretive guidelines may be a

A global cleanout project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edlow, J.; Gruber, G.

2004-01-01

Once upon a time there was a great dream of a atomic age for mankind. The technically advanced nations of the world promised amazing opportunities for all and promoted their materials and equipment often by supplying them throughout the world in the race to gain market share. For a time, the dream was fulfilled, as many countries embraced the new technologies initially for research and later for medical, power and even transport opportunities. In due course, the demand subsided and in some countries has even been reversed with plans to terminate outdated or unneeded facilities. This brings up the issue of nuclear waste disposal. It was not until post 'Sept 11', that the US and other countries and NGOs began to seriously think about the larger implications of terrorist use of 'Dirty Bombs'. This has led to the potential of a wider program aimed at the possible return of a larger amount of 'abandoned' materials. Thus the 'GLOBAL CLEANOUT PROJECT' was borne. Many in the nuclear fuel cycle will have a stake in this and can play a role in an international community to deal with the issue and it has to be started now. (author)

High-resolution global climate modelling: the UPSCALE project, a large-simulation campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. S. Mizielinski

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The UPSCALE (UK on PRACE: weather-resolving Simulations of Climate for globAL Environmental risk project constructed and ran an ensemble of HadGEM3 (Hadley Centre Global Environment Model 3 atmosphere-only global climate simulations over the period 1985–2011, at resolutions of N512 (25 km, N216 (60 km and N96 (130 km as used in current global weather forecasting, seasonal prediction and climate modelling respectively. Alongside these present climate simulations a parallel ensemble looking at extremes of future climate was run, using a time-slice methodology to consider conditions at the end of this century. These simulations were primarily performed using a 144 million core hour, single year grant of computing time from PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe in 2012, with additional resources supplied by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC and the Met Office. Almost 400 terabytes of simulation data were generated on the HERMIT supercomputer at the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS, and transferred to the JASMIN super-data cluster provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council Centre for Data Archival (STFC CEDA for analysis and storage. In this paper we describe the implementation of the project, present the technical challenges in terms of optimisation, data output, transfer and storage that such a project involves and include details of the model configuration and the composition of the UPSCALE data set. This data set is available for scientific analysis to allow assessment of the value of model resolution in both present and potential future climate conditions.

Glacial and tectonic influence on terrestrial organic carbon delivery to high latitude deep marine systems: IODP Site U1417, Surveyor Fan, Gulf of Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Childress, L. B.; Ridgway, K. D.

2014-12-01

Glacial and tectonic processes on active margins are intrinsically coupled to the transport of sediment and associated organic carbon (OC). Glaciation/deglaciation and the formation of ice sheets can alter the quantity and composition of OC delivered to the marine environment. Over geologic time scales (>1 Ma), exhumation and mass wasting of sedimentary rock from uplifted accretionary wedges inject recycled OC (e.g. kerogen), along with modern OC into the marine environment. The sedimentary record of glacial and tectonic processes along the southern Alaska margin is particularly well preserved at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1417. Lithofacies of Site U1417 can be divided into 3 sedimentary packages that we interpret as linked to the onset of tidewater glaciation along, and tectonic convergence of the Yakutat Terrane with, the continental margin of northwestern Canada and southern Alaska. Based on previous studies linking the development of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and the movement of the Yakutat Terrane to the development of the Surveyor Fan System, we hypothesize biogeochemical variations in the deposited sediments as a result of changing provenance. Preservation of terrestrial OC that has been documented in sediments of the Alaskan continental shelf margin and sediment routing through the deep-sea Surveyor Channel from the Pleistocene to modern time implies a long-term conduit for this OC to reach the distal portion of the Surveyor Fan system. To correlate marine deposits with terrestrial formations, bulk geochemical and detailed biomarker analyses are used to delineate source material. Preliminary bulk OC content and stable carbon isotope analyses of the Yakataga, Poul Creek, and Kultheith Fms. reveal notable differences. Detailed biomarker analysis by pyrolysis-gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry has revealed further differences between the three primary formations. Using the biogeochemical fingerprints of the Yakataga, Poul Creek, and coal

Religious affiliation at time of death - Global estimates and projections.

Science.gov (United States)

Skirbekk, Vegard; Todd, Megan; Stonawski, Marcin

2018-03-01

Religious affiliation influences societal practices regarding death and dying, including palliative care, religiously acceptable health service procedures, funeral rites and beliefs about an afterlife. We aimed to estimate and project religious affiliation at the time of death globally, as this information has been lacking. We compiled data on demographic information and religious affiliation from more than 2500 surveys, registers and censuses covering 198 nations/territories. We present estimates of religious affiliation at the time of death as of 2010, projections up to and including 2060, taking into account trends in mortality, religious conversion, intergenerational transmission of religion, differential fertility, and gross migration flows, by age and sex. We find that Christianity continues to be the most common religion at death, although its share will fall from 37% to 31% of global deaths between 2010 and 2060. The share of individuals identifying as Muslim at the time of death increases from 21% to 24%. The share of religiously unaffiliated will peak at 17% in 2035 followed by a slight decline thereafter. In specific regions, such as Europe, the unaffiliated share will continue to rises from 14% to 21% throughout the period. Religious affiliation at the time of death is changing globally, with distinct regional patterns. This could affect spatial variation in healthcare and social customs relating to death and dying.

Improvement of job satisfaction and organisational commitment through work group identification: an examination of the quantity surveyors in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wai Yee Betty Chiu

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Though extant literatures in other sectors indicatethat job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important fordetermining individual and organisational outcomes, limited related researchhas been conducted amongst quantity surveyors in Hong Kong. Given cooperativeworking arrangement in the quantity surveying profession, work groupidentification is regarded as an important antecedent for determining jobsatisfaction and organisational commitment. The aim of this study is to examinewhether work group identification improves job satisfaction and organisationalcommitment. A questionnaire survey is conducted to collect data from quantitysurveyors working in private sector. A total of 71 valid responses are obtainedfrom 509 contacted quantity surveyors in Hong Kong. Bivariate correlation andmultiple regression analyses are performed to find the significance ofrelationships among the variables. Data analysis results support mosthypotheses. Work group identification is found to have significant positiveeffect on job satisfaction, affective and normative commitment. The finding isa bold step for quantity surveying companies to improve their quantity surveyors’job satisfaction and commitment level. The role of other contextual and organisationalfactors on job satisfaction and organisational commitment needs to becomplemented for future research.

Mediterranean Agricultural Soil Conservation under global Change: The MASCC project.

Science.gov (United States)

Raclot, Damien; Ciampalini, Rossano

2017-04-01

The MASCC project (2016-2019, http://mascc-project.org) aims to address mitigation and adaptation strategies to global change by assessing current and future development of Mediterranean agricultural soil vulnerability to erosion in relation to projected land use, agricultural practices and climate change. It targets to i) assess the similarities/dissimilarities in dominant factors affecting the current Mediterranean agricultural soil vulnerability by exploring a wide range of Mediterranean contexts; ii) improve the ability to evaluate the impact of extreme events on both the current and projected agricultural soil vulnerability and the sediment delivery at catchment outlet; iii) evaluate the vulnerability and resilience of agricultural production to a combination of potential changes in a wide range of Mediterranean contexts, iv) and provide guidelines on sustainable agricultural conservation strategies adapted to each specific agro-ecosystem and taking into consideration both on- and off-site erosion effects and socio-economics issues. To achieve these objectives, the MASCC project consortium gather researchers from six Mediterranean countries (France, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Spain and Portugal) which monitor mid- to long-term environmental catchments and benefit from mutual knowledge created from previous projects and network. The major assets for MASCC are: i) the availability of an unrivalled database on catchment soil erosion and innovative agricultural practices comprising a wide range of Mediterranean contexts, ii) the capacity to better evaluate the impact of extreme events on soil erosion, iii) the expert knowledge of the LANDSOIL model, a catchment-scale integrated approach of the soil-landscape system that enables to simulate both the sediment fluxes at the catchment outlet and the intra-catchment soil evolving properties and iv) the multi-disciplinarity of the involved researchers with an international reputation in the fields of soil science

Lithium Resources and Production: Critical Assessment and Global Projections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve H. Mohr

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper critically assesses if accessible lithium resources are sufficient for expanded demand due to lithium battery electric vehicles. The ultimately recoverable resources (URR of lithium globally were estimated at between 19.3 (Case 1 and 55.0 (Case 3 Mt Li; Best Estimate (BE was 23.6 Mt Li. The Mohr 2010 model was modified to project lithium supply. The Case 1 URR scenario indicates sufficient lithium for a 77% maximum penetration of lithium battery electric vehicles in 2080 whereas supply is adequate to beyond 2200 in the Case 3 URR scenario. Global lithium demand approached a maximum of 857 kt Li/y, with a 100% penetration of lithium vehicles, 3.5 people per car and 10 billion population.

GMMIP (v1.0) contribution to CMIP6: Global Monsoons Model Inter-comparison Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Tianjun; Turner, Andrew G.; Kinter, James L.; Wang, Bin; Qian, Yun; Chen, Xiaolong; Wu, Bo; Wang, Bin; Liu, Bo; Zou, Liwei; He, Bian

2016-10-10

The Global Monsoons Model Inter-comparison Project (GMMIP) has been endorsed by the panel of Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP) as one of the participating model inter-comparison projects (MIPs) in the sixth phase of CMIP (CMIP6). The focus of GMMIP is on monsoon climatology, variability, prediction and projection, which is relevant to four of the “Grand Challenges” proposed by the World Climate Research Programme. At present, 21 international modeling groups are committed to joining GMMIP. This overview paper introduces the motivation behind GMMIP and the scientific questions it intends to answer. Three tiers of experiments, of decreasing priority, are designed to examine (a) model skill in simulating the climatology and interannual-to-multidecadal variability of global monsoons forced by the sea surface temperature during historical climate period; (b) the roles of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation in driving variations of the global and regional monsoons; and (c) the effects of large orographic terrain on the establishment of the monsoons. The outputs of the CMIP6 Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima experiments (DECK), “historical” simulation and endorsed MIPs will also be used in the diagnostic analysis of GMMIP to give a comprehensive understanding of the roles played by different external forcings, potential improvements in the simulation of monsoon rainfall at high resolution and reproducibility at decadal timescales. The implementation of GMMIP will improve our understanding of the fundamental physics of changes in the global and regional monsoons over the past 140 years and ultimately benefit monsoons prediction and projection in the current century.

Biomass burning studies and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prinn, R.G.

1991-01-01

The perturbations to local and regional atmospheric chemistry caused by biomass burning also have global significance. The International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project was created by scientists from over twenty countries in response to the growing interest concern about atmospheric chemical changes and their potential impact on mankind. The goal of the IGAC is to develop a fundamental understanding of the natural and anthropogenic processes that determine the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the interactions between atmospheric composition and biospheric and climatic processes. A specific objective is to accurately predict changes over the next century in the composition and chemistry of the global atmosphere. Current activities, leaders and scientists involved are presented in this chapter

Cloud amount/frequency, NITRATE and other data from SURVEYOR in the Chukchi Sea from 1990-10-02 to 1990-10-20 (NODC Accession 9200012)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other data were collected in Chukchi Sea. Data was collected during 155 Casts from Ship SURVEYOR. The data was...

Core-Log-Seismic investigations of the Surveyor Fan and Channel system during the Pleistocene; IODP Exp. 341

Science.gov (United States)

Somchat, K.; Reece, R.; Gulick, S. P. S.

2017-12-01

The Chugach-St. Elias mountain range is the product of the ongoing subduction and collision of the Yakutat microplate with the North America Plate. The presence of this high topography close to the shoreline creates a unique source-to-sink system in which glacial eroded sediment is transported directly to the sea and preserved offshore in a deep sea fan without intervening storage. Surveyor Fan and Channel system is the product of this system. In this study we will focus on the four tributary channels that form at the head of the Surveyor Channel complex and merge into the main channel trunk 200 km from the shelf edge. We integrated drill core and 2D seismic reflection data to study the evolution of these tributaries in order to decipher glacial history along the southern Alaskan margin since the mid-Pleistocene (1.2 Ma). An age model from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 341 Site U1418 provides a higher resolution chronology of sediment delivery to the Surveyor Fan than previous studies. We regionally mapped the seismic subunits previously identified by Exp. 341 scientists starting from Site U1418 and analyzed regional patterns of sediment deposition. Channel migrations are observable between 1.2-0.5 Ma which could be the result of increasing glacial ice volume onshore due to onset of the MPT. Two-way travel time (isopach) maps of the three subunits show that sediment depocenter began to move eastward since 1.2 Ma with a trend of overall sediment flux increase in all tributary channels. Changes in sediment flux in each system represent the changes in volume of glacial ice over successive glacial intervals. Additionally, seismic analysis of channel geomorphology shows that each system contains distinct geomorphological evolutions that respond to the glacially eroded sediment flux at different times. Since glacial erosional processes is the driver of this source-to-sink system, a history of glacial ice onshore since the Pleistocene can be inferred from

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Joseph

2018-01-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is an array of four telescopes designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. CLASS aims to detect the B-mode polarization from primordial gravitational waves predicted by cosmic inflation theory, as well as the imprint left by reionization upon the CMB E-mode polarization. This will be achieved through a combination of observing strategy and state-of-the-art instrumentation. CLASS is observing 70% of the sky to characterize the CMB at large angular scales, which will measure the entire CMB power spectrum from the reionization peak to the recombination peak. The four telescopes operate at frequencies of 38, 93, 145, and 217 GHz, in order to estimate Galactic synchrotron and dust foregrounds while avoiding atmospheric absorption. CLASS employs rapid polarization modulation to overcome atmospheric and instrumental noise. Polarization sensitive cryogenic detectors with low noise levels provide CLASS the sensitivity required to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio down to levels of r ~ 0.01 while also measuring the optical depth the reionization to sample-variance levels. These improved constraints on the optical depth to reionization are required to pin down the mass of neutrinos from complementary cosmological data. CLASS has completed a year of observations at 38 GHz and is in the process of deploying the rest of the telescope array. This poster provides an overview and update on the CLASS science, hardware and survey operations.

The Sea Around Us Project: documenting and communicating global fisheries impacts on marine ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauly, Daniel

2007-06-01

The Sea Around Us Project, initiated by the Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia, PA, and located at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, started in mid 1999. Its goal was (and still is) to investigate the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems and to propose policies to mitigate these impacts. Although conceived as a global activity, the project first emphasized the data-rich North Atlantic as a test bed for developing its approaches, which rely on mapping of catch data and indicators of ecosystem health derived from the analysis of long catch time series data. Initial achievements included mapping the decline, throughout the North Atlantic basin, of high-trophic level fishes from 1900 to the present and the presentation of compelling evidence of change in the functioning of the North Atlantic ecosystems, summarized in a 2003 book. The Central and South Atlantic were the next basins to be tackled, with emphasis on the distant-water fleet off West Africa, culminating in a major conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 2002. The project then emphasized the North Pacific, Antarctica, and marine mammals and the multiplicity of tropical Indo-Pacific fisheries before it turned completely global, with all our major analyses and reports (e.g., on the interactions between marine mammals and fisheries, on fuel consumption by fleets, on the catches of small-scale fisheries, on subsidies to fisheries) being based on global studies. Broadly, the work of the project is aimed at a reappraisal of fisheries, from the benign activity that many interested people still perceive them to be, to a realization that they have become the driver for massive loss of biodiversity in the ocean. Moreover, the emphasis on global estimates (rather than local estimates of dubious generality) has allowed the project to contribute to various global initiatives (e.g., developing the Marine Trophic Index for the Convention on Biological Diversity, quantifying marine

Assessment of global and individual reproducibility of projective mapping with consumers

OpenAIRE

VIDAL, LETICIA; CADENA, RAFAEL SILVA; CORREA, SILVANA; ÁBALOS, ROSA A.; GÓMEZ, BEATRIZ; GIMÉNEZ, ANA; Varela, Paula; Ares, Gaston

2014-01-01

The popularity of projective mapping with consumers for sensory characterization has markedly increased in the last 5 years. To have confidence in this methodology,it is necessary to ensure that a similar product profile would emerge if the test was repeated. Also, deciding whether the study should be replicated or not is a key issue in test implementation. In this context, the aim of the present work was to evaluate global and individual reproducibility of projective mapping for sensory char...

Global projections of drought hazard in a warming climate: a prime for disaster risk management

Science.gov (United States)

Carrão, Hugo; Naumann, Gustavo; Barbosa, Paulo

2018-03-01

Projections of drought hazard ( dH) changes have been mapped from five bias-corrected climate models and analyzed at the global level under three representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The motivation for this study is the observation that drought risk is increasing globally and the effective regulation of prevention and adaptation measures depends on dH magnitude and its distribution for the future. Based on the Weighted Anomaly of Standardized Precipitation index, dH changes have been assessed for mid-(2021-2050) and late-century (2071-2099). With a few exceptions, results show a likely increase in global dH between the historical years (1971-2000) and both future time periods under all RCPs. Notwithstanding this worsening trend, it was found that projections of dH changes for most regions are neither robust nor significant in the near-future. By the end of the century, greater increases are projected for RCPs describing stronger radiative forcing. Under RCP8.5, statistically significant dH changes emerge for global Mediterranean ecosystems and the Amazon region, which are identified as possible hotspots for future water security issues. Taken together, projections of dH changes point towards two dilemmas: (1) in the near-term, stake-holders are left worrying about projected increasing dH over large regions, but lack of actionable model agreement to take effective decisions related to local prevention and adaptation initiatives; (2) in the long-term, models demonstrate remarkable agreement, but stake-holders lack actionable knowledge to manage potential impacts far distant from actual human-dominated environments. We conclude that the major challenge for risk management is not to adapt human populations or their activities to dH changes, but to progress on global initiatives that mitigate their impacts in the whole carbon cycle by late-century.

The global sustainability project and the LLNL China energy systems model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, N; Lamont, A; Stewart, J; Woodrow, C.

1999-01-01

The sustainability of our modern way of life is becoming a major concern of both our domestic and international policy. The Rio conference on the environment and the recent Kyoto conference on global climate change are two indications of the importance of solving global environmental problem. Energy is a key component in global sustainability since obtaining and using it has major environmental effects. If our energy systems are to be sustainable in the long run, they must be structured using technologies that have a minimal impact on our environment and resources. At the same time, they must meet practical economic requirements: they must be reasonably economical, they must meet the needs of society and they must be tailored to the resources that are available in a particular region or country. Because economic considerations and government policies both determine the development of the energy system, economic and systems modeling can help us better understand ways that new technologies and policies can be used to obtain a more sustainable system. The Global Sustainability Project has developed both economic modeling software and models to help us better understand these issues and has applied them to the analysis of energy and environmental problems in China. In the past year, the models and data developed by the project have been used to support other projects investigating the interaction of technologies and the environment. The project this year has focused on software development to improve our modeling tools and on the refinement and application of the China Energy System model. The major thrust of the software development has been improvements in the METANet economic software system. We have modified its solution algorithm to improve speed and accuracy of the solutions and to make it compatible with the SuperCode modeling system. It is planned to eventually merge the two systems to take advantage of the faster, more flexible solution algorithms of Super

Projections of global emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases in 2050

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gschrey, Barbara; Schwarz, Winfried [Oeko-Recherche Buero fuer Umweltforschung und -beratung GmbH, Frankfurt/Main (Germany)

2009-11-15

Emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases are currently covered under the Montreal Protocol, which focuses on ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), and under the Kyoto Protocol, which controls emissions of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), PFCs (perfluorocarbons) and SF{sub 6} (sulfur hexafluoride). This study bridges the gap between political regimes and their reporting systems by giving an overview of banks and emissions of all fluorinated gases in 2005, and projections of banks and emissions of fluorinated gases in 2050. The Montreal Protocol and its amendments will eventually result in the full phase out of CFCs and HCFCs. Developed countries have already completed the phase out of CFCs and will reach full phase out of HCFCs by 2020. Developing countries, in contrast, will phase out CFCs by 2010 and HCFCs by 2030. Although climate-friendly technology is available for most applications, the risk occurs that substitutes for ozone-depleting substances rely on HFCs, which cause global warming. This study determines global emissions of HFCs, PFCs and SF{sub 6} (Kyoto F-gases) in 2050 in a ''business-as-usual'' scenario. The global population is expected to increase to ca. 8.7 billion people, and high economic growth of 3.5% per year is assumed. Emissions in 2050 are quantified for each sector of application as well as for developed and developing countries based on growth rates of each sector. In 2050, total global emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases are projected to amount to 4 GT CO{sub 2} eq. which equals ca. 5.9% of the total greenhouse gas emissions at this time. Compared to a relatively small share of F-gas emissions ranging around 1.3% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2004, this percentage reflects an enormous increase. Relative to projected direct CO{sub 2} emissions alone, the 2050 F-gas emissions will even account for ca. 7.9%. In case of CO{sub 2} mitigation, this share

Job competencies for the malaysian consultant project managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Ilias Said

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Architects, engineers and quantity surveyors are among the main players in construction.Coming from different background and professional background, these professionals bring in their own respective styles and methods of project management practices. There is now a body of opinion among industry people and academics alike that the industry needs to establish competency standard especially for project managers. Irrespective of their professional background, competent project managers should hypothetically deliver high quality services to the clients. A study was conducted at the School of Housing, Building and Planning, University of Science Malaysia (USM, to develop a job competence model for Consultant Project Managers (CPMs. It attempts to determine a set of minimum standards of skills and competencies for CPMs. This paper reports the findings of the study. It provides an insight into the type of competencies needed by CPMs based on the “Job Competence Model for Consultant Project Managers” developed from the study.

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS)

Science.gov (United States)

Amati, Lorenzo; O'Brien, Paul T.; Götz, Diego

2016-07-01

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) is a mission concept under development by a large international collaboration aimed at exploiting gamma-ray bursts for investigating the early Universe. The main scientific objectives of THESEUS include: investigating the star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the ISM and IGM up to redshift 9-10, detecting the first generation (pop III) of stars, studying the sources and physics of re-ionization, detecting the faint end of galaxies luminosity function. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB detection and arcmin localization over a broad FOV (more than 1sr) and an energy band extending from several MeVs down to 0.3 keV with unprecedented sensitivity, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.6m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. Such instrumentation will also allow THESEUS to unveil and study the population of soft and sub-energetic GRBs, and, more in general, to perform monitoring and survey of the X-ray sky with unprecedented sensitivity.

Kenya public weather processed by the Global Yield Gap Atlas project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groot, de Hugo; Adimo, Ochieng; Claessens, Lieven; Wart, Van Justin; Bussel, van Lenny G.J.; Grassini, Patricio; Wolf, Joost; Guilpart, Nicolas; Boogaard, Hendrik; Oort, van Pepijn A.J.; Yang, Haishun S.; Ittersum, van Martin K.; Cassman, Kenneth G.

2017-01-01

The Global Yield Gap Atlas project (GYGA - http://yieldgap.org) has undertaken a yield gap assessment following the protocol recommended by van Ittersum et al. (2013). One part of the activities consists of collecting and processing weather data as an input for crop simulation models in sub-Saharan

The Fee Sensitive Risk Exposures of Project Authorized Person in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sai-On Cheung

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Authorized Persons (AP play a critical role in the design and construction of building works in Hong Kong. Under the Building Ordinance, design and construction of building works need to be coordinated and monitored by an AP registered with the Buildings Department. Professionally qualified Architects, Engineers and Surveyors are eligible to register as AP after completing the prescribed assessment. In addition, the project AP is often appointed by the project owner to be the project team leader. In these capacities, a project AP is exposed to various risks. This paper seeks to identify the fee sensitive risk exposures of project APs. Through an ANOVA study, these risks exposures are those due to liabilities under the Building Ordinance at the construction stage, those towards the third parties and the clients.

SONG-China Project: A Global Automated Observation Network

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Z. Z.; Lu, X. M.; Tian, J. F.; Zhuang, C. G.; Wang, K.; Deng, L. C.

2017-09-01

Driven by advancements in technology and scientific objectives, data acquisition in observational astronomy has been changed greatly in recent years. Fully automated or even autonomous ground-based network of telescopes has now become a tendency for time-domain observational projects. The Stellar Observations Network Group (SONG) is an international collaboration with the participation and contribution of the Chinese astronomy community. The scientific goal of SONG is time-domain astrophysics such as asteroseismology and open cluster research. The SONG project aims to build a global network of 1 m telescopes equipped with high-precision and high-resolution spectrographs, and two-channel lucky-imaging cameras. It is the Chinese initiative to install a 50 cm binocular photometry telescope at each SONG node sharing the network platform and infrastructure. This work is focused on design and implementation in technology and methodology of SONG/50BiN, a typical ground-based network composed of multiple sites and a variety of instruments.

Distributed team cohesion – not an oxymoron. The impact of information and communications technologies on teamness in globally distributed IT projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Stawnicza

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Globally distributed IT projects are common practice in today’s globalized world. Typically, project team members’ work on interdependent tasks, with a common goal to be achieved as one team. However, being split between multiple locations impedes communication among team members and hampers the development of trust. Information and communications media enable communication between geographically distributed project team members and help to create and maintain trust within project units. Communication and trust are particularly significant for fostering a feeling of oneness among project team members. Oneness, also referred to as “teamness”, is repeatedly mentioned as one of the challenges facing global project teams. However, prior literature on teamness is very scarce and its importance is underrepresented. This research contributes to the field in two ways. First, the theoretical study based on a systematic literature review examines available evidence of teamness in globally distributed projects. Secondly, an empirical study based on interviews conducted with global project managers fills the current gap in literature on the link between use of ICT and establishing a sense of team unity. This paper draws practitioners’ attention to the importance of striving for teamness in spite of the geographical distance that exists between project team members.

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Climate Data Record (CDR), Version 2.3 (Monthly)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) consists of monthly satellite-gauge and associated precipitation error estimates and covers the period January...

Global protected area expansion is compromised by projected land-use and parochialism.

Science.gov (United States)

Montesino Pouzols, Federico; Toivonen, Tuuli; Di Minin, Enrico; Kukkala, Aija S; Kullberg, Peter; Kuusterä, Johanna; Lehtomäki, Joona; Tenkanen, Henrikki; Verburg, Peter H; Moilanen, Atte

2014-12-18

Protected areas are one of the main tools for halting the continuing global biodiversity crisis caused by habitat loss, fragmentation and other anthropogenic pressures. According to the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the protected area network should be expanded to at least 17% of the terrestrial world by 2020 (http://www.cbd.int/sp/targets). To maximize conservation outcomes, it is crucial to identify the best expansion areas. Here we show that there is a very high potential to increase protection of ecoregions and vertebrate species by expanding the protected area network, but also identify considerable risk of ineffective outcomes due to land-use change and uncoordinated actions between countries. We use distribution data for 24,757 terrestrial vertebrates assessed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 'red list of threatened species', and terrestrial ecoregions (827), modified by land-use models for the present and 2040, and introduce techniques for global and balanced spatial conservation prioritization. First, we show that with a coordinated global protected area network expansion to 17% of terrestrial land, average protection of species ranges and ecoregions could triple. Second, if projected land-use change by 2040 (ref. 11) takes place, it becomes infeasible to reach the currently possible protection levels, and over 1,000 threatened species would lose more than 50% of their present effective ranges worldwide. Third, we demonstrate a major efficiency gap between national and global conservation priorities. Strong evidence is shown that further biodiversity loss is unavoidable unless international action is quickly taken to balance land-use and biodiversity conservation. The approach used here can serve as a framework for repeatable and quantitative assessment of efficiency, gaps and expansion of the global protected area network globally, regionally and nationally, considering

Exploring the Role of Social Software in Global Software Development Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giuffrida, Rosalba; Dittrich, Y.

2011-01-01

We present a PhD project that investigates the use of Social Software (SoSo) in Global Software Development (GSD) teams. Since SoSo in unstructured and informal in its own nature, we explore how informal communication, which is challenging in GSD, is supported by SoSo in distributed teams and how...

The Shaky Legal Foundations of the Global Human Rights Education Project

Science.gov (United States)

Vlaardingerbroek, Barend

2015-01-01

School students should be taught about the law and this includes rights education. The global human rights education (HRE) project focuses on universal human rights and has a strongly utopian orientation, drawing as it does on international declarations and principles of human rights law. International human rights law is, however, at best a…

A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, T.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M.; Westberg, D.; Whitlock, C. H.

2010-12-01

NASA's POWER project, or the Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources project, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale. The products of the project find valuable applications in the solar and wind energy sectors of the renewable energy industries. The primary source data for the POWER project are NASA's World Climate Research Project (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Release 3.0) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (V 4.0.3). Users of the POWER products access the data through NASA's Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE, Version 6.0) website (http://power.larc.nasa.gov). Over 200 parameters are available to the users. The spatial resolution is 1 degree by 1 degree now and will be finer later. The data covers from July 1983 to December 2007, a time-span of 24.5 years, and are provided as 3-hourly, daily and monthly means. As of now, there have been over 18 million web hits and over 4 million data file downloads. The POWER products have been systematically validated against ground-based measurements, and in particular, data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) archive, and also against the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). Parameters such as minimum, maximum, daily mean temperature and dew points, relative humidity and surface pressure are validated against the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) data. SSE feeds data directly into Decision Support Systems including RETScreen International clean energy project analysis software that is written in 36 languages and has greater than 260,000 users worldwide.

[Globalization, the Camisea Project and the Matsigenkas health].

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Slimming, Paola

2010-09-01

Globalization has been the consequence of an important opening of the economies, achieved through the reduction in the obstacles to commerce, elimination of the capital controls and exchange restrictions. The impact of the Camisea Project in the Peruvian economy has aroused great interest and controversy with respect to the future social and economic national impact, and especially, in the Matsigenka population, located in the 88 and 56 lots, where gas extraction is being done. The area of Camisea gas exploitation offers the challenge of a complex sanitary problem, not only because of the impacts and risks produced by the hidrocarbon exploitation, but also due to a legacy of economical and sanitary precariousness that has accumulated from other times. At the same time, this area offers the opportunity to rethink the public health system according to the indigenous reality. It is necessary to take action in the social determinants of inequity and poverty in order to reach the positive effects the globalization can have in health, ensuring the interests of developing countries and vulnerable populations.

Project Leadership and Quality Performance of Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SPG Buba

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: The construction industry in Nigeria, is pigeonholed by poor quality of construction products as a result of the inherent corruption in the country. Lack of purposeful leadership and inappropriate choice of leadership styles in the industry have been attributed to project failure. Abandoned and failed projects are more predominant in the public sector which litters every corner of the country. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of leadership styles on quality performance criteria of public projects in Nigeria. Methodology: A total of 43 questionnaires were distributed to 3 key groups of respondents (Quantity Surveyors, Builders, and Architects who are project managers in Nigeria. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS. Likert Scale was used to measure the independent variables (leadership style: facilitative, coaching, delegating and directing; and the level of achievement of projects based on the dependent variables (quality and function performance criteria which are: achieving highest aesthetic quality; and functional building that fits its purpose. Findings: The study revealed that Directing is the major leadership style used by project managers in Nigeria. Amongst the leadership styles which has the most impact on quality performance indicators is also directing which has the most relative influence on achieving highest aesthetic quality and functional building that fits its purpose. Conclusion/Recommendation/Way forward: The underlying relationship between Directing leadership styles and the performance criteria of achieving highest aesthetic quality and functional building that fits its purpose will be beneficial to the Nigerian construction environment.

Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Focal Plane Development

Science.gov (United States)

Chuss, D. T.; Ali, A.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J.; Bennett, C. L.; Colazo, F.; Denis, K. L.; Dunner, R.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Eimer, J.;

Detailed assessment of global transport-energy models’ structures and projections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yeh, Sonia; Mishra, Gouri Shankar; Fulton, Lew; Kyle, Page; McCollum, David L.; Miller, Joshua; Cazzola, Pierpaolo; Teter, Jacob

2017-08-01

This paper focuses on comparing the frameworks and projections from four major global transportation models with considerable transportation technology and behavioral detail. We analyze and compare the modeling frameworks, underlying data, assumptions, intermediate parameters, and projections to identify the sources of divergence or consistency, as well as key knowledge gaps. We find that there are significant differences in the base-year data and key parameters for future projections, especially for developing countries. These include passenger and freight activity, mode shares, vehicle ownership rates, and even energy consumption by mode, particularly for shipping, aviation and trucking. This may be due in part to a lack of previous efforts to do such consistency-checking and “bench-marking.” We find that the four models differ in terms of the relative roles of various mitigation strategies to achieve a 2°C / 450 ppm CO2e target: the economics-based integrated assessment models favor the use of low carbon fuels as the primary mitigation option followed by efficiency improvements, whereas transport-only and expert-based models favor efficiency improvements of vehicles followed by mode shifts. We offer recommendations for future modeling improvements focusing on (1) reducing data gaps; (2) translating the findings from this study into relevant policy implications such as feasibility of current policy goals, additional policy targets needed, regional vs. global reductions, etc.; (3) modeling strata of demographic groups to improve understanding of vehicle ownership levels, travel behavior, and urban vs. rural considerations; and (4) conducting coordinated efforts in aligning input assumptions and historical data, policy analysis, and modeling insights.

A Canonical Response in Rainfall Characteristics to Global Warming: Projections by IPCC CMIP5 Models

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, William K. M.; Wu, H. T.; Kim, K. M.

2012-01-01

Changes in rainfall characteristics induced by global warming are examined based on probability distribution function (PDF) analysis, from outputs of 14 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), CMIP (5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) models under various scenarios of increased CO2 emissions. Results show that collectively CMIP5 models project a robust and consistent global and regional rainfall response to CO2 warming. Globally, the models show a 1-3% increase in rainfall per degree rise in temperature, with a canonical response featuring large increase (100-250 %) in frequency of occurrence of very heavy rain, a reduction (5-10%) of moderate rain, and an increase (10-15%) of light rain events. Regionally, even though details vary among models, a majority of the models (>10 out of 14) project a consistent large scale response with more heavy rain events in climatologically wet regions, most pronounced in the Pacific ITCZ and the Asian monsoon. Moderate rain events are found to decrease over extensive regions of the subtropical and extratropical oceans, but increases over the extratropical land regions, and the Southern Oceans. The spatial distribution of light rain resembles that of moderate rain, but mostly with opposite polarity. The majority of the models also show increase in the number of dry events (absence or only trace amount of rain) over subtropical and tropical land regions in both hemispheres. These results suggest that rainfall characteristics are changing and that increased extreme rainfall events and droughts occurrences are connected, as a consequent of a global adjustment of the large scale circulation to global warming.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS): 40 GHz Optical Design

Science.gov (United States)

Eimer, Joseph R.; Bennett, Charles L.; Chuss, David T.; Marriage, Tobias; Wollack, Edward J.; Zeng, Lingzhen

2012-01-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) instrument will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background at 40, 90, and 150 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the 40 GHz telescope system. The telescope is a diffraction limited catadioptric design consisting of a front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM), two ambient temperature mirrors, two cryogenic dielectric lenses, thermal blocking filters, and an array of 36 smooth-wall scalar feedhorn antennas. The feed horns guide the signal to antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Polarization diplexing and bandpass definition are handled on the same microchip as the TES. The feed horn beams are truncated with 10 dB edge taper by a 4 K Lyot-stop to limit detector loading from stray light and control the edge illumination of the front-end VPM. The field-of-view is 19 deg x 14 deg with a resolution for each beam on the sky of 1.5 deg. FWHM.

The cosmology large angular scale surveyor (CLASS): 40 GHz optical design

Science.gov (United States)

Eimer, Joseph R.; Bennett, Charles L.; Chuss, David T.; Marriage, Tobias; Wollack, Edward J.; Zeng, Lingzhen

2012-09-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) instrument will measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background at 40, 90, and 150 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the 40 GHz telescope system. The telescope is a diffraction limited catadioptric design consisting of a front-end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM), two ambient temperature mirrors, two cryogenic dielectric lenses, thermal blocking filters, and an array of 36 smooth-wall scalar feedhorn antennas. The feed horns guide the signal to antenna-coupled transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers. Polarization diplexing and bandpass definition are handled on the same microchip as the TES. The feed horn beams are truncated with 10 dB edge taper by a 4 K Lyot-stop to limit detector loading from stray light and control the edge illumination of the front-end VPM. The field-of-view is 19° x 14° with a resolution for each beam on the sky of 1.5° FWHM.

"Long life" DC brush motor for use on the Mars surveyor program

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, David; Noon, Don

1998-01-01

DC brush motors have several qualities which make them very attractive for space flight applications. Their mechanical commutation is simple and lightweight, requiring no external sensing and control in order to function properly. They are extremely efficient in converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. Efficiencies over 80% are not uncommon, resulting in high power throughput to weight ratios. However, the inherent unreliability and short life of sliding electrical contacts, especially in vacuum, have driven previous programs to utilize complex brushless DC or the less efficient stepper motors. The Mars Surveyor Program (MSP'98) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) have developed a reliable "long life" brush type DC motor for operation in low temperature, low pressure CO2 and N2, utilizing silver-graphite brushes. The original intent was to utilize this same motor for SRTM's space operation, but the results thus far have been unsatisfactory in vacuum. This paper describes the design, test, and results of this development.

Super Global Projects and Environmentally Friendly Technologies Used in Space Exploration: Realities and Prospects of the Space Age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Krichevsky

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The 60th anniversary of the Space Age is an important intermediate finishing point on the way of a man and the whole humanity to space. Along with the outstanding achievements, there are a number of challenges and contradictions in space exploration due to the aggravation of the global crisis on Earth, low efficiency and the backlog of space research in the transition to a new technology based reality and clean technologies. Both the international astronautics and the space exploration area nowadays face difficulties in choosing a new paradigm and a development strategy that is becoming even more complicated due to the current unstable and turbulent situation on Earth. The article reveals the optimistic scenario of further space exploration, as well as the methodological and practical aspects of new projects and technologies. The periodization of the Space Age history has been conducted. It has been also proposed a new classification of the “space” phenomenon due to concretizing the concept of “global” in the form of a three-scale structure encompassing the following levels: 1 planetary global; 2 super global; 3 universally global. The notion of “super global space exploration project” has been introduced. The concept of further space exploration is proposed, which includes four interrelated super global projects:1 Earth Protection System from Asteroid and Comet Threat; 2 Moon Exploration; 3 Mars Exploration; 4 Cosmic Humanity. Since the humanity is embarking on the practical implementation of these super global projects, it is urgent to make a transition towards a new technology based order, as well as up-to-date technologies. A couple of ecological projects and space exploration technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries have been exemplified and analyzed. It has been also worked out the list of new environmentally friendly space technologies and projects. The research makes an emphasis upon a great potential of clean and green

The GIOD Project-Globally Interconnected Object Databases

CERN Document Server

Bunn, J J; Newman, H B; Wilkinson, R P

2001-01-01

The GIOD (Globally Interconnected Object Databases) Project, a joint effort between Caltech and CERN, funded by Hewlett Packard Corporation, has investigated the use of WAN-distributed Object Databases and Mass Storage systems for LHC data. A prototype small- scale LHC data analysis center has been constructed using computing resources at Caltechs Centre for advanced Computing Research (CACR). These resources include a 256 CPU HP Exemplar of ~4600 SPECfp95, a 600 TByte High Performance Storage System (HPSS), and local/wide area links based on OC3 ATM. Using the exemplar, a large number of fully simulated CMS events were produced, and used to populate an object database with a complete schema for raw, reconstructed and analysis objects. The reconstruction software used for this task was based on early codes developed in preparation for the current CMS reconstruction program, ORCA. (6 refs).

Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) and the Continental-scale International Project (GCIP)

Science.gov (United States)

Vane, Deborah

1993-01-01

A discussion of the objectives of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) and the Continental-scale International Project (GCIP) is presented in vugraph form. The objectives of GEWEX are as follows: determine the hydrological cycle by global measurements; model the global hydrological cycle; improve observations and data assimilation; and predict response to environmental change. The objectives of GCIP are as follows: determine the time/space variability of the hydrological cycle over a continental-scale region; develop macro-scale hydrologic models that are coupled to atmospheric models; develop information retrieval schemes; and support regional climate change impact assessment.

The WACMOS-ET project - Part 2: Evaluation of global terrestrial evaporation data sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gonzalez Miralles, D.; Jiménez, C.; Jung, M.; Michel, D.; Ershadi, A.; McCabe, M.F.; Hirschi, M.; Martens, B.; Dolman, A.J.; Fisher, J.B.; Mu, Q.; Seneviratne, S.I.; Wood, E.F.; Fernández-Prieto, D.

2016-01-01

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy - EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project aims to advance the development of land evaporation estimates on global and regional scales. Its main objective is the derivation, validation, and intercomparison of a group of existing evaporation retrieval

Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Urban Extent Polygons, Revision 01

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The primary output of the Global Rural Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1) are a series of grids representing estimated population counts and density for the...

The Transient High-Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS)

Science.gov (United States)

Amati, L.; O'Brien, P.; Goetz, D.; Tenzer, C.; Bozzo, E.

2017-10-01

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) is a mission concept developed by a large international collaboration aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe. The main scientic objectives of THESEUS, currently under evaluation by ESA within the selection process for next M5 mission, include: investigating the star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the ISM and IGM up to redshift 10, detecting the first generation (pop III) of stars, studying the sources and physics of re-ionization, detecting the faint end of galaxies luminosity function. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB detection and arcmin localization over a broad FOV (more than 1sr) and an energy band extending from several MeVs down to 0.3 keV with unprecedented sensitivity, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.7m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. Such instrumentation will also allow THESEUS to perform a monitoring of the X-ray sky with unprecedented sensitivity, which will provide a perfect service and sinergy to next generation multi-wavalength (e.g., E-ELT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA) and multi-messenger (aLIGO, aVIRGO, eLISA, ET, neutrino detectors, ...) facilities.

Kenya public weather processed by the Global Yield Gap Atlas project (old version)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groot, de H.L.E.; Adimo, A.O.; Claessens, L.F.G.; Wart, van J.; Bussel, van L.G.J.; Grassini, P.; Wolf, J.; Guilpart, Nicolas; Boogaard, H.L.; Oort, van P.A.J.; Yang, H.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Cassman, K.G.

2015-01-01

The Global Yield Gap Atlas project (GYGA - http://yieldgap.org ) has undertaken a yield gap assessment following the protocol recommended by van Ittersum et. al. (van Ittersum et. al., 2013). One part of the activities consists of collecting and processing weather data as an input for crop

Modeling Manpower and Equipment Productivity in Tall Building Construction Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Mudumbai Krishnaswamy, Parthasarathy; Rajiah, Murugasan; Vasan, Ramya

2017-12-01

Tall building construction projects involve two critical resources of manpower and equipment. Their usage, however, widely varies due to several factors affecting their productivity. Currently, no systematic study for estimating and increasing their productivity is available. What is prevalent is the use of empirical data, experience of similar projects and assumptions. As tall building projects are here to stay and increase, to meet the emerging demands in ever shrinking urban spaces, it is imperative to explore ways and means of scientific productivity models for basic construction activities: concrete, reinforcement, formwork, block work and plastering for the input of specific resources in a mixed environment of manpower and equipment usage. Data pertaining to 72 tall building projects in India were collected and analyzed. Then, suitable productivity estimation models were developed using multiple linear regression analysis and validated using independent field data. It is hoped that the models developed in the study will be useful for quantity surveyors, cost engineers and project managers to estimate productivity of resources in tall building projects.

Path integral for spinning particle in the plane wave field: Global and local projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boudiaf, N.; Boudjedaa, T.; Chetouani, L.

2001-01-01

The Green function related to the problem of a Dirac particle interacting with a plane wave is calculated via the path integral formalism proposed recently by Alexandrou et al. according to the two so-called global and local projections. With the help of the incorporation of two simple identities, it is shown that the contribution to the calculation of the integrals comes essentially from classical solutions projected along the direction of wave propagation. (orig.)

Probabilistic 21st and 22nd Century Sea-Level Projections at a Global Network of Tide-Gauge Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Kopp, Robert E.; Horton, Radley M.; Little, Christopher M.; Mitrovica, Jerry X.; Oppenheimer, Michael; Rasmussen, D. J.; Strauss, Benjamin H.; Tebaldi, Claudia

2014-01-01

Sea-level rise due to both climate change and non-climatic factors threatens coastal settlements, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Projections of mean global sea-level (GSL) rise provide insufficient information to plan adaptive responses; local decisions require local projections that accommodate different risk tolerances and time frames and that can be linked to storm surge projections. Here we present a global set of local sea-level (LSL) projections to inform decisions on timescales ranging from the coming decades through the 22nd century. We provide complete probability distributions, informed by a combination of expert community assessment, expert elicitation, and process modeling. Between the years 2000 and 2100, we project a very likely (90% probability) GSL rise of 0.5–1.2?m under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5, 0.4–0.9?m under RCP 4.5, and 0.3–0.8?m under RCP 2.6. Site-to-site differences in LSL projections are due to varying non-climatic background uplift or subsidence, oceanographic effects, and spatially variable responses of the geoid and the lithosphere to shrinking land ice. The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) constitutes a growing share of variance in GSL and LSL projections. In the global average and at many locations, it is the dominant source of variance in late 21st century projections, though at some sites oceanographic processes contribute the largest share throughout the century. LSL rise dramatically reshapes flood risk, greatly increasing the expected number of “1-in-10” and “1-in-100” year events.

Response to "The Shaky Legal Foundations of the Global Human Rights Education Project"

Science.gov (United States)

Tibbitts, Felisa

2015-01-01

This article is a response to "The Shaky Legal Foundations of the Global Human Rights Education Project," an article written by Barend Vlaardingerbroek, in which Vlaardingerbroek characterizes current practices of human rights education (HRE) as having an overriding agenda of activism, one that can draw on an ideologically-driven…

The EUSTACE project: delivering global, daily information on surface air temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Ghent, D.; Rayner, N. A.

2017-12-01

Day-to-day variations in surface air temperature affect society in many ways; however, daily surface air temperature measurements are not available everywhere. A global daily analysis cannot be achieved with measurements made in situ alone, so incorporation of satellite retrievals is needed. To achieve this, in the EUSTACE project (2015-2018, https://www.eustaceproject.eu) we have developed an understanding of the relationships between traditional (land and marine) surface air temperature measurements and retrievals of surface skin temperature from satellite measurements, i.e. Land Surface Temperature, Ice Surface Temperature, Sea Surface Temperature and Lake Surface Water Temperature. Here we discuss the science needed to produce a fully-global daily analysis (or ensemble of analyses) of surface air temperature on the centennial scale, integrating different ground-based and satellite-borne data types. Information contained in the satellite retrievals is used to create globally-complete fields in the past, using statistical models of how surface air temperature varies in a connected way from place to place. This includes developing new "Big Data" analysis methods as the data volumes involved are considerable. We will present recent progress along this road in the EUSTACE project, i.e.: • identifying inhomogeneities in daily surface air temperature measurement series from weather stations and correcting for these over Europe; • estimating surface air temperature over all surfaces of Earth from surface skin temperature retrievals; • using new statistical techniques to provide information on higher spatial and temporal scales than currently available, making optimum use of information in data-rich eras. Information will also be given on how interested users can become involved.

Changes in climate extremes, fresh water availability and vulnerability to food insecurity projected at 1.5°C and 2°C global warming with a higher-resolution global climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Alfieri, Lorenzo; Bradshaw, Catherine; Caesar, John; Feyen, Luc; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gohar, Laila; Koutroulis, Aristeidis; Lewis, Kirsty; Morfopoulos, Catherine; Papadimitriou, Lamprini; Richardson, Katy J.; Tsanis, Ioannis; Wyser, Klaus

2018-01-01

We projected changes in weather extremes, hydrological impacts and vulnerability to food insecurity at global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C relative to pre-industrial, using a new global atmospheric general circulation model HadGEM3A-GA3.0 driven by patterns of sea-surface temperatures and sea ice from selected members of the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) ensemble, forced with the RCP8.5 concentration scenario. To provide more detailed representations of climate processes and impacts, the spatial resolution was N216 (approx. 60 km grid length in mid-latitudes), a higher resolution than the CMIP5 models. We used a set of impacts-relevant indices and a global land surface model to examine the projected changes in weather extremes and their implications for freshwater availability and vulnerability to food insecurity. Uncertainties in regional climate responses are assessed, examining ranges of outcomes in impacts to inform risk assessments. Despite some degree of inconsistency between components of the study due to the need to correct for systematic biases in some aspects, the outcomes from different ensemble members could be compared for several different indicators. The projections for weather extremes indices and biophysical impacts quantities support expectations that the magnitude of change is generally larger for 2°C global warming than 1.5°C. Hot extremes become even hotter, with increases being more intense than seen in CMIP5 projections. Precipitation-related extremes show more geographical variation with some increases and some decreases in both heavy precipitation and drought. There are substantial regional uncertainties in hydrological impacts at local scales due to different climate models producing different outcomes. Nevertheless, hydrological impacts generally point towards wetter conditions on average, with increased mean river flows, longer heavy rainfall events, particularly in South and East Asia with the most extreme

Changes in climate extremes, fresh water availability and vulnerability to food insecurity projected at 1.5°C and 2°C global warming with a higher-resolution global climate model.

Science.gov (United States)

Betts, Richard A; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Bradshaw, Catherine; Caesar, John; Feyen, Luc; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gohar, Laila; Koutroulis, Aristeidis; Lewis, Kirsty; Morfopoulos, Catherine; Papadimitriou, Lamprini; Richardson, Katy J; Tsanis, Ioannis; Wyser, Klaus

2018-05-13

We projected changes in weather extremes, hydrological impacts and vulnerability to food insecurity at global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C relative to pre-industrial, using a new global atmospheric general circulation model HadGEM3A-GA3.0 driven by patterns of sea-surface temperatures and sea ice from selected members of the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) ensemble, forced with the RCP8.5 concentration scenario. To provide more detailed representations of climate processes and impacts, the spatial resolution was N216 (approx. 60 km grid length in mid-latitudes), a higher resolution than the CMIP5 models. We used a set of impacts-relevant indices and a global land surface model to examine the projected changes in weather extremes and their implications for freshwater availability and vulnerability to food insecurity. Uncertainties in regional climate responses are assessed, examining ranges of outcomes in impacts to inform risk assessments. Despite some degree of inconsistency between components of the study due to the need to correct for systematic biases in some aspects, the outcomes from different ensemble members could be compared for several different indicators. The projections for weather extremes indices and biophysical impacts quantities support expectations that the magnitude of change is generally larger for 2°C global warming than 1.5°C. Hot extremes become even hotter, with increases being more intense than seen in CMIP5 projections. Precipitation-related extremes show more geographical variation with some increases and some decreases in both heavy precipitation and drought. There are substantial regional uncertainties in hydrological impacts at local scales due to different climate models producing different outcomes. Nevertheless, hydrological impacts generally point towards wetter conditions on average, with increased mean river flows, longer heavy rainfall events, particularly in South and East Asia with the most extreme

Changes in climate extremes, fresh water availability and vulnerability to food insecurity projected at 1.5°C and 2°C global warming with a higher-resolution global climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Betts, Richard A.; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Bradshaw, Catherine; Caesar, John; Feyen, Luc; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gohar, Laila; Koutroulis, Aristeidis; Lewis, Kirsty; Morfopoulos, Catherine; Papadimitriou, Lamprini; Richardson, Katy J.; Tsanis, Ioannis; Wyser, Klaus

2018-05-01

We projected changes in weather extremes, hydrological impacts and vulnerability to food insecurity at global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C relative to pre-industrial, using a new global atmospheric general circulation model HadGEM3A-GA3.0 driven by patterns of sea-surface temperatures and sea ice from selected members of the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) ensemble, forced with the RCP8.5 concentration scenario. To provide more detailed representations of climate processes and impacts, the spatial resolution was N216 (approx. 60 km grid length in mid-latitudes), a higher resolution than the CMIP5 models. We used a set of impacts-relevant indices and a global land surface model to examine the projected changes in weather extremes and their implications for freshwater availability and vulnerability to food insecurity. Uncertainties in regional climate responses are assessed, examining ranges of outcomes in impacts to inform risk assessments. Despite some degree of inconsistency between components of the study due to the need to correct for systematic biases in some aspects, the outcomes from different ensemble members could be compared for several different indicators. The projections for weather extremes indices and biophysical impacts quantities support expectations that the magnitude of change is generally larger for 2°C global warming than 1.5°C. Hot extremes become even hotter, with increases being more intense than seen in CMIP5 projections. Precipitation-related extremes show more geographical variation with some increases and some decreases in both heavy precipitation and drought. There are substantial regional uncertainties in hydrological impacts at local scales due to different climate models producing different outcomes. Nevertheless, hydrological impacts generally point towards wetter conditions on average, with increased mean river flows, longer heavy rainfall events, particularly in South and East Asia with the most extreme

Age of the Mars Global Northerly Slope: Evidence From Utopia Planitia

Science.gov (United States)

McGill, George E.

2002-01-01

Recent results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) experiment on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) indicate that most of Mars is characterized by a very gentle, roughly northerly slope. Detailed mapping in north-central Arabia Terra combined with superposition relations and crater counts indicate that, in that region at least, this northerly slope must have been formed no later than Late Hesperian, with the most likely time of formation being Late Hesperian. Current research in Utopia Planitia intended as a test of extant models for the formation of giant polygons has turned up good evidence for a Late Hesperian age for the northerly tilt in this region as well, as will be discussed.

Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from SURVEYOR in the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and NE Pacific from 1995-09-10 to 1995-09-19 (NODC Accession 9600139)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hydrophysical, hydrochemical, and other data were collected from the SURVEYOR from September 10, 1995 to September 19, 1995. Data were submitted by Mr. David Kachel...

Global Warning: Project-Based Science Inspired by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Colaianne, Blake

2015-01-01

Misconceptions about climate change are common, which suggests a need to effectively address the subject in the classroom. This article describes a project-based science activity in which students report on the physical basis, adaptations, and mitigation of this global problem, adapting the framework of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel…

Yield risks in global maize markets: Historical evidence and projections in key regions of the world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson B. Villoria

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Simultaneous worldwide crop failures stemming from a more unstable climate may reduce the scope for international trade to compensate food shortages and stabilize food prices across the various regions of the world. Understanding the effects of changes in crop productivity on global markets requires knowledge about the extent to which crop yields may be systematically related across producing and consuming centers. This short communication contributes to this knowledge by investigating the potential changes in the strength of two key sources of supply risks in global maize markets: yield variance and cross-country yield correlation. We focus on the largest producing and consuming countries of the world. We capitalize on yield projections from the Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison project. Exploratory analysis of the skill of the underlying GGCMI models in reproducing key moments of the distribution of observed yields reveals that they overstate observed variances but faithfully reproduce observed patterns of cross-country correlations. We find no evidence of an increase in the degree of cross-country dependency of maize yields. We also find a higher incidence of what would be considered extremely low maize yields by present-time standards stemming from the projected downward trend in yields levels toward mid-century. The weak dependency of maize yields across countries, an the possibility of reducing the higher incidence of extremes through policies aimed to reverse the climate-induced downward trends in yields, suggest that international trade can become a valuable tool to ameliorate the effects of more unstable crop yields. Keywords: Extremely low yields, Maize markets, Food prices, Agricultural yields, Systemic risk in agriculture, Global agriculture, AgMIP, Global gridded crop model intercomparison

A Framework for Effective Assessment of Model-based Projections of Biodiversity to Inform the Next Generation of Global Conservation Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, B.; Beard, T. D.; Weiskopf, S. R.; Jackson, S. T.; Tittensor, D.; Harfoot, M.; Senay, G. B.; Casey, K.; Lenton, T. M.; Leidner, A. K.; Ruane, A. C.; Ferrier, S.; Serbin, S.; Matsuda, H.; Shiklomanov, A. N.; Rosa, I.

2017-12-01

Biodiversity and ecosystems services underpin political targets for the conservation of biodiversity; however, previous incarnations of these biodiversity-related targets have not relied on integrated model based projections of possible outcomes based on climate and land use change. Although a few global biodiversity models are available, most biodiversity models lie along a continuum of geography and components of biodiversity. Model-based projections of the future of global biodiversity are critical to support policymakers in the development of informed global conservation targets, but the scientific community lacks a clear strategy for integrating diverse data streams in developing, and evaluating the performance of, such biodiversity models. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a framework for ongoing testing and refinement of model-based projections of biodiversity trends and change, by linking a broad variety of biodiversity models with data streams generated by advances in remote sensing, coupled with new and emerging in-situ observation technologies to inform development of essential biodiversity variables, future global biodiversity targets, and indicators. Our two main objectives are to (1) develop a framework for model testing and refining projections of a broad range of biodiversity models, focusing on global models, through the integration of diverse data streams and (2) identify the realistic outputs that can be developed and determine coupled approaches using remote sensing and new and emerging in-situ observations (e.g., metagenomics) to better inform the next generation of global biodiversity targets.

CTD data from CTD casts in the Northeast Pacific Ocean from NOAA Ship DISCOVERER and NOAA Ship SURVEYOR from 1985-06-03 to 1988-09-21 (NODC Accession 8900194)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — CTD data were collected from CTD casts from NOAA Ship DISCOVERER and NOAA Ship SURVEYOR in the Northeast Pacific Ocean from 03 June 1985 to 21 September 1988. Data...

Hotspots of uncertainty in land-use and land-cover change projections: a global-scale model comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Prestele, Reinhard; Alexander, Peter; Rounsevell, Mark D A; Arneth, Almut; Calvin, Katherine; Doelman, Jonathan; Eitelberg, David A; Engström, Kerstin; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Havlik, Petr; Humpenöder, Florian; Jain, Atul K; Krisztin, Tamás; Kyle, Page; Meiyappan, Prasanth; Popp, Alexander; Sands, Ronald D; Schaldach, Rüdiger; Schüngel, Jan; Stehfest, Elke; Tabeau, Andrzej; Van Meijl, Hans; Van Vliet, Jasper; Verburg, Peter H

2016-12-01

Model-based global projections of future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change are frequently used in environmental assessments to study the impact of LULC change on environmental services and to provide decision support for policy. These projections are characterized by a high uncertainty in terms of quantity and allocation of projected changes, which can severely impact the results of environmental assessments. In this study, we identify hotspots of uncertainty, based on 43 simulations from 11 global-scale LULC change models representing a wide range of assumptions of future biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. We attribute components of uncertainty to input data, model structure, scenario storyline and a residual term, based on a regression analysis and analysis of variance. From this diverse set of models and scenarios, we find that the uncertainty varies, depending on the region and the LULC type under consideration. Hotspots of uncertainty appear mainly at the edges of globally important biomes (e.g., boreal and tropical forests). Our results indicate that an important source of uncertainty in forest and pasture areas originates from different input data applied in the models. Cropland, in contrast, is more consistent among the starting conditions, while variation in the projections gradually increases over time due to diverse scenario assumptions and different modeling approaches. Comparisons at the grid cell level indicate that disagreement is mainly related to LULC type definitions and the individual model allocation schemes. We conclude that improving the quality and consistency of observational data utilized in the modeling process and improving the allocation mechanisms of LULC change models remain important challenges. Current LULC representation in environmental assessments might miss the uncertainty arising from the diversity of LULC change modeling approaches, and many studies ignore the uncertainty in LULC projections in assessments of LULC

Strengthening global health security capacity--Vietnam demonstration project, 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Phu Dac; Vu, Long Ngoc; Nguyen, Hien Tran; Phan, Lan Trong; Lowe, Wayne; McConnell, Michelle S; Iademarco, Michael F; Partridge, Jeffrey M; Kile, James C; Do, Trang; Nadol, Patrick J; Bui, Hien; Vu, Diep; Bond, Kyle; Nelson, David B; Anderson, Lauren; Hunt, Kenneth V; Smith, Nicole; Giannone, Paul; Klena, John; Beauvais, Denise; Becknell, Kristi; Tappero, Jordan W; Dowell, Scott F; Rzeszotarski, Peter; Chu, May; Kinkade, Carl

2014-01-31

Over the past decade, Vietnam has successfully responded to global health security (GHS) challenges, including domestic elimination of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and rapid public health responses to human infections with influenza A(H5N1) virus. However, new threats such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and influenza A(H7N9) present continued challenges, reinforcing the need to improve the global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats. In June 2012, Vietnam, along with many other nations, obtained a 2-year extension for meeting core surveillance and response requirements of the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR). During March-September 2013, CDC and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) collaborated on a GHS demonstration project to improve public health emergency detection and response capacity. The project aimed to demonstrate, in a short period, that enhancements to Vietnam's health system in surveillance and early detection of and response to diseases and outbreaks could contribute to meeting the IHR core capacities, consistent with the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases. Work focused on enhancements to three interrelated priority areas and included achievements in 1) establishing an emergency operations center (EOC) at the General Department of Preventive Medicine with training of personnel for public health emergency management; 2) improving the nationwide laboratory system, including enhanced testing capability for several priority pathogens (i.e., those in Vietnam most likely to contribute to public health emergencies of international concern); and 3) creating an emergency response information systems platform, including a demonstration of real-time reporting capability. Lessons learned included awareness that integrated functions within the health system for GHS require careful planning, stakeholder buy-in, and intradepartmental and interdepartmental coordination and

Global projects and Astronomy awareness activities in Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Gautam, Suman

2015-08-01

Modern astronomy is a crowning achievement of human civilization which inspires teenagers to choose career in science and technology and is a stable of adult education. It is a unique and cost effective tool for furthering sustainable global development because of its technological, scientific and cultural dimensions which allow us to reach with the large portion of the community interact with children and inspire with our wonderful cosmos.Using astronomy to stimulate quality and inspiring education for disadvantaged children is an important goal of Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) since its inception. NASO is carrying out various awareness activities on its own and in collaboration with national and international organizations like Central Department of Physics Tribhuvan University (TU), International astronomical Union (IAU), Department of Physics Prithvi Narayan Campus Pokhara, Nepal academy of science and technology (NAST), Global Hands on Universe (GHOU), EU- UNAWE and Pokhara Astronomical Society (PAS) to disseminate those activities for the school children and teachers in Nepal. Our experiences working with kids, students, teachers and public in the field of universe Awareness Activities for the school children to minimize the abstruse concept of astronomy through some practical approach and the project like Astronomy for the visually impaired students, Galileo Teacher Training program and International School for young astronomers (ISYA) outskirts will be explained which is believed to play vital role in promoting astronomy and space science activities in Nepal.

Architect Critical Challenges as a Project Manager in Construction Projects: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammadreza Yadollahi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available All construction professionals such as civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, and architects have important roles in the construction process. Among these, architects are frequently appointed as a project manager (PM. The role of a PM will drive the success of the projects implementation. Therefore, the capability of an architect as a PM (ArPM is critical in reducing challenges encountered. Accordingly, the identification of these challenges is an important task in selecting an appropriate ArPM. The aim of this study is to identify the most critical challenges faced by an ArPM for construction projects. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews with architects and professionals in the Malaysian construction industry. Because of the fuzziness and uncertainty of subjective responses, Fuzzy Set Ttheory is applied to identify critical challenges. A total of 65 questionnaires were distributed and 36 questionnaires were returned. The results revealed that the critical challenges faced by an ArPM are “poor planning,” “unfamiliar technology,” “unfamiliarity with green buildings and materials,” “inappropriate scheduling,” and “poor workmanship.” All critical challenges were then categorized into six main groups including technical, managerial, personal skills, contractual, psychological, and financial.

Combined equations for estimating global solar radiation: Projection of radiation field over Japan under global warming conditions by statistical downscaling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iizumi, T.; Nishimori, M.; Yokozawa, M.

2008-01-01

For this study, we developed a new statistical model to estimate the daily accumulated global solar radiation on the earth's surface and used the model to generate a high-resolution climate change scenario of the radiation field in Japan. The statistical model mainly relies on precipitable water vapor calculated from air temperature and relative humidity on the surface to estimate seasonal changes in global solar radiation. On the other hand, to estimate daily radiation fluctuations, the model uses either a diurnal temperature range or relative humidity. The diurnal temperature range, calculated from the daily maximum and minimum temperatures, and relative humidity is a general output of most climate models, and pertinent observation data are comparatively easy to access. The statistical model performed well when estimating the monthly mean value, daily fluctuation statistics, and regional differences in the radiation field in Japan. To project the change in the radiation field for the years 2081 to 2100, we applied the statistical model to the climate change scenario of a high-resolution Regional Climate Model with a 20-km mesh size (RCM20) developed at the Meteorological Research Institute based on the Special Report for Emission Scenario (SRES)-A2. The projected change shows the following tendency: global solar radiation will increase in the warm season and decrease in the cool season in many areas of Japan, indicating that global warming may cause changes in the radiation field in Japan. The generated climate change scenario for the radiation field is linked to long-term and short-term changes in air temperature and relative humidity obtained from the RCM20 and, consequently, is expected to complement the RCM20 datasets for an impact assessment study in the agricultural sector

Assessment of global cloud datasets from satellites: Project and database initiated by the GEWEX radiation panel

OpenAIRE

Stubenrauch , C.J.; Rossow , W.B.; Kinne , S.; Ackerman , S.; Cesana , G.; Chepfer , H.; Di Girolamo , L.; Getzewich , B.; Guignard , A.; Heidinger , A.; Maddux , B.C.; Menzel , W.P.; Minnis , P.; Pearl , C.; Platnick , S.

2013-01-01

International audience; The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Radiation Panel initiated the GEWEX Cloud Assessment in 2005 to compare available, global, long-term cloud data products with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). The GEWEX Cloud Assessment database included cloud properties retrieved from different satellite sensor measurements, taken at various local times and over various time periods. The relevant passive satellite sensors measured radia...

NEWS Climatology Project: The State of the Water Cycle at Continental to Global Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, Matthew; LEcuyer, Tristan; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; Olson, Bill

2011-01-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project is to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project is a multiinstitutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe results of the first stage of the water budget analysis, whose goal was to characterize the current state of the water cycle on mean monthly, continental scales. We examine our success in closing the water budget within the expected uncertainty range and the effects of forcing budget closure as a method for refining individual flux estimates.

The Aerial Regional-Scale Environmental Surveyor (ARES): New Mars Science to Reduce Human Risk and Prepare for the Human Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Joel S.; Croom, Mark A.; Wright, Henry S.; Killough, B. D.; Edwards, W. C.

2012-01-01

Obtaining critical measurements for eventual human Mars missions while expanding upon recent Mars scientific discoveries and deriving new scientific knowledge from a unique near surface vantage point is the focus of the Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Surveyor (ARES) exploration mission. The key element of ARES is an instrumented,rocket-powered, well-tested robotic airplane platform, that will fly between one to two kilometers above the surface while traversing hundreds of kilometers to collect and transmit previously unobtainable high spatial measurements relevant to the NASA Mars Exploration Program and the exploration of Mars by humans.

The global unified parallel file system (GUPFS) project: FY 2002 activities and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butler, Gregory F.; Lee, Rei Chi; Welcome, Michael L.

2003-04-07

The Global Unified Parallel File System (GUPFS) project is a multiple-phase, five-year project at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center to provide a scalable, high performance, high bandwidth, shared file system for all the NERSC production computing and support systems. The primary purpose of the GUPFS project is to make it easier to conduct advanced scientific research using the NERSC systems. This is to be accomplished through the use of a shared file system providing a unified file namespace, operating on consolidated shared storage that is directly accessed by all the NERSC production computing and support systems. During its first year, FY 2002, the GUPFS project focused on identifying, testing, and evaluating existing and emerging shared/cluster file system, SAN fabric, and storage technologies; identifying NERSC user input/output (I/O) requirements, methods, and mechanisms; and developing appropriate benchmarking methodologies and benchmark codes for a parallel environment. This report presents the activities and progress of the GUPFS project during its first year, the results of the evaluations conducted, and plans for near-term and longer-term investigations.

Eroded Layered Material in Southwest Utopia Planitia

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Images from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)dramatically illustrate that many places on the red planet have outcrops of layered geologic materials. The two pictures above show the remains of layered material inside craters in southwestern Utopia Planitia (see inset for detailed view). These remnant layers indicate that the craters--and perhaps the plains that surround them--were once buried beneath a deposit that has since been eroded away. This theme of layered outcrops and exhumed craters appears to be one of the dominant observations that MGS MOC has made--to date--about Mars. The origin and composition of the layered material--and its ultimate fate once it was largely eroded away--are unknown. Each of the two pictures shown here covers an area about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles)by 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles). Illumination is from the lower right. These are subframes of a single MOC image acquired in July 1998 during the MGS Science Phasing Orbits imaging campaign. This figure was presented at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, March 1999. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Cracks in Utopia

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Many of the craters found on the northern plains of Mars have been partly filled or buried by some material (possibly sediment). The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image presented here (MOC2-136b, above left) shows a high-resolution view of a tiny portion of the floor of one of these northern plains craters. The crater, located in Utopia Planitia at 44oN, 258oW, is shown on the right (MOC2-136a)with a small white box to indicate the location of the MOC image. The MOC image reveals that the material covering the floor of this crater is cracked and pitted. The origin and source of material that has been deposited in this crater is unknown.The MOC image was acquired in June 1999 and covers an area only 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) wide at a resolution of 1.8 meters (6 feet) per pixel. The context picture is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 010B53 and 010B55, taken in 1976. Both images are illuminated from the left. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Recent Trends of the Tropical Hydrological Cycle Inferred from Global Precipitation Climatology Project and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Y. P.; Xu, Kuan-Man; Sud, Y. C.; Betts, A. K.

2011-01-01

Scores of modeling studies have shown that increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere impact the global hydrologic cycle; however, disagreements on regional scales are large, and thus the simulated trends of such impacts, even for regions as large as the tropics, remain uncertain. The present investigation attempts to examine such trends in the observations using satellite data products comprising Global Precipitation Climatology Project precipitation and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project cloud and radiation. Specifically, evolving trends of the tropical hydrological cycle over the last 20-30 years were identified and analyzed. The results show (1) intensification of tropical precipitation in the rising regions of the Walker and Hadley circulations and weakening over the sinking regions of the associated overturning circulation; (2) poleward shift of the subtropical dry zones (up to 2deg/decade in June-July-August (JJA) in the Northern Hemisphere and 0.3-0.7deg/decade in June-July-August and September-October-November in the Southern Hemisphere) consistent with an overall broadening of the Hadley circulation; and (3) significant poleward migration (0.9-1.7deg/decade) of cloud boundaries of Hadley cell and plausible narrowing of the high cloudiness in the Intertropical Convergence Zone region in some seasons. These results support findings of some of the previous studies that showed strengthening of the tropical hydrological cycle and expansion of the Hadley cell that are potentially related to the recent global warming trends.

Contributions of projected land use to global radiative forcing ascribed to local sources

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, D. S.; Mahowald, N. M.; Kloster, S.

2013-12-01

With global demand for food expected to dramatically increase and put additional pressures on natural lands, there is a need to understand the environmental impacts of land use and land cover change (LULCC). Previous studies have shown that the magnitude and even the sign of the radiative forcing (RF) of biogeophysical effects from LULCC depends on the latitude and forest ecology of the disturbed region. Here we ascribe the contributions to the global RF by land-use related anthropogenic activities to their local sources, organized on a grid of 1.9 degrees latitude by 2.5 degrees longitude. We use RF estimates for the year 2100, using five future LULCC projections, computed from simulations with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Land Model and Community Atmosphere Models and additional offline analyses. Our definition of the LULCC RF includes changes to terrestrial carbon storage, methane and nitrous oxide emissions, atmospheric chemistry, aerosol emissions, and surface albedo. We ascribe the RF to gridded locations based on LULCC-related emissions of relevant trace gases and aerosols, including emissions from fires. We find that the largest contributions to the global RF in year 2100 from LULCC originate in the tropics for all future scenarios. In fact, LULCC is the largest tropical source of anthropogenic RF. The LULCC RF in the tropics is dominated by emissions of CO2 from deforestation and methane emissions from livestock and soils. Land surface albedo change is rarely the dominant forcing agent in any of the future LULCC projections, at any location. By combining the five future scenarios we find that deforested area at a specific tropical location can be used to predict the contribution to global RF from LULCC at that location (the relationship does not hold as well in the extratropics). This information could support global efforts like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), that aim to reduce greenhouse gas

Global optimization of maintenance and surveillance testing based on reliability and probabilistic safety assessment. Research project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martorell, S.; Serradell, V.; Munoz, A.; Sanchez, A.

1997-01-01

Background, objective, scope, detailed working plan and follow-up and final product of the project ''Global optimization of maintenance and surveillance testing based on reliability and probabilistic safety assessment'' are described

Project GRACE A grid based search tool for the global digital library

CERN Document Server

Scholze, Frank; Vigen, Jens; Prazak, Petra; The Seventh International Conference on Electronic Theses and Dissertations

2004-01-01

The paper will report on the progress of an ongoing EU project called GRACE - Grid Search and Categorization Engine (http://www.grace-ist.org). The project participants are CERN, Sheffield Hallam University, Stockholm University, Stuttgart University, GL 2006 and Telecom Italia. The project started in 2002 and will finish in 2005, resulting in a Grid based search engine that will search across a variety of content sources including a number of electronic thesis and dissertation repositories. The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is expanding and is clearly an interesting movement for a community advocating open access to ETD. However, the OAI approach alone may not be sufficiently scalable to achieve a truly global ETD Digital Library. Many universities simply offer their collections to the world via their local web services without being part of any federated system for archiving and even those dissertations that are provided with OAI compliant metadata will not necessarily be picked up by a centralized OAI Ser...

Temperature, salinity and other measurements found in dataset CTD taken from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR (VLHJ) in the Coastal S Pacific, Equatorial Pacific and other locations from 2003 to 2006 (NODC Accession 0043461)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature, salinity, chemical, and other data were collected using CTD casts from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Iceland Sea and North / South Pacific Ocean. Data...

Projecting the Global Distribution of the Emerging Amphibian Fungal Pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Based on IPCC Climate Futures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gisselle Yang Xie

Full Text Available Projected changes in climate conditions are emerging as significant risk factors to numerous species, affecting habitat conditions and community interactions. Projections suggest species range shifts in response to climate change modifying environmental suitability and is supported by observational evidence. Both pathogens and their hosts can shift ranges with climate change. We consider how climate change may influence the distribution of the emerging infectious amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd, a pathogen associated with worldwide amphibian population losses. Using an expanded global Bd database and a novel modeling approach, we examined a broad set of climate metrics to model the Bd-climate niche globally and regionally, then project how climate change may influence Bd distributions. Previous research showed that Bd distribution is dependent on climatic variables, in particular temperature. We trained a machine-learning model (random forest with the most comprehensive global compilation of Bd sampling records (~5,000 site-level records, mid-2014 summary, including 13 climatic variables. We projected future Bd environmental suitability under IPCC scenarios. The learning model was trained with combined worldwide data (non-region specific and also separately per region (region-specific. One goal of our study was to estimate of how Bd spatial risks may change under climate change based on the best available data. Our models supported differences in Bd-climate relationships among geographic regions. We projected that Bd ranges will shift into higher latitudes and altitudes due to increased environmental suitability in those regions under predicted climate change. Specifically, our model showed a broad expansion of areas environmentally suitable for establishment of Bd on amphibian hosts in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Our projections are useful for the development of monitoring designs in these areas

Global Threat Reduction Initiative Fuel Thermo-Physical Characterization Project: Sample Management Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casella, Amanda J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Pereira, Mario M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Steen, Franciska H. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2013-01-01

This sample management plan provides guidelines for sectioning, preparation, acceptance criteria, analytical path, and end-of-life disposal for the fuel element segments utilized in the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), Fuel Thermo-Physical Characterization Project. The Fuel Thermo-Physical Characterization Project is tasked with analysis of irradiated Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Molybdenum (U-Mo) fuel element samples to support the GTRI conversion program. Sample analysis may include optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fuel-surface interface analysis, gas pycnometry (density) measurements, laser flash analysis (LFA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis with mass spectroscopy (TG /DTA-MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrophotometry (ICP), alpha spectroscopy, and Thermal Ionization Mass Spectroscopy (TIMS). The project will utilize existing Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) operating, technical, and administrative procedures for sample receipt, processing, and analyses. Test instructions (TIs), which are documents used to provide specific details regarding the implementation of an existing RPL approved technical or operational procedure, will also be used to communicate to staff project specific parameters requested by the Principal Investigator (PI). TIs will be developed, reviewed, and issued in accordance with the latest revision of the RPL-PLN-700, RPL Operations Plan. Additionally, the PI must approve all project test instructions and red-line changes to test instructions.

How Social Software Supports Cooperative Practices in a Globally Distributed Software Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giuffrida, Rosalba; Dittrich, Yvonne

2014-01-01

In Global Software Development (GSD), the lack of face- to-face communication is a major challenge and effective computer-mediated practices are necessary. This paper analyzes cooperative practices supported by Social Software (SoSo) in a GSD student project. The empirical results show...... that the role of SoSo is to support informal communication, enabling social talks and metawork, both necessary for establishing and for maintaining effective coordination mechanisms, thus successful cooperation....

Drivers militating against the pricing of sustainable construction materials: The Ghanaian quantity surveyors perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernest Kissi

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainability has in recent times attained much acceptance as a result of its positive impact on the environment, social and economic issues. Nevertheless, in developing countries, the price of sustainable construction materials are too high. The aim of the study was to examine drivers militating against the pricing of sustainable construction materials. Through an in-depth review of literature as well as an interview survey, questionnaire was designed and administered to practicing quantity surveyors. Data generated from the survey was analysed using Principal Component Analysis which resulted four main drivers. These included: awareness challenge (AC, sustainability measurement tools challenge (SMTC, economic challenge (EC, and information challenge (IC. The study offers useful lessons on sustainable practices that pricing experts in the construction industry can draw on when pricing.The need for this study cannot be doubted since the consciousness of such challenges will help in resolving issues associated with pricing of sustainable construction materials. Keywords: Drivers, Militating, Pricing, Sustainable construction materials, Ghanaian

The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission concept technology development overview

Science.gov (United States)

Bolcar, Matthew R.

2017-09-01

The Large Ultraviolet / Optical / Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor is one of four large mission concept studies being developed by NASA for consideration in the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. LUVOIR will support a broad range of science objectives, including the direct imaging and spectral characterization of habitable exoplanets around sun-like stars, the study of galaxy formation and evolution, the epoch of reionization, star and planet formation, and the remote sensing of Solar System bodies. The LUVOIR Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) has tasked a Technology Working Group (TWG), with more than 60 members from NASA centers, academia, industry, and international partners, with identifying technologies that enable or enhance the LUVOIR science mission. The TWG has identified such technologies in the areas of Coronagraphy, Ultra-Stable Opto-mechanical Systems, Detectors, Coatings, Starshades, and Instrument Components, and has completed a detailed assessment of the state-of-the-art. We present here a summary of this technology assessment effort, as well as the current progress in defining a technology development plan to mature these technologies to the required technology readiness level (TRL).

Changes in precipitation extremes projected by a 20-km mesh global atmospheric model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akio Kitoh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available High-resolution modeling is necessary to project weather and climate extremes and their future changes under global warming. A global high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model with grid size about 20 km is able to reproduce climate fields as well as regional-scale phenomena such as monsoonal rainfall, tropical and extratropical cyclones, and heavy precipitation. This 20-km mesh model is applied to project future changes in weather and climate extremes at the end of the 21st century with four different spatial patterns in sea surface temperature (SST changes: one with the mean SST changes by the 28 models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5 under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP-8.5 scenario, and the other three obtained from a cluster analysis, in which tropical SST anomalies derived from the 28 CMIP5 models were grouped. Here we focus on future changes in regional precipitation and its extremes. Various precipitation indices averaged over the Twenty-two regional land domains are calculated. Heavy precipitation indices (maximum 5-day precipitation total and maximum 1-day precipitation total increase in all regional domains, even where mean precipitation decrease (Southern Africa, South Europe/Mediterranean, Central America. South Asia is the domain of the largest extreme precipitation increase. In some domains, different SST patterns result in large precipitation changes, possibly related to changes in large-scale circulations in the tropical Pacific.

ASEAN-India and ASEAN-Korea FTA: Global Trade Analysis Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Shohibul Manshur Al Ahmad

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of the free trade agreement between ASEAN-India (AIFTA and ASEAN-Korea (AKFTA. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE model was applied in this paper with a Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP database version 8. The GTAP simulations results show that AIFTA provides a greater positive impact than the AKFTA for each region. The greater improvement in terms of welfare, GDP, trade and investment is generated under the AIFTA scheme. Implication of this research is required of any reallocation of resources shared by each country heading on sectors which have a comparative advantage.

Global Collaborative STEM Education

Science.gov (United States)

Meabh Kelly, Susan; Smith, Walter

2016-04-01

Global Collaborative STEM Education, as the name suggests, simultaneously supports two sets of knowledge and skills. The first set is STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math. The other set of content knowledge and skills is that of global collaboration. Successful global partnerships require awareness of one's own culture, the biases embedded within that culture, as well as developing awareness of the collaborators' culture. Workforce skills fostered include open-mindedness, perseverance when faced with obstacles, and resourceful use of technological "bridges" to facilitate and sustain communication. In respect for the 2016 GIFT Workshop focus, Global Collaborative STEM Education projects dedicated to astronomy research will be presented. The projects represent different benchmarks within the Global Collaborative STEM Education continuum, culminating in an astronomy research experience that fully reflects how the global STEM workforce collaborates. To facilitate wider engagement in Global Collaborative STEM Education, project summaries, classroom resources and contact information for established international collaborative astronomy research projects will be disseminated.

Media Memories in Focus Group Discussions - Methodological Reflections Instancing the Global Media Generations Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theo Hug

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Medienereignisse wie auch die Einführung und Verbreitung neuer Medientechnologien und Formate bringen mannigfaltige Wege des „Eintretens von Medien ins Leben“ mit sich. Im Projekt Globale Mediengenerationen (GMG wurden Medienerinnerungen aus der Kindheit im Kontext von Gruppendiskussionen am Beispiel dreier Generationen aus verschiedenen Ländern aller Kontinente untersucht. Dabei wurden medienbezogene Wissensbestände von drei Alterskohorten globaler Generationen analysiert. Der Artikel diskutiert methodologische Aspekte des Projekts und komplexe und selektive Prozesse des Erinnerns vergangener Ereignisse. Er untersucht Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede des GMG-Ansatzes mit dem dokumentarischen Ansatz von Ralf Bohnsack, die beide in der Wissenssoziologie von Karl Mannheim verwurzelt sind. Darüber hinaus wird Medialität als basale methodologische Kategorie in Erwägung gezogen, nicht nur im Hinblick auf die Klärung begrifflicher Grundlagen, sondern auch als inhärente Dimension von Forschungsprozessen. Media events in general and the introduction and divulgence of new media technologies and formats in particular implicate various (new ways of “media entering life.” In the Global Media Generations (GMG research project, articulation of individuals’ memories of childhood experiences with the media was afforded by context of focus groups of three generations in different countries of six continents. In this project media related knowledge segments of different age cohorts have been analyzed and interpreted. The article deals with methodological questions of the project and complex processes of ‘remembering’ past events. It explores commonalities and differences of the GMG approach with Ralf Bohnsack’s documentary approach, both rooted in the sociology of knowledge of Karl Mannheim. Furthermore, mediality is taken into consideration as a basic methodological category, which means that it is perceived not only as subject matter to

PISA and Global Educational Governance--A Critique of the Project, Its Uses and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Sjøberg, Svein

2015-01-01

The PISA project has steadily increased its influence on the educational discourse and educational policies in the now 70 participating countries. The educational debate has become global, and the race to improve PISA-rankings has become high priority in many countries. For governments the PISA-test is a high-stake test. Governments are blamed for…

The value of human life in contemporary society. The global biography project.

Science.gov (United States)

Nary, G

1997-12-01

The closing address at the 1997 First International Conference on Healthcare Resource Allocation for HIV/AIDS and Other Life-Threatening Illnesses is presented. The address discusses the extrinsic value of life and the three forms of material value: spiritual, economic, and political, placed on life by an outside source. It is argued that if spiritual currency, rather than economic or political currency, drove public policy there would be greater progress in reducing the global rate of HIV and more options for care. Further, lack of identity of those afflicted with HIV reduces them to mere statistics, thus decreasing their economic and political clout. Giving identities to people who are sick not only increases empathy but also increases their survivability. The establishment of the Global Biography Project seeks to reestablish spiritual currency as the international currency that underlies every nation's healthcare policies.

Multi-Model Projections of River Flood Risk in Europe under Global Warming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Alfieri

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge on the costs of natural disasters under climate change is key information for planning adaptation and mitigation strategies of future climate policies. Impact models for large scale flood risk assessment have made leaps forward in the past few years, thanks to the increased availability of high resolution climate projections and of information on local exposure and vulnerability to river floods. Yet, state-of-the-art flood impact models rely on a number of input data and techniques that can substantially influence their results. This work compares estimates of river flood risk in Europe from three recent case studies, assuming global warming scenarios of 1.5, 2, and 3 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels. The assessment is based on comparing ensemble projections of expected damage and population affected at country level. Differences and common points between the three cases are shown, to point out main sources of uncertainty, strengths, and limitations. In addition, the multi-model comparison helps identify regions with the largest agreement on specific changes in flood risk. Results show that global warming is linked to substantial increase in flood risk over most countries in Central and Western Europe at all warming levels. In Eastern Europe, the average change in flood risk is smaller and the multi-model agreement is poorer.

WHE-PAGER Project: A new initiative in estimating global building inventory and its seismic vulnerability

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, K.A.; Jaiswal, K.S.; Wald, D.J.; Greene, M.; Comartin, Craig

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquake’s Response (PAGER) Project and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s World Housing Encyclopedia (WHE) are creating a global database of building stocks and their earthquake vulnerability. The WHE already represents a growing, community-developed public database of global housing and its detailed structural characteristics. It currently contains more than 135 reports on particular housing types in 40 countries. The WHE-PAGER effort extends the WHE in several ways: (1) by addressing non-residential construction; (2) by quantifying the prevalence of each building type in both rural and urban areas; (3) by addressing day and night occupancy patterns, (4) by adding quantitative vulnerability estimates from judgment or statistical observation; and (5) by analytically deriving alternative vulnerability estimates using in part laboratory testing.

Projection of heat waves over China for eight different global warming targets using 12 CMIP5 models

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xiaojun; Huang, Jianbin; Luo, Yong; Zhao, Zongci; Xu, Ying

2017-05-01

Simulation and projection of the characteristics of heat waves over China were investigated using 12 CMIP5 global climate models and the CN05.1 observational gridded dataset. Four heat wave indices (heat wave frequency, longest heat wave duration, heat wave days, and high temperature days) were adopted in the analysis. Evaluations of the 12 CMIP5 models and their ensemble indicated that the multi-model ensemble could capture the spatiotemporal characteristics of heat wave variation over China. The inter-decadal variations of heat waves during 1961-2005 can be well simulated by multi-model ensemble. Based on model projections, the features of heat waves over China for eight different global warming targets (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0 °C) were explored. The results showed that the frequency and intensity of heat waves would increase more dramatically as the global mean temperature rise attained higher warming targets. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the four China-averaged heat wave indices would increase from about 1.0 times/year, 2.5, 5.4, and 13.8 days/year to about 3.2 times/year, 14.0, 32.0, and 31.9 days/year for 1.5 and 5.0 °C warming targets, respectively. Those regions that suffer severe heat waves in the base climate would experience the heat waves with greater frequency and severity following global temperature rise. It is also noteworthy that the areas in which a greater number of severe heat waves occur displayed considerable expansion. Moreover, the model uncertainties exhibit a gradual enhancement with projected time extending from 2006 to 2099.

A global conversation about energy from biomass: the continental conventions of the global sustainable bioenergy project

Science.gov (United States)

Lynd, Lee Rybeck; Aziz, Ramlan Abdul; de Brito Cruz, Carlos Henrique; Chimphango, Annie Fabian Abel; Cortez, Luis Augusto Barbosa; Faaij, Andre; Greene, Nathanael; Keller, Martin; Osseweijer, Patricia; Richard, Tom L.; Sheehan, John; Chugh, Archana; van der Wielen, Luuk; Woods, Jeremy; van Zyl, Willem Heber

2011-01-01

The global sustainable bioenergy (GSB) project was formed in 2009 with the goal of providing guidance with respect to the feasibility and desirability of sustainable, bioenergy-intensive futures. Stage 1 of this project held conventions with a largely common format on each of the world's continents, was completed in 2010, and is described in this paper. Attended by over 400 persons, the five continental conventions featured presentations, breakout sessions, and drafting of resolutions that were unanimously passed by attendees. The resolutions highlight the potential of bioenergy to make a large energy supply contribution while honouring other priorities, acknowledge the breadth and complexity of bioenergy applications as well as the need to take a systemic approach, and attest to substantial intra- and inter-continental diversity with respect to needs, opportunities, constraints and current practice relevant to bioenergy. The following interim recommendations based on stage 1 GSB activities are offered: — Realize that it may be more productive, and also more correct, to view the seemingly divergent assessments of bioenergy as answers to two different questions rather than the same question. Viewed in this light, there is considerably more scope for reconciliation than might first be apparent, and it is possible to be informed rather than paralysed by divergent assessments.— Develop established and advanced bioenergy technologies such that each contributes to the other's success. That is, support and deploy in the near-term meritorious, established technologies in ways that enhance rather than impede deployment of advanced technologies, and support and deploy advanced technologies in ways that expand rather than contract opportunities for early adopters and investors.— Be clear in formulating policies what mix of objectives are being targeted, measure the results of these policies against these objectives and beware of unintended consequences

Securing classification and regulatory approval for deepwater projects: management challenges in a global environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feijo, Luiz P.; Burton, Gareth C. [American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

As the offshore industry continues to develop and move into increasingly deeper waters, technological boundaries are being pushed to new limits. Along with these advances, the design, fabrication and installation of deepwater oil and gas projects has become an increasingly global endeavor. After providing an overview of the history and role of Classification Societies, this paper reviews the challenges of securing classification and regulatory approval in a global environment. Operational, procedural and technological changes which one Classification Society; the American Bureau of Shipping, known as ABS, has implemented to address these challenges are presented. The result of the changes has been a more customized service aiming at faster and more streamlined classification approval process. (author)

The Cadastral Template Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig; Steudler, Daniel; Williamson, Ian P.

2004-01-01

. The work of the PCGIAP-Working Group 3 ?Cadastre? is being done in collaboration with Comission 7 ?Cadastre and Land Management? of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), which has extensive experience in comparative cadastral studies. This article describes the creation and the content...

Evaluating the Impact of Two Globalization Projects on College Students' Cultural Competence and Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes-Murphy, Solange A.

2013-01-01

Cultural competence and CQ involve awareness of cultural similarities and differences, knowledge of differences in cultural values, and intercultural encounters. To assess college students' cultural competence and cultural intelligence gains, this experimental study evaluated the impact of two globalization projects on these two constructs. The…

Reliability ensemble averaging of 21st century projections of terrestrial net primary productivity reduces global and regional uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Exbrayat, Jean-François; Bloom, A. Anthony; Falloon, Pete; Ito, Akihiko; Smallman, T. Luke; Williams, Mathew

2018-02-01

Multi-model averaging techniques provide opportunities to extract additional information from large ensembles of simulations. In particular, present-day model skill can be used to evaluate their potential performance in future climate simulations. Multi-model averaging methods have been used extensively in climate and hydrological sciences, but they have not been used to constrain projected plant productivity responses to climate change, which is a major uncertainty in Earth system modelling. Here, we use three global observationally orientated estimates of current net primary productivity (NPP) to perform a reliability ensemble averaging (REA) method using 30 global simulations of the 21st century change in NPP based on the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) business as usual emissions scenario. We find that the three REA methods support an increase in global NPP by the end of the 21st century (2095-2099) compared to 2001-2005, which is 2-3 % stronger than the ensemble ISIMIP mean value of 24.2 Pg C y-1. Using REA also leads to a 45-68 % reduction in the global uncertainty of 21st century NPP projection, which strengthens confidence in the resilience of the CO2 fertilization effect to climate change. This reduction in uncertainty is especially clear for boreal ecosystems although it may be an artefact due to the lack of representation of nutrient limitations on NPP in most models. Conversely, the large uncertainty that remains on the sign of the response of NPP in semi-arid regions points to the need for better observations and model development in these regions.

Exploring the role of instant messaging in a global software development project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dittrich, Y.; Giuffrida, Rosalba

2011-01-01

Communication plays a vital role in software devel- opment projects. Globally distributed teams use a mix of dif- ferent communication channels to get the work done. In this paper, we report on an empirical study of a team distributed across Denmark and India. This paper explores the integration...... documentation. Our analysis provides an indication that IM can play a special role in such socio-technical communication systems: IM acts as a real time glue between different chan- nels. The communication through IM also provides a means to build trust and social relationships with co-workers....

Detailed Urban Heat Island Projections for Cities Worldwide: Dynamical Downscaling CMIP5 Global Climate Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk Lauwaet

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A new dynamical downscaling methodology to analyze the impact of global climate change on the local climate of cities worldwide is presented. The urban boundary layer climate model UrbClim is coupled to 11 global climate models contained in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 archive, conducting 20-year simulations for present (1986–2005 and future (2081–2100 climate conditions, considering the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 climate scenario. The evolution of the urban heat island of eight different cities, located on three continents, is quantified and assessed, with an unprecedented horizontal resolution of a few hundred meters. For all cities, urban and rural air temperatures are found to increase strongly, up to 7 °C. However, the urban heat island intensity in most cases increases only slightly, often even below the range of uncertainty. A potential explanation, focusing on the role of increased incoming longwave radiation, is put forth. Finally, an alternative method for generating urban climate projections is proposed, combining the ensemble temperature change statistics and the results of the present-day urban climate.

Projected Changes in the Asian-Australian Monsoon Region in 1.5°C and 2.0°C Global-Warming Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Chevuturi, Amulya; Klingaman, Nicholas P.; Turner, Andrew G.; Hannah, Shaun

2018-03-01

In light of the Paris Agreement, it is essential to identify regional impacts of half a degree additional global warming to inform climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. We investigate the effects of 1.5°C and 2.0°C global warming above preindustrial conditions, relative to present day (2006-2015), over the Asian-Australian monsoon region (AAMR) using five models from the Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts (HAPPI) project. There is considerable intermodel variability in projected changes to mean climate and extreme events in 2.0°C and 1.5°C scenarios. There is high confidence in projected increases to mean and extreme surface temperatures over AAMR, as well as more-frequent persistent daily temperature extremes over East Asia, Australia, and northern India with an additional 0.5°C warming, which are likely to occur. Mean and extreme monsoon precipitation amplify over AAMR, except over Australia at 1.5°C where there is uncertainty in the sign of the change. Persistent daily extreme precipitation events are likely to become more frequent over parts of East Asia and India with an additional 0.5°C warming. There is lower confidence in projections of precipitation change than in projections of surface temperature change. These results highlight the benefits of limiting the global-mean temperature change to 1.5°C above preindustrial, as the severity of the above effects increases with an extra 0.5°C warming.

Improving intercultural competency in global IT projects through recognition of culture-based behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Amster

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The success of global IT projects is highly influenced by culture-based behaviors. Issues between individuals arise when behaviors are (mis-perceived, (mis-interpreted, and (mis-judged by using the perceiver’s expectations, beliefs, and values. Misperception results when the behavior is not anticipated because it would not occur in ones own culture. As a result, behavior should be the starting point for cross-cultural research. But, studies have primarily focused on belief and value systems which are more abstract and less specific than behaviors. This paper presents a study that analyzed cultural behavioral differences between Indian project managers and their counterparts in other countries. The conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews revealed insights into cross-cultural challenges and shed light on the complex ways that culture-based behaviors impact IT projects. The study identified 127 behaviors that significantly affected project success and cross-cultural cooperation between Indian managers and managers from all over the world. These behaviors were grouped into 19 behavior clusters. Understanding these behavior clusters, and correlating these behaviors to values and beliefs, will improve project collaboration, and inform cross-cultural training strategies. In addition, existing cultural dimensions were reduced in scope, additional dimensions were defined for clarity, and new business-related dimensions were identified. Finally, based on the study’s results, the paper suggests four important components that should be added to cross-cultural training programs for international project managers.

Thermal Tides During the 2001 Martian Global-Scale Dust Storm

Science.gov (United States)

Guzewich, Scott D.; Wilson, R. John; McConnochie, Timothy H.; Toigo, Anthony D.; Bandfield, Donald J.; Smith, Michael D.

2014-01-01

The 2001 (Mars Year 25) global dust storm radically altered the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere. Using observations from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and Mars WRF general circulation model simulations, we examine the changes to thermal tides and planetary waves caused by the storm. We find that the extratropical diurnal migrating tide is dramatically enhanced during the storm, particularly in the southern hemisphere, reaching amplitudes of more than 20 K. The tropical diurnal migrating tide is weakened to almost undetectable levels. The diurnal Kelvin waves are also significantly weakened, particularly during the period of global expansion at Ls=200deg-210deg. In contrast, the westward propagating diurnal wavenumber 2 tide strengthens to 4-8 K at altitudes above 30km. The wavenumber 1 stationary wave reaches amplitudes of 10-12 K at 50deg-70degN, far larger than is typically seen during this time of year. The phase of this stationary wave and the enhancement of the diurnal wavenumber 2 tide appear to be responses to the high-altitude westward propagating equatorial wavenumber 1 structure in dust mixing ratio observed during the storm in previous works. This work provides a global picture of dust storm wave dynamics that reveals the coupling between the tropics and high-latitude wave responses. We conclude that the zonal distribution of thermotidal forcing from atmospheric aerosol concentration is as important to understanding the atmospheric wave response as the total global mean aerosol optical depth.

Operational research within a Global Fund supported tuberculosis project in India: why, how and its contribution towards change in policy and practice

Science.gov (United States)

Sagili, Karuna D; Satyanarayana, Srinath; Chadha, Sarabjit S; Wilson, Nevin C; Kumar, Ajay M V; Oeltmann, John E; Chadha, Vineet K; Nagaraja, Sharath Burugina; Ghosh, Smita; Q Lo, Terrence; Volkmann, Tyson; Willis, Matthew; Shringarpure, Kalpita; Reddy, Ravichandra Chinnappa; Kumar, Prahlad; Nair, Sreenivas A; Rao, Raghuram; Yassin, Mohammed; Mwangala, Perry; Zachariah, Rony; Tonsing, Jamhoih; Harries, Anthony D; Khaparde, Sunil

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: The Global Fund encourages operational research (OR) in all its grants; however very few reports describe this aspect. In India, Project Axshya was supported by a Global Fund grant to improve the reach and visibility of the government Tuberculosis (TB) services among marginalised and vulnerable communities. OR was incorporated to build research capacity of professionals working with the national TB programme and to generate evidence to inform policies and practices. Objectives: To describe how Project Axshya facilitated building OR capacity within the country, helped in addressing several TB control priority research questions, documented project activities and their outcomes, and influenced policy and practice. Methods: From September 2010 to September 2016, three key OR-related activities were implemented. First, practical output-oriented modular training courses were conducted (n = 3) to build research capacity of personnel involved in the TB programme, co-facilitated by The Union, in collaboration with the national TB programme, WHO country office and CDC, Atlanta. Second, two large-scale Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) surveys were conducted at baseline and mid-project to assess the changes pertaining to TB knowledge, attitudes and practices among the general population, TB patients and health care providers over the project period. Third, studies were conducted to describe the project’s core activities and outcomes. Results: In the training courses, 44 participant teams were supported to develop research protocols on topics of national priority, resulting in 28 peer-reviewed scientific publications. The KAP surveys and description of project activities resulted in 14 peer-reviewed publications. Of the published papers at least 12 have influenced change in policy or practice. Conclusions: OR within a Global Fund supported TB project has resulted in building OR capacity, facilitating research in areas of national priority and

New Regional and Global HFC Projections and Effects of National Regulations and Montreal Protocol Amendment Proposals

Science.gov (United States)

Velders, G. J. M.

2015-12-01

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances that are being phased out globally under Montreal Protocol regulations. New global scenarios of HFC emissions reach 4.0-5.3 GtCO2-eq yr-1 in 2050, which corresponds to a projected growth from 2015 to 2050 which is 9% to 29% of that for CO2 over the same time period. New baseline scenarios are formulated for 10 HFC compounds, 11 geographic regions, and 13 use categories. These projections are the first to comprehensively assess production and consumption of individual HFCs in multiple use sectors and geographic regions with emission estimates constrained by atmospheric observations. In 2050, in percent of global HFC emissions, China (~30%), India and the rest of Asia (~25%), Middle East and northern Africa (~10%), and USA (~10%) are the principal source regions; and refrigeration and stationary air conditioning are the major use sectors. National regulations to limit HFC use have been adopted recently in the European Union, Japan and USA, and four proposals have been submitted in 2015 to amend the Montreal Protocol to substantially reduce growth in HFC use. Calculated baseline emissions are reduced by 90% in 2050 by implementing the North America Montreal Protocol amendment proposal. Global adoption of technologies required to meet national regulations would be sufficient to reduce 2050 baseline HFC consumption by more than 50% of that achieved with the North America proposal for most developed and developing countries. The new HFC scenarios and effects of national regulations and Montreal Protocol amendment proposals will be presented.

The Needs for Professionalism and Competency in the Construction Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adebiyi John Oladotun

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The quantity surveyors, in the present day construction industry, analyze cost components of a construction project in a scientific way and applies the results of the analysis to a variety of financial and economic problems confronting the developer and the designer. However, competence, in any sphere of work, can be a difficult concept to pin down, especially, when it relates to professional occupations where such roles are complex and involved diverse professionals in the built environment sector. This paper aims to investigate the competencies of quantity surveyors in the discharge of its professional duties by evaluating the effects of professional competency on quantity surveying practices in Nigeria. The study population comprised professional quantity surveyors who are in the private construction/consulting firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were obtained to investigate the professional views on the quantity surveying profession, the roles of quantity surveyors in the construction industry and the need for professionalism and competencies in the surveying industry. Questionnaires were administered to randomly select 200 practicing quantity surveyors in Lagos state. Findings revealed that the major role of quantity surveyors in the construction industry is the preparation of the bill of quantity as it ranked 1st with RII value of 1.00; it was also discovered that quantity surveyors were in agreement with client service delivery as the first ethical standard that construction professionals should consider when performing their professional obligations in order to avoid project failure and over-cost. It is therefore recommended that the professional bodies and the academia should organize proper and adequate service trainings, workshops and seminars which will enhance the possibility of acquiring more skills and experience so as to improve competence in the discharge of quantity surveyors professional duties.

The Need for Professionalism and Competencies in the Construction Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adebiyi John Oladotun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The quantity surveyors, in the present day construction industry, analyze cost components of a construction project in a scientific way and applies the results of the analysis to a variety of financial and economic problems confronting the developer and the designer. However, competence, in any sphere of work, can be a difficult concept to pin down, especially, when it relates to professional occupations where such roles are complex and involved diverse professionals in the built environment sector. This paper aims to investigate the competencies of quantity surveyors in the discharge of its professional duties by evaluating the effects of professional competency on quantity surveying practices in Nigeria. The study population comprised professional quantity surveyors who are in the private construction/consulting firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were obtained to investigate the professional views on the quantity surveying profession, the roles of quantity surveyors in the construction industry and the need for professionalism and competencies in the surveying industry. Questionnaires were administered to randomly select 200 practicing quantity surveyors in Lagos state. Findings revealed that the major role of quantity surveyors in the construction industry is the preparation of the bill of quantity as it ranked 1st with RII value of 1.00; it was also discovered that quantity surveyors were in agreement with client service delivery as the first ethical standard that construction professionals should consider when performing their professional obligations in order to avoid project failure and over-cost. It is therefore recommended that the professional bodies and the academia should organize proper and adequate service trainings, workshops and seminars which will enhance the possibility of acquiring more skills and experience so as to improve competence in the discharge of quantity surveyors professional duties.

10 rules for managing global innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Keeley; Doz, Yves L

2012-10-01

More and more companies recognize that their dispersed, global operations are a treasure trove of ideas and capabilities for innovation. But it's proving harder than expected to unearth those ideas or exploit those capabilities. Part of the problem is that companies manage global innovation the same way they manage traditional, single-location projects. Single-location projects draw on a large reservoir of tacit knowledge, shared context, and trust that global projects lack. The management challenge, therefore, is to replicate the positive aspects of colocation while harnessing the opportunities of dispersion. In this article, Insead's Wilson and Doz draw on research into global strategy and innovation to present a set of guidelines for setting up and managing global innovation. They explore in detail the challenges that make global projects inherently different and show how these can be overcome by applying superior project management skills across teams, fostering a strong collaborative culture, and using a robust array of communications tools.

Virtual Surveyor based Object Extraction from Airborne LiDAR data

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, Md. Ahsan

Topographic feature detection of land cover from LiDAR data is important in various fields - city planning, disaster response and prevention, soil conservation, infrastructure or forestry. In recent years, feature classification, compliant with Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) methodology has been gaining traction in remote sensing and geographic information science (GIS). In OBIA, the LiDAR image is first divided into meaningful segments called object candidates. This results, in addition to spectral values, in a plethora of new information such as aggregated spectral pixel values, morphology, texture, context as well as topology. Traditional nonparametric segmentation methods rely on segmentations at different scales to produce a hierarchy of semantically significant objects. Properly tuned scale parameters are, therefore, imperative in these methods for successful subsequent classification. Recently, some progress has been made in the development of methods for tuning the parameters for automatic segmentation. However, researchers found that it is very difficult to automatically refine the tuning with respect to each object class present in the scene. Moreover, due to the relative complexity of real-world objects, the intra-class heterogeneity is very high, which leads to over-segmentation. Therefore, the method fails to deliver correctly many of the new segment features. In this dissertation, a new hierarchical 3D object segmentation algorithm called Automatic Virtual Surveyor based Object Extracted (AVSOE) is presented. AVSOE segments objects based on their distinct geometric concavity/convexity. This is achieved by strategically mapping the sloping surface, which connects the object to its background. Further analysis produces hierarchical decomposition of objects to its sub-objects at a single scale level. Extensive qualitative and qualitative results are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of this hierarchical segmentation approach.

The NASA Global Climate Change Education Project: An Integrated Effort to Improve the Teaching and Learning about Climate Change (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, L. H.; Pippin, M. R.; Welch, S.; Spruill, K.; Matthews, M. J.; Person, C.

2010-12-01

The NASA Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) Project, initiated in 2008, seeks to: - improve the teaching and learning about global climate change in elementary and secondary schools, on college campuses, and through lifelong learning; - increase the number of people, particularly high school and undergraduate students, using NASA Earth observation data, Earth system models, and/or simulations to investigate and analyze global climate change issues; - increase the number of undergraduate students prepared for employment and/or to enter graduate school in technical fields relevant to global climate change. Through an annual solicitation, proposals are requested for projects that address these goals using a variety of approaches. These include using NASA Earth system data, interactive models and/or simulations; providing research experiences for undergraduate or community college students, or for pre- or in-service teachers; or creating long-term teacher professional development experiences. To date, 57 projects have been funded to pursue these goals (22 in 2008, 18 in 2009, and 17 in 2010), each for a 2-3 year period. The vast majority of awards address either teacher professional development, or use of data, models, or simulations; only 7 awards have been made for research experiences. NASA, with assistance from the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, is working to develop these awardees into a synergistic community that works together to maximize its impact. This paper will present examples of collaborations that are evolving within this developing community. It will also introduce the opportunities available in fiscal year 2011, when a change in emphasis is expected for the project as it moves within the NASA Office of Education Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP).

A New Breed of Database System: Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA)

Science.gov (United States)

Crosweller, H. S.; Sparks, R. S.; Siebert, L.

2009-12-01

VOGRIPA originated as part of the Global Risk Identification Programme (GRIP) that is being co-ordinated from the Earth Institute of Columbia University under the auspices of the United Nations and World Bank. GRIP is a five-year programme aiming at improving global knowledge about risk from natural hazards and is part of the international response to the catastrophic 2004 Asian tsunami. VOGRIPA is also a formal IAVCEI project. The objectives of VOGRIPA are to create a global database of volcanic activity, hazards and vulnerability information that can be analysed to identify locations at high risk from volcanism, gaps in knowledge about hazards and risk, and will allow scientists and disaster managers at specific locations to analyse risk within a global context of systematic information. It is this added scope of risk and vulnerability as well as hazard which sets VOGRIPA apart from most previous databases. The University of Bristol is the central coordinating centre for the project, which is an international partnership including the Smithsonian Institution, the Geological Survey of Japan, the Earth Observatory of Singapore (Chris Newhall), the British Geological Survey, the University of Buffalo (SUNY) and Munich Re. The partnership is intended to grow and any individuals or institutions who are able to contribute resources to VOGRIPA objectives are welcome to participate. Work has already begun (funded principally by Munich Re) on populating a database of large magnitude explosive eruptions reaching back to the Quaternary, with extreme-value statistics being used to evaluate the magnitude-frequency relationship of such events, and also an assessment of how the quality of records affect the results. The following 4 years of funding from the European Research Council for VOGRIPA will be used to establish further international collaborations in order to develop different aspects of the database, with the data being accessible online once it is sufficiently

Assessing the impacts of 1.5°C of global warming - The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) approach

Science.gov (United States)

Frieler, Katja; Warszawski, Lila; Zhao, Fang

2017-04-01

In Paris, France, December 2015 the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the IPCC to provide a "special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways". In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016 the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the model simulations planned within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to address the request by providing tailored cross-sectoral consistent impacts projections. The protocol is designed to allow for 1) a separation of the impacts of the historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from other human drivers such as historical land use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations), 2) a quantification of the effects of an additional warming to 1.5°C including a potential overshoot and long term effects up to 2300 in comparison to a no-mitigation scenario (based on the low emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation scenario RCP6.0) keeping socio-economic conditions fixed at year 2005 levels, and 3) an assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios but accounting for parallel changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle of the road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2) and differential bio-energy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to reach RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. To provide the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and an analysis of cross-sectoral interactions potentially damping or amplifying sectoral impacts the protocol is designed to provide consistent impacts projections across a range of impact models from different sectors (global and regional hydrological models, global gridded crop models, global vegetation models, regional forestry models, global and regional marine

Global power: Markets and strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poirer, J.L.

1998-01-01

The author will first present an updated view of the global power market activity, including opportunities in power generation, transmission and distribution. This will include a review of the trends in closings and transaction flowed by type of activity and geographic area. Estimates will be based on Hagler Bailly's comprehensive database on global power transactions and project announcements. The firm has also worked with dozens of global power companies since 1990. Second, the author will review trends in terms of regulatory changes, project cost trends, developers' project experiences, and financing issues. This systematic review will be the foundation for projection of future market activity (e.g., number of closing by type of project through 2000). A forecast of future greenfield and privatization activity will be provided and the key markets will be highlighted. Third, the author will present an updated view of the competition in the global power market (including the various types of competitors and changes in their respective market posture). Finally, the author will discuss the various types of strategies and business models that are followed by key global power players

Arsia Mons Spiral Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

One of the benefits of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Extended Mission is the opportunity to observe how the planet's weather changes during a second full martian year. This picture of Arsia Mons was taken June 19, 2001; southern spring equinox occurred the same day. Arsia Mons is a volcano nearly large enough to cover the state of New Mexico. On this particular day (the first day of Spring), the MOC wide angle cameras documented an unusual spiral-shaped cloud within the 110 km (68 mi) diameter caldera--the summit crater--of the giant volcano. Because the cloud is bright both in the red and blue images acquired by the wide angle cameras, it probably consisted mostly of fine dust grains. The cloud's spin may have been induced by winds off the inner slopes of the volcano's caldera walls resulting from the temperature differences between the walls and the caldera floor, or by a vortex as winds blew up and over the caldera. Similar spiral clouds were seen inside the caldera for several days; we don't know if this was a single cloud that persisted throughout that time or one that regenerated each afternoon. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the left/upper left.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Global Dynamical Systems Involving Generalized -Projection Operators and Set-Valued Perturbation in Banach Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun-zhi Zou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A new class of generalized dynamical systems involving generalized f-projection operators is introduced and studied in Banach spaces. By using the fixed-point theorem due to Nadler, the equilibrium points set of this class of generalized global dynamical systems is proved to be nonempty and closed under some suitable conditions. Moreover, the solutions set of the systems with set-valued perturbation is showed to be continuous with respect to the initial value.

The Version 2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present)

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George J.; Chang, Alfred; Ferraro, Ralph; Xie, Ping-Ping; Janowiak, John; Rudolf, Bruno; Schneider, Udo; Curtis, Scott; Bolvin, David

2003-01-01

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Version 2 Monthly Precipitation Analysis is described. This globally complete, monthly analysis of surface precipitation at 2.5 degrees x 2.5 degrees latitude-longitude resolution is available from January 1979 to the present. It is a merged analysis that incorporates precipitation estimates from low-orbit-satellite microwave data, geosynchronous-orbit-satellite infrared data, and rain gauge observations. The merging approach utilizes the higher accuracy of the low-orbit microwave observations to calibrate, or adjust, the more frequent geosynchronous infrared observations. The data set is extended back into the premicrowave era (before 1987) by using infrared-only observations calibrated to the microwave-based analysis of the later years. The combined satellite-based product is adjusted by the raingauge analysis. This monthly analysis is the foundation for the GPCP suite of products including those at finer temporal resolution, satellite estimate, and error estimates for each field. The 23-year GPCP climatology is characterized, along with time and space variations of precipitation.

Worsening of Heat Stress Due To Global Warming in South Korea Based on Multi-RCM Ensemble Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Eun-Soon; Choi, Yeon-Woo; Ahn, Joong-Bae

2017-11-01

This study assesses the future changes in summer (June-July-August; JJA) heat stress over South Korea under global warming. To better resolve the region-specific changes in terms of geographical patterns and severity of heat stress in the Korean peninsula, four regional climate models (RCMs) are used for dynamical downscaling of Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 2—Atmosphere and Ocean global projections forced by two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios. Dynamically downscaled simulations (horizontal resolution of 12.5 km and output interval of 3 h) facilitate in-depth analysis of diurnal variation and extremes over South Korea, as well as focusing on the particular location, Daegu, that is characterized by high vulnerability to rising temperature. Both maximum temperature and heat stress indices such as wet bulb globe temperature and apparent temperature, which include the effect of humidity, are examined in order to comprehensively interpret the behaviors of heat stress in response to anthropogenic climate change. Ensemble projections reveal robust patterns of temperature and resultant humidity increases that are roughly constrained by the approximate 7%/K increase in the moisture holding capacity. The changes in temperature and humidity are directly transmitted to the heat stress indices, showing a significant increase. The heat stress is exacerbated in a differentiated way, with more intensification in diurnal variation at nighttime and in regional variation at low-elevation basins. Both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios project the statistical likelihood of a notable increase of extreme heat stress indices, much stronger and more extended heat waves, and the emergence of a long period of consecutive tropical nights.

CMIP5-based global wave climate projections including the entire Arctic Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Casas-Prat, M.; Wang, X. L.; Swart, N.

2018-03-01

This study presents simulations of the global ocean wave climate corresponding to the surface winds and sea ice concentrations as simulated by five CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) climate models for the historical (1979-2005) and RCP8.5 scenario future (2081-2100) periods. To tackle the numerical complexities associated with the inclusion of the North Pole, the WAVEWATCH III (WW3) wave model was used with a customized unstructured Spherical Multi-Cell grid of ∼100 km offshore and ∼50 km along coastlines. The climate model simulated wind and sea ice data, and the corresponding WW3 simulated wave data, were evaluated against reanalysis and hindcast data. The results show that all the five sets of wave simulations projected lower waves in the North Atlantic, corresponding to decreased surface wind speeds there in the warmer climate. The selected CMIP5 models also consistently projected an increase in the surface wind speed in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) mid-high latitudes, which translates in an increase in the WW3 simulated significant wave height (Hs) there. The higher waves are accompanied with increased peak wave period and increased wave age in the East Pacific and Indian Oceans, and a significant counterclockwise rotation in the mean wave direction in the Southern Oceans. The latter is caused by more intense waves from the SH traveling equatorward and developing into swells. Future wave climate in the Arctic Ocean in summer is projected to be predominantly of mixed sea states, with the climatological mean of September maximum Hs ranging mostly 3-4 m. The new waves approaching Arctic coasts will be less fetch-limited as ice retreats since a predominantly southwards mean wave direction is projected in the surrounding seas.

Comparison between project-based learning and discovery learning toward students' metacognitive strategies on global warming concept

Science.gov (United States)

Tumewu, Widya Anjelia; Wulan, Ana Ratna; Sanjaya, Yayan

2017-05-01

The purpose of this study was to know comparing the effectiveness of learning using Project-based learning (PjBL) and Discovery Learning (DL) toward students metacognitive strategies on global warming concept. A quasi-experimental research design with a The Matching-Only Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design was used in this study. The subjects were students of two classes 7th grade of one of junior high school in Bandung City, West Java of 2015/2016 academic year. The study was conducted on two experimental class, that were project-based learning treatment on the experimental class I and discovery learning treatment was done on the experimental class II. The data was collected through questionnaire to know students metacognitive strategies. The statistical analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in students metacognitive strategies between project-based learning and discovery learning.

New global ICT-based business models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The New Global Business model (NEWGIBM) book describes the background, theory references, case studies, results and learning imparted by the NEWGIBM project, which is supported by ICT, to a research group during the period from 2005-2011. The book is a result of the efforts and the collaborative ...... The NEWGIBM Cases Show? The Strategy Concept in Light of the Increased Importance of Innovative Business Models Successful Implementation of Global BM Innovation Globalisation Of ICT Based Business Models: Today And In 2020......The New Global Business model (NEWGIBM) book describes the background, theory references, case studies, results and learning imparted by the NEWGIBM project, which is supported by ICT, to a research group during the period from 2005-2011. The book is a result of the efforts and the collaborative....... The NEWGIBM book serves as a part of the final evaluation and documentation of the NEWGIBM project and is supported by results from the following projects: M-commerce, Global Innovation, Global Ebusiness & M-commerce, The Blue Ocean project, International Center for Innovation and Women in Business, NEFFICS...

Measuring the speed of light using Jupiter's moons: a global citizen science project for International Year of Light 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Hendry, Martin A.; Hammond, Giles; Simmons, Mike

2015-08-01

2015 represents both the centenary of General Relativity and International Year of Light - the latter marking the 150th anniversary of James Clerk Maxwell's ground-breaking paper on "A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field". These landmark dates provide an exciting opportunity to set up a global citizen science project that re-enacts the seminal 1675 experiment of Ole Romer: to measure the speed of light by observing the time eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter. This project - which has been set up by astronomers at the University of Glasgow, UK in partnership with Astronomers without Borders - is an ideal platform for engaging the amateur astronomy community, schools and the wider public across the globe. It requires only simple observations, with a small spotting scope or telescope, and can be carried out straightforwardly in both cities and dark-sky locations. It highlights a fascinating chapter in astronomical history, as well as the ongoing importance of accurate astrometry, orbital motion, the concept of longitude and knowing one's position on the Earth. In the context of the GR centenary, it also links strongly to the science behind GPS satellites and a range of important topics in the high school curriculum - from the electromagnetic spectrum to the more general principles of the scientific method.In this presentation we present an overview of our global citizen science project for IYL2015: its scope and motivation, the total number and global distribution of its participants to date and how astronomers around the world can get involved. We also describe the intended legacy of the project: a extensive database of observations that can provide future astronomy educators with an accessible and historically important context in which to explore key principles for analysing large astronomical datasets.

Global assessment of water policy vulnerability under uncertainty in water scarcity projections

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Peter; Kahil, Taher; Satoh, Yusuke; Burek, Peter; Fischer, Günther; Tramberend, Sylvia; Byers, Edward; Flörke, Martina; Eisner, Stephanie; Hanasaki, Naota; Langan, Simon; Wada, Yoshihide

2017-04-01

Water scarcity is a critical environmental issue worldwide, which has been driven by the significant increase in water extractions during the last century. In the coming decades, climate change is projected to further exacerbate water scarcity conditions in many regions around the world. At present, one important question for policy debate is the identification of water policy interventions that could address the mounting water scarcity problems. Main interventions include investing in water storage infrastructures, water transfer canals, efficient irrigation systems, and desalination plants, among many others. This type of interventions involve long-term planning, long-lived investments and some irreversibility in choices which can shape development of countries for decades. Making decisions on these water infrastructures requires anticipating the long term environmental conditions, needs and constraints under which they will function. This brings large uncertainty in the decision-making process, for instance from demographic or economic projections. But today, climate change is bringing another layer of uncertainty that make decisions even more complex. In this study, we assess in a probabilistic approach the uncertainty in global water scarcity projections following different socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and climate scenarios (RCPs) within the first half of the 21st century. By utilizing an ensemble of 45 future water scarcity projections based on (i) three state-of-the-art global hydrological models (PCR-GLOBWB, H08, and WaterGAP), (ii) five climate models, and (iii) three water scenarios, we have assessed changes in water scarcity and the associated uncertainty distribution worldwide. The water scenarios used here are developed by IIASA's Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) Initiative. The main objective of this study is to improve the contribution of hydro-climatic information to effective policymaking by identifying spatial and temporal policy

Global contract automation for E and P: project overview; Contrato global de automacao para E e P: visao geral do projeto

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arruda, Luiz Alberto Barbosa; Cintra, Paulo Cesar Vogel; Gaban, Allan Rodrigo Martins [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Corazza, Andre [Altus Sistemas de Automacao S.A., Sao Leopoldo, RS (Brazil)

2012-07-01

This paper aims to present a technical overview of Global Contract for Automation (CGA in Portuguese) for the segment of E and P (Exploration and Production) in Oil and Gas. This paper presents the theory of this type of contract showing the first contract of its kind in Brazil, ongoing for Pre-Salt FPSOs. The idea of using this contract as a reference is relate theory to practice. In the study is done an analysis of 'win-win' relationship in when performing pre-detailing and detail engineering, project development and automation directly with the manufacturer of the automation solution. The project herein includes automation and control of eight FPSOs (Float Production Storage and Offloading), to be produced in series. The system contracted in CGA consists of 12 systems and integrated sub-systems related to production process, fire and gas detection and emergency shutdown (shutdown). The eight FPSO have the same design, are replicas of a single project. The CGA has in its scope to interface simultaneously with different contractors: FEED project; hull constructor; construction and assembly of modules; integration of the FPSO and direct contracts with equipment suppliers. It will also be detail in this paper the scope of supply of subsystems equipment, pre-detail and detail engineering services, automation and control systems integration, consistency and testing of automation system and technical assistance for pre operation and operation of the FPSO. (author)

The global campus project: using e-learning to extend access to new polpulations of students.

OpenAIRE

Milankovic-Atkinson, Maya; Sadler, Chris

2009-01-01

The Global Campus (GC) project started in May 1999 between the School of Computing Science (SCS) of Middlesex University (MU) and the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) in Cairo[1]. RITSEC were keen to further develop their collaboration with Middlesex University and it was decided to launch a complete MSc programme in Distance Learning (DL) mode. This was in line with the University strategy to expand its provision overseas to meet the vast demand for Br...

Examining the Efficacy of Project-Based Learning on Cultivating the 21st Century Skills among High School Students in a Global Context

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chi-Syan; Ma, Jung-Tsan; Kuo, Karen Yi-Chwen; Chou, Chien-Tzu Candace

2015-01-01

The goal of the study is to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with Project-Based Learning strategy in a global context on the aspects of both fostering learning community of practices and nurturing the 21st century skills. For collecting empirical data, the study implements and administers an online international project-based…

External force back-projective composition and globally deformable optimization for 3-D coronary artery reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jian; Cong, Weijian; Fan, Jingfan; Liu, Yue; Wang, Yongtian; Chen, Yang

2014-01-01

The clinical value of the 3D reconstruction of a coronary artery is important for the diagnosis and intervention of cardiovascular diseases. This work proposes a method based on a deformable model for reconstructing coronary arteries from two monoplane angiographic images acquired from different angles. First, an external force back-projective composition model is developed to determine the external force, for which the force distributions in different views are back-projected to the 3D space and composited in the same coordinate system based on the perspective projection principle of x-ray imaging. The elasticity and bending forces are composited as an internal force to maintain the smoothness of the deformable curve. Second, the deformable curve evolves rapidly toward the true vascular centerlines in 3D space and angiographic images under the combination of internal and external forces. Third, densely matched correspondence among vessel centerlines is constructed using a curve alignment method. The bundle adjustment method is then utilized for the global optimization of the projection parameters and the 3D structures. The proposed method is validated on phantom data and routine angiographic images with consideration for space and re-projection image errors. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method for the reconstruction of coronary arteries from two monoplane angiographic images. The proposed method can achieve a mean space error of 0.564 mm and a mean re-projection error of 0.349 mm. (paper)

Software project management tools in global software development: a systematic mapping study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chadli, Saad Yasser; Idri, Ali; Ros, Joaquín Nicolás; Fernández-Alemán, José Luis; de Gea, Juan M Carrillo; Toval, Ambrosio

2016-01-01

Global software development (GSD) which is a growing trend in the software industry is characterized by a highly distributed environment. Performing software project management (SPM) in such conditions implies the need to overcome new limitations resulting from cultural, temporal and geographic separation. The aim of this research is to discover and classify the various tools mentioned in literature that provide GSD project managers with support and to identify in what way they support group interaction. A systematic mapping study has been performed by means of automatic searches in five sources. We have then synthesized the data extracted and presented the results of this study. A total of 102 tools were identified as being used in SPM activities in GSD. We have classified these tools, according to the software life cycle process on which they focus and how they support the 3C collaboration model (communication, coordination and cooperation). The majority of the tools found are standalone tools (77%). A small number of platforms (8%) also offer a set of interacting tools that cover the software development lifecycle. Results also indicate that SPM areas in GSD are not adequately supported by corresponding tools and deserve more attention from tool builders.

Global crop exposure to critical high temperatures in the reproductive period: historical trends and future projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gourdji, Sharon M; Sibley, Adam M; Lobell, David B

2013-01-01

Long-term warming trends across the globe have shifted the distribution of temperature variability, such that what was once classified as extreme heat relative to local mean conditions has become more common. This is also true for agricultural regions, where exposure to extreme heat, particularly during key growth phases such as the reproductive period, can severely damage crop production in ways that are not captured by most crop models. Here, we analyze exposure of crops to physiologically critical temperatures in the reproductive stage (T crit ), across the global harvested areas of maize, rice, soybean and wheat. Trends for the 1980–2011 period show a relatively weak correspondence (r = 0.19) between mean growing season temperature and T crit exposure trends, emphasizing the importance of separate analyses for T crit . Increasing T crit exposure in the past few decades is apparent for wheat in Central and South Asia and South America, and for maize in many diverse locations across the globe. Maize had the highest percentage (15%) of global harvested area exposed to at least five reproductive days over T crit in the 2000s, although this value is somewhat sensitive to the exact temperature used for the threshold. While there was relatively little sustained exposure to reproductive days over T crit for the other crops in the past few decades, all show increases with future warming. Using projections from climate models we estimate that by the 2030s, 31, 16, and 11% respectively of maize, rice, and wheat global harvested area will be exposed to at least five reproductive days over T crit in a typical year, with soybean much less affected. Both maize and rice exhibit non-linear increases with time, with total area exposed for rice projected to grow from 8% in the 2000s to 27% by the 2050s, and maize from 15 to 44% over the same period. While faster development should lead to earlier flowering, which would reduce reproductive extreme heat exposure for wheat on a

The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission concept design update

Science.gov (United States)

Bolcar, Matthew R.; Aloezos, Steve; Bly, Vincent T.; Collins, Christine; Crooke, Julie; Dressing, Courtney D.; Fantano, Lou; Feinberg, Lee D.; France, Kevin; Gochar, Gene; Gong, Qian; Hylan, Jason E.; Jones, Andrew; Linares, Irving; Postman, Marc; Pueyo, Laurent; Roberge, Aki; Sacks, Lia; Tompkins, Steven; West, Garrett

2017-09-01

In preparation for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, NASA has commissioned the study of four large mission concepts, including the Large Ultraviolet / Optical / Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor. The LUVOIR Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) has identified a broad range of science objectives including the direct imaging and spectral characterization of habitable exoplanets around sun-like stars, the study of galaxy formation and evolution, the epoch of reionization, star and planet formation, and the remote sensing of Solar System bodies. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is providing the design and engineering support to develop executable and feasible mission concepts that are capable of the identified science objectives. We present an update on the first of two architectures being studied: a 15- meter-diameter segmented-aperture telescope with a suite of serviceable instruments operating over a range of wavelengths between 100 nm to 2.5 μm. Four instruments are being developed for this architecture: an optical / near-infrared coronagraph capable of 10-10 contrast at inner working angles as small as 2 λ/D the LUVOIR UV Multi-object Spectrograph (LUMOS), which will provide low- and medium-resolution UV (100 - 400 nm) multi-object imaging spectroscopy in addition to far-UV imaging; the High Definition Imager (HDI), a high-resolution wide-field-of-view NUV-Optical-IR imager; and a UV spectro-polarimeter being contributed by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). A fifth instrument, a multi-resolution optical-NIR spectrograph, is planned as part of a second architecture to be studied in late 2017.

Response of precipitation extremes to idealized global warming in an aqua-planet climate model: Towards robust projection across different horizontal resolutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, F.; Collins, W.D.; Wehner, M.F.; Williamson, D.L.; Olson, J.G.

2011-04-15

Current climate models produce quite heterogeneous projections for the responses of precipitation extremes to future climate change. To help understand the range of projections from multimodel ensembles, a series of idealized 'aquaplanet' Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) runs have been performed with the Community Atmosphere Model CAM3. These runs have been analysed to identify the effects of horizontal resolution on precipitation extreme projections under two simple global warming scenarios. We adopt the aquaplanet framework for our simulations to remove any sensitivity to the spatial resolution of external inputs and to focus on the roles of model physics and dynamics. Results show that a uniform increase of sea surface temperature (SST) and an increase of low-to-high latitude SST gradient both lead to increase of precipitation and precipitation extremes for most latitudes. The perturbed SSTs generally have stronger impacts on precipitation extremes than on mean precipitation. Horizontal model resolution strongly affects the global warming signals in the extreme precipitation in tropical and subtropical regions but not in high latitude regions. This study illustrates that the effects of horizontal resolution have to be taken into account to develop more robust projections of precipitation extremes.

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, P. T.

2016-04-01

The Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor is a mission which will be proposed for the ESA M5 call. THESEUS will address multiple components in the Early Universe ESA Cosmic Vision theme:4.1 Early Universe,4.2 The Universe taking shape, and4.3 The evolving violent Universe.THESEUS aims at vastly increasing the discovery space of the high energy transient phenomena over the entire cosmic history. This is achieved via a unique payload providing an unprecedented combination of: (i) wide and deep sky monitoring in a broad energy band(0.3 keV-20 MeV; (ii) focusing capabilities in the soft X-ray band granting large grasp and high angular resolution; and (iii) on board near-IR capabilities for immediate transient identification and first redshift estimate.The THESEUS payload consists of: (i) the Soft X--ray Imager (SXI), a set of Lobster Eye (0.3--6 keV) telescopes with CCD detectors covering a total FOV of 1 sr; (ii) the X--Gamma-rays spectrometer (XGS), a non-imaging spectrometer (XGS) based on SDD+CsI, covering the same FOV than the Lobster telescope extending the THESEUS energy band up to 20 MeV; and (iii) a 70cm class InfraRed Telescope (IRT) observing up to 2 microns with imaging and moderate spectral capabilities.The main scientific goals of THESEUS are to:(a) Explore the Early Universe (cosmic dawn and reionization era) by unveiling the Gamma--Ray Burst (GRBs) population in the first billion years}, determining when did the first stars form, and investigating the re-ionization epoch, the interstellar medium (ISM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshifts.(b) Perform an unprecedented deep survey of the soft X-ray transient Universe in order to fill the present gap in the discovery space of new classes of transient; provide a fundamental step forward in the comprehension of the physics of various classes of Galactic and extra--Galactic transients, and provide real time trigger and accurate locations of transients for follow-up with next

Global assimilation of X Project Loon stratospheric balloon observations

Science.gov (United States)

Coy, L.; Schoeberl, M. R.; Pawson, S.; Candido, S.; Carver, R. W.

2017-12-01

Project Loon has an overall goal of providing worldwide internet coverage using a network of long-duration super-pressure balloons. Beginning in 2013, Loon has launched over 1600 balloons from multiple tropical and middle latitude locations. These GPS tracked balloon trajectories provide lower stratospheric wind information over the oceans and remote land areas where traditional radiosonde soundings are sparse, thus providing unique coverage of lower stratospheric winds. To fully investigate these Loon winds we: 1) compare the Loon winds to winds produced by a global data assimilation system (DAS: NASA GEOS) and 2) assimilate the Loon winds into the same comprehensive DAS. Results show that in middle latitudes the Loon winds and DAS winds agree well and assimilating the Loon winds have only a small impact on short-term forecasting of the Loon winds, however, in the tropics the loon winds and DAS winds often disagree substantially (8 m/s or more in magnitude) and in these cases assimilating the loon winds significantly improves the forecast of the loon winds. By highlighting cases where the Loon and DAS winds differ, these results can lead to improved understanding of stratospheric winds, especially in the tropics.

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium; Biodiversite et changement global. Reponses adaptatives au changement global: resultats et prospective. Colloque de restitution IFB-GICC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Despres, L; Hossaert-Mckey, M; Martin, J F; Pont, D; Valero, M; Chave, J; Benizri, E; Amiaud, B; Boury-Esnault, N; Fritz, H; Lavelle, P; Martin, F; Poulet, S; Blanchard, F; Cheddadi, R; Dupouey, J L; Hulle, M; Michaux, J; Souissi, S; Bridault, A; Dambrine, E; Gomez, B; Thevenard, F; Legendre, S; Suc, J P; Zeitoun, V; Bezancon, G; Frascaria-Lacoste, N; Ponsard, S; Bourguet, D; Vigne, J D; Doyen, L; Joly, P; Gourlet-Fleury, S; Garnier, E; Lebaron, Ph; Boulinier, Th; Chuine, I; Jiguet, F; Couvet, D; Soussana, J F; Weimerskirsch, H; Grosbois, V; Bretagnolle, V

2006-07-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Assessing the impacts of 1.5 °C global warming - simulation protocol of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP2b)

Science.gov (United States)

Frieler, Katja; Lange, Stefan; Piontek, Franziska; Reyer, Christopher P. O.; Schewe, Jacob; Warszawski, Lila; Zhao, Fang; Chini, Louise; Denvil, Sebastien; Emanuel, Kerry; Geiger, Tobias; Halladay, Kate; Hurtt, George; Mengel, Matthias; Murakami, Daisuke; Ostberg, Sebastian; Popp, Alexander; Riva, Riccardo; Stevanovic, Miodrag; Suzuki, Tatsuo; Volkholz, Jan; Burke, Eleanor; Ciais, Philippe; Ebi, Kristie; Eddy, Tyler D.; Elliott, Joshua; Galbraith, Eric; Gosling, Simon N.; Hattermann, Fred; Hickler, Thomas; Hinkel, Jochen; Hof, Christian; Huber, Veronika; Jägermeyr, Jonas; Krysanova, Valentina; Marcé, Rafael; Müller Schmied, Hannes; Mouratiadou, Ioanna; Pierson, Don; Tittensor, Derek P.; Vautard, Robert; van Vliet, Michelle; Biber, Matthias F.; Betts, Richard A.; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Deryng, Delphine; Frolking, Steve; Jones, Chris D.; Lotze, Heike K.; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Sahajpal, Ritvik; Thonicke, Kirsten; Tian, Hanqin; Yamagata, Yoshiki

2017-11-01

In Paris, France, December 2015, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016, the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the response devised within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to provide tailored, cross-sectorally consistent impact projections to broaden the scientific basis for the report. The simulation protocol is designed to allow for (1) separation of the impacts of historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from impacts of other drivers such as historical land-use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations); (2) quantification of the impacts of additional warming up to 1.5 °C, including a potential overshoot and long-term impacts up to 2299, and comparison to higher levels of global mean temperature change (based on the low-emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation pathway RCP6.0) with socio-economic conditions fixed at 2005 levels; and (3) assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios while accounting for simultaneous changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle-of-the-road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2, Fricko et al., 2016) and in particular differential bioenergy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to comply with RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. With the aim of providing the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and analysis of cross-sectoral interactions that may dampen or amplify sectoral impacts, the protocol is designed to facilitate consistent impact projections from a range of impact models across different sectors (global

Projection of U.S. forest sector carbon sequestration under U.S. and global timber market and wood energy consumption scenarios, 2010-2060

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash Nepal; Peter J. Ince; Kenneth E. Skog; Sun J. Chang

2012-01-01

This study provides a modeling framework to examine change over time in U.S. forest sector carbon inventory (in U.S. timberland tree biomass and harvested wood products) for alternative projections of U.S. and global timber markets, including wood energy consumption, based on established IPCC/RPA scenarios. Results indicated that the U.S. forest sector’s projected...

The Costa Rica GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Project as a Learning Science Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Castro Rojas, María Dolores; Zuñiga, Ana Lourdes Acuña; Ugalde, Emmanuel Fonseca

2015-01-01

GLOBE is a global educational program for elementary and high school levels, and its main purpose in Costa Rica is to develop scientific thinking and interest for science in high school students through hydrology research projects that allow them to relate science with environmental issues in their communities. Youth between 12 and 17 years old…

Global corporate workplaces implementing new global workplace standards in a local context

CERN Document Server

Hodulak, Martin

2017-01-01

In recent years, multinational corporations were increasingly engaged in the development of standardized global workplace models. For their implementation and feasibility, it is decisive as how these standards fit the diverse regional workplace cultures. This topic was pursued in the course of a research project, comparing established workplaces in Germany, USA and Japan against global workplace standards of multinational corporations. The analysis confirmed the expected differences among local workplaces and on the other hand a predominant mainstream among global corporate workplace standards. Conspicuous however, are the fundamental differences between local models and corporate standards. For the implementation of global standards in local context, this implies multiple challenges on cultural, organizational and spatial level. The analysis findings provide information for assessing current projects and pinpointing optimization measures. The analysis framework further provides a tool to uncover and assess n...

Dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, temperature, salinity and other variables collected from discrete sample and profile observations using Alkalinity titrator, CTD and other instruments from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean from 2009-02-03 to 2009-03-24 (NODC Accession 0108082)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NCEI Accession 0108082 includes chemical, discrete sample, physical and profile data collected from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific...

The International Communication Project: Raising global awareness of communication as a human right.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulcair, Gail; Pietranton, Arlene A; Williams, Cori

2018-02-01

Communication as a human right is embedded within Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however, there is a need to raise global awareness of the communication needs of those with communication disorders. In 2014, the six national speech-language and audiology professional bodies that comprise the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) launched the International Communication Project (ICP) to help raise awareness of communication disorders around the world. Since its inception, the project has engaged close to 50 organisations from diverse regions, and has undertaken a number of initiatives, including development of the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights. A consultancy report was commissioned to inform ICP efforts to influence international policy bodies. As a result, the current focus of the ICP is to identify opportunities to influence the policies of organisations such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations and World Bank to more explicitly acknowledge and address communication as a human right. This commentary paper describes the work of the ICP to date, with an emphasis on the place of communication disorders in current international policy and potential pathways for advocacy.

Global Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Lindberg Christensen, Lars; Russo, P.

2009-05-01

IYA2009 is a global collaboration between almost 140 nations and more than 50 international organisations sharing the same vision. Besides the common brand, mission, vision and goals, IAU established eleven cornerstones programmes to support the different IYA2009 stakeholder to organize events, activities under a common umbrella. These are global activities centred on specific themes and are aligned with IYA2009's main goals. Whether it is the support and promotion of women in astronomy, the preservation of dark-sky sites around the world or educating and explaining the workings of the Universe to millions, the eleven Cornerstones are key elements in the success of IYA2009. However, the process of implementing global projects across cultural boundaries is challenging and needs central coordination to preserve the pre-established goals. During this talk we will examine the ups and downs of coordinating such a project and present an overview of the principal achievements for the Cornerstones so far.

Checklists for Doing Cooperative Global Issues Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, George M.

2008-01-01

Projects are not new in education (for example, see Kilpatrick, 1918), but in the last 20 years, they seem to have become more popular in second language education, as projects fit with emphases on communication, tasks, cooperation among students, learner autonomy, curricular integration, alternative assessment, links between the classroom and the…

Projection of wave conditions in response to climate change: A community approach to global and regional wave downscaling

Science.gov (United States)

Erikson, Li H.; Hemer, M.; Lionello, Piero; Mendez, Fernando J.; Mori, Nobuhito; Semedo, Alvaro; Wang, Xiaolan; Wolf, Judith

2015-01-01

Future changes in wind-wave climate have broad implications for coastal geomorphology and management. General circulation models (GCM) are now routinely used for assessing climatological parameters, but generally do not provide parameterizations of ocean wind-waves. To fill this information gap, a growing number of studies use GCM outputs to independently downscale wave conditions to global and regional levels. To consolidate these efforts and provide a robust picture of projected changes, we present strategies from the community-derived multi-model ensemble of wave climate projections (COWCLIP) and an overview of regional contributions. Results and strategies from one contributing regional study concerning changes along the eastern North Pacific coast are presented.

Global Collaborations - Prospects and Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Corbett, Ian

2005-04-01

International collaboration has long been a feature of science. Collaborative investments in joint facilities and projects have grown considerably over the past 20-40 years, and many projects have been multinational from the start. This has been particularly true in Europe, where intergovernmental organizations such as CERN, ESA, and ESO have enabled European countries to carry out forefront science with state-of-art facilites which would have been beyond the capabilities of any one country. A brief survey of these organizations, their structure, and the possible reasons behind their success is given. The transition from regional to global creates new problems. Global scale projects face a range of generic issues which must be addressed and overcome if the project is to be a success. Each project has its own specific boundary conditions and each adopts an approach best fitted to its own objectives and constraints. Experience with billion dollar projects such as the SSC, LHC, and ITER shows the key problem areas and demonstrates the importance of preparatory work in the early stages to settle issues such as schedule, funding, location, legal and managerial structure, and oversight. A range of current and proposed intercontinental or global projects - so- called ``Megascience Projects" - is reviewed. Such projects, originally a feature of space and particle physics, are now becoming more common, and very large projects in astronomy, for example ALMA and 50 - 100m telescopes, and other areas of physics now fall into the `global' category. These projects are on such a large scale, from any scientific, managerial, financial or political perspective, and have such global importance, that they have necessarily been conceived as international from the outset. Increasing financial pressures on governments and funding agencies in the developed countries place additional demands on the project planning. The contrasting approaches, problems faced, and progress made in various

The policy relevance of global environmental change research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarnal, Brent

1996-01-01

Many scientists are striving to identify and promote the policy implications of their global change research. Much basic research on global environmental change cannot advance policy directly, but new projects can determine the relevance of their research to decision makers and build policy-relevant products into the work. Similarly, many ongoing projects can alter or add to the present science design to make the research policy relevant. Thus, this paper shows scientists working on global change how to make their research policy relevant. It demonstrates how research on physical global change relates to human dimensions studies and integrated assessments. It also presents an example of how policy relevance can be fit retroactively into a global change project (in this case, SRBEX-the Susquehanna River Basin Experiment) and how that addition can enhance the project's status and science. The paper concludes that policy relevance is desirable from social and scientific perspectives

The global unified parallel file system (GUPFS) project: FY 2003 activities and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butler, Gregory F.; Baird William P.; Lee, Rei C.; Tull, Craig E.; Welcome, Michael L.; Whitney Cary L.

2004-04-30

The Global Unified Parallel File System (GUPFS) project is a multiple-phase project at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center whose goal is to provide a scalable, high-performance, high-bandwidth, shared file system for all of the NERSC production computing and support systems. The primary purpose of the GUPFS project is to make the scientific users more productive as they conduct advanced scientific research at NERSC by simplifying the scientists' data management tasks and maximizing storage and data availability. This is to be accomplished through the use of a shared file system providing a unified file namespace, operating on consolidated shared storage that is accessible by all the NERSC production computing and support systems. In order to successfully deploy a scalable high-performance shared file system with consolidated disk storage, three major emerging technologies must be brought together: (1) shared/cluster file systems software, (2) cost-effective, high-performance storage area network (SAN) fabrics, and (3) high-performance storage devices. Although they are evolving rapidly, these emerging technologies individually are not targeted towards the needs of scientific high-performance computing (HPC). The GUPFS project is in the process of assessing these emerging technologies to determine the best combination of solutions for a center-wide shared file system, to encourage the development of these technologies in directions needed for HPC, particularly at NERSC, and to then put them into service. With the development of an evaluation methodology and benchmark suites, and with the updating of the GUPFS testbed system, the project did a substantial number of investigations and evaluations during FY 2003. The investigations and evaluations involved many vendors and products. From our evaluation of these products, we have found that most vendors and many of the products are more focused on the commercial market. Most vendors

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despres, L.; Hossaert-Mckey, M.; Martin, J.F.; Pont, D.; Valero, M.; Chave, J.; Benizri, E.; Amiaud, B.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Fritz, H.; Lavelle, P.; Martin, F.; Poulet, S.; Blanchard, F.; Cheddadi, R.; Dupouey, J.L.; Hulle, M.; Michaux, J.; Souissi, S.; Bridault, A.; Dambrine, E.; Gomez, B.; Thevenard, F.; Legendre, S.; Suc, J.P.; Zeitoun, V.; Bezancon, G.; Frascaria-Lacoste, N.; Ponsard, S.; Bourguet, D.; Vigne, J.D.; Doyen, L.; Joly, P.; Gourlet-Fleury, S.; Garnier, E.; Lebaron, Ph.; Boulinier, Th.; Chuine, I.; Jiguet, F.; Couvet, D.; Soussana, J.F.; Weimerskirsch, H.; Grosbois, V.; Bretagnolle, V.

2006-01-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Pediatric Resident Academic Projects While on Global Health Electives: Ten Years of Experience at the University of Minnesota.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitt, Michael B; Slusher, Tina M; Howard, Cynthia R; Cole, Valerie B; Gladding, Sophia P

2017-07-01

Many residency programs require residents to complete an academic project as part of a global health (GH) elective. However, there has been little description of the range of projects residents have pursued during GH electives or the extent to which these projects are consistent with proposed best practices. The authors conducted a document review of 67 written summaries or copies of presentations of academic projects (hereafter, summaries) completed by pediatric and medicine-pediatric residents at the University of Minnesota while on GH electives from 2005 to 2015. Two authors independently coded each summary for the type of project completed; when the project idea was generated; explicit mention of a mentor from the home institution, host institution, or both; whether a needs assessment was conducted; and whether there were plans for sustainability. Most of the 67 projects were categorized into one of three project types: quality/process improvement (28 [42%]), education (18 [27%]), or clinical research (14 [21%]). Most summaries explicitly mentioned a mentor (45 [67%]), reported conducting a needs assessment (38 [57%]), and indicated sustainability plans (45 [67%]). Of the 42 summaries that indicated the timing of idea generation, 30 (71%) indicated the idea was developed after arriving at the host site. Residents undertook a wide range of academic projects during GH electives, most commonly quality/process improvement and education projects. The projects were largely aligned with best practices, with most summaries indicating the resident worked with a mentor, conducted a needs assessment, and made plans for sustainability.

Projected Changes on the Global Surface Wave Drift Climate towards the END of the Twenty-First Century

Science.gov (United States)

Carrasco, Ana; Semedo, Alvaro; Behrens, Arno; Weisse, Ralf; Breivik, Øyvind; Saetra, Øyvind; Håkon Christensen, Kai

2016-04-01

The global wave-induced current (the Stokes Drift - SD) is an important feature of the ocean surface, with mean values close to 10 cm/s along the extra-tropical storm tracks in both hemispheres. Besides the horizontal displacement of large volumes of water the SD also plays an important role in the ocean mix-layer turbulence structure, particularly in stormy or high wind speed areas. The role of the wave-induced currents in the ocean mix-layer and in the sea surface temperature (SST) is currently a hot topic of air-sea interaction research, from forecast to climate ranges. The SD is mostly driven by wind sea waves and highly sensitive to changes in the overlaying wind speed and direction. The impact of climate change in the global wave-induced current climate will be presented. The wave model WAM has been forced by the global climate model (GCM) ECHAM5 wind speed (at 10 m height) and ice, for present-day and potential future climate conditions towards the end of the end of the twenty-first century, represented by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) CMIP3 (Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project phase 3) A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario (usually referred to as a ''medium-high emissions'' scenario). Several wave parameters were stored as output in the WAM model simulations, including the wave spectra. The 6 hourly and 0.5°×0.5°, temporal and space resolution, wave spectra were used to compute the SD global climate of two 32-yr periods, representative of the end of the twentieth (1959-1990) and twenty-first (1969-2100) centuries. Comparisons of the present climate run with the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) ERA-40 reanalysis are used to assess the capability of the WAM-ECHAM5 runs to produce realistic SD results. This study is part of the WRCP-JCOMM COWCLIP (Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project) effort.

A possible explanation for the divergent projection of ENSO amplitude change under global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lin; Li, Tim; Yu, Yongqiang; Behera, Swadhin K.

2017-12-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the greatest climate variability on interannual time scale, yet what controls ENSO amplitude changes under global warming (GW) is uncertain. Here we show that the fundamental factor that controls the divergent projections of ENSO amplitude change within 20 coupled general circulation models that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 is the change of climatologic mean Pacific subtropical cell (STC), whose strength determines the meridional structure of ENSO perturbations and thus the anomalous thermocline response to the wind forcing. The change of the thermocline response is a key factor regulating the strength of Bjerknes thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks, which ultimately lead to the divergent changes in ENSO amplitude. Furthermore, by forcing an ocean general circulation mode with the change of zonal mean zonal wind stress estimated by a simple theoretical model, a weakening of the STC in future is obtained. Such a change implies that ENSO variability might strengthen under GW, which could have a profound socio-economic consequence.

Global Carbon Budget 2017

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le Quere, Corinne; Andrew, Robbie M.; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Sitch, Stephen; Pongratz, Julia; Manning, Andrew C.; Korsbakken, Jan Ivar; Peters, Glen P.; Canadell, Josep G.; Jackson, Robert B.; Boden, Thomas A.; Tans, Pieter P.; Andrews, Oliver D.; Arora, Vivek K.; Bakker, Dorothee C. E.; Barbero, Leticia; Becker, Meike; Betts, Richard A.; Bopp, Laurent; Chevallier, Frederic; Chini, Louise P.; Ciais, Philippe; Cosca, Catherine E.; Cross, Jessica; Currie, Kim; Gasser, Thomas; Harris, Ian; Hauck, Judith; Haverd, Vanessa; Houghton, Richard A.; Hunt, Christopher W.; Hurtt, George; Ilyina, Tatiana; Jain, Atul K.; Kato, Etsushi; Kautz, Markus; Keeling, Ralph F.; Goldewijk, Kees Klein; Koertzinger, Arne; Landschuetzer, Peter; Lefevre, Nathalie; Lenton, Andrew; Lienert, Sebastian; Lima, Ivan; Lombardozzi, Danica; Metzl, Nicolas; Millero, Frank; Monteiro, Pedro M. S.; Munro, David R.; Nabel, Julia E. M. S.; Nakaoka, Shin-ichiro; Nojiri, Yukihiro; Padin, X. Antonio; Peregon, Anna; Pfeil, Benjamin; Pierrot, Denis; Poulter, Benjamin; Rehder, Gregor; Reimer, Janet; Roedenbeck, Christian; Schwinger, Jorg; Seferian, Roland; Skjelvan, Ingunn; Stocker, Benjamin D.; Tian, Hanqin; Tilbrook, Bronte; Tubiello, Francesco N.; van der Laan-Luijkx, Ingrid T.; van der Werf, Guido R.; van Heuven, Steven; Viovy, Nicolas; Vuichard, Nicolas; Walker, Anthony P.; Watson, Andrew J.; Wiltshire, Andrew J.; Zaehle, Soenke; Zhu, Dan

2018-01-01

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere - the "global carbon budget" - is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project

Global Carbon Budget 2016

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le Quéré, Corinne; Andrew, Robbie M.; Canadell, Josep G.; Sitch, Stephen; Ivar Korsbakken, Jan; Peters, Glen P.; Manning, Andrew C.; Boden, Thomas A.; Tans, Pieter P.; Houghton, Richard A.; Keeling, Ralph F.; Alin, Simone; Andrews, Oliver D.; Anthoni, Peter; Barbero, Leticia; Bopp, Laurent; Chevallier, Frédéric; Chini, Louise P.; Ciais, Philippe; Currie, Kim; Delire, Christine; Doney, Scott C.; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gkritzalis, Thanos; Harris, Ian A; Hauck, Judith; Haverd, Vanessa; Hoppema, Mario; Klein Goldewijk, Kees; Jain, Atul K.; Kato, Etsushi; Körtzinger, Arne; Landschützer, Peter; Lefèvre, Nathalie; Lenton, Andrew; Lienert, Sebastian; Lombardozzi, Danica; Melton, Joe R.; Metzl, Nicolas; Millero, Frank; Monteiro, Pedro M S; Munro, David R.; Nabel, Julia E M S; Nakaoka, Shin Ichiro; O'Brien, Kevin; Olsen, Are; Omar, Abdirahman M.; Ono, Tsuneo; Pierrot, Denis; Poulter, Benjamin; Rödenbeck, Christian; Salisbury, Joe; Schuster, Ute; Schwinger, Jörg; Séférian, Roland; Skjelvan, Ingunn; Stocker, Benjamin D.; Sutton, Adrienne J.; Takahashi, Taro; Tian, Hanqin; Tilbrook, Bronte; Van Der Laan-Luijkx, Ingrid T.; Van Der Werf, Guido R.; Viovy, Nicolas; Walker, Anthony P.; Wiltshire, Andrew J.; Zaehle, Sönke

2016-01-01

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere-the "global carbon budget"-is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future

Monitor and Control of the Deep-Space network via Secure Web

Science.gov (United States)

Lamarra, N.

1997-01-01

(view graph) NASA lead center for robotic space exploration. Operating division of Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Current missions, Voyagers, Galileo, Pathfinder, Global Surveyor. Upcoming missions, Cassini, Mars and New Millennium.

Meteors Without Borders: a global campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Heenatigala, T.

2012-01-01

"Meteors Without Borders" is a global project, organized by Astronomers Without Borders and launched during the Global Astronomy Month in 2010 for the Lyrid meteor shower. The project focused on encouraging amateur astronomy groups to hold public outreach events for major meteor showers, conduct meteor-related classroom activities, photography, poetry and art work. It also uses social-media platforms to connect groups around the world to share their observations and photography, live during the events. At the International Meteor Conference 2011, the progress of the project was presented along with an extended invitation for collaborations for further improvements of the project.

The Impact of Variable Phytoplankton Stoichiometry on Projections of Primary Production, Food Quality, and Carbon Uptake in the Global Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Kwiatkowski, Lester; Aumont, Olivier; Bopp, Laurent; Ciais, Philippe

2018-04-01

Ocean biogeochemical models are integral components of Earth system models used to project the evolution of the ocean carbon sink, as well as potential changes in the physical and chemical environment of marine ecosystems. In such models the stoichiometry of phytoplankton C:N:P is typically fixed at the Redfield ratio. The observed stoichiometry of phytoplankton, however, has been shown to considerably vary from Redfield values due to plasticity in the expression of phytoplankton cell structures with different elemental compositions. The intrinsic structure of fixed C:N:P models therefore has the potential to bias projections of the marine response to climate change. We assess the importance of variable stoichiometry on 21st century projections of net primary production, food quality, and ocean carbon uptake using the recently developed Pelagic Interactions Scheme for Carbon and Ecosystem Studies Quota (PISCES-QUOTA) ocean biogeochemistry model. The model simulates variable phytoplankton C:N:P stoichiometry and was run under historical and business-as-usual scenario forcing from 1850 to 2100. PISCES-QUOTA projects similar 21st century global net primary production decline (7.7%) to current generation fixed stoichiometry models. Global phytoplankton N and P content or food quality is projected to decline by 1.2% and 6.4% over the 21st century, respectively. The largest reductions in food quality are in the oligotrophic subtropical gyres and Arctic Ocean where declines by the end of the century can exceed 20%. Using the change in the carbon export efficiency in PISCES-QUOTA, we estimate that fixed stoichiometry models may be underestimating 21st century cumulative ocean carbon uptake by 0.5-3.5% (2.0-15.1 PgC).

Influence of organizational and project cultures on project success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berdykulova G. M.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available the article is dedicated to studying the influence of organizational and project cultures on effective project management of the company by knowledge systematization and the comparative analysis of world companies’ practice that allowed to reveal the main factors and criteria of projects success and negative influence of organizational culture on the project; key aspects of corporate culture and cultural integration under the conditions of globalization.

Assessing the impacts of 1.5 °C global warming – simulation protocol of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP2b

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Frieler

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In Paris, France, December 2015, the Conference of the Parties (COP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC invited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016, the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the response devised within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP to provide tailored, cross-sectorally consistent impact projections to broaden the scientific basis for the report. The simulation protocol is designed to allow for (1 separation of the impacts of historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from impacts of other drivers such as historical land-use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations; (2 quantification of the impacts of additional warming up to 1.5 °C, including a potential overshoot and long-term impacts up to 2299, and comparison to higher levels of global mean temperature change (based on the low-emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation pathway RCP6.0 with socio-economic conditions fixed at 2005 levels; and (3 assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios while accounting for simultaneous changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle-of-the-road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2, Fricko et al., 2016 and in particular differential bioenergy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to comply with RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. With the aim of providing the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and analysis of cross-sectoral interactions that may dampen or amplify sectoral impacts, the protocol is designed to facilitate consistent impact projections from a range of impact models across

Global Carbon Budget 2016

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quéré, Le Corinne; Andrew, Robbie M.; Canadell, Josep G.; Sitch, Stephen; Korsbakken, Jan Ivar; Peters, Glen P.; Manning, Andrew C.; Boden, Thomas A.; Tans, Pieter P.; Houghton, Richard A.; Keeling, Ralph F.; Alin, Simone; Andrews, Oliver D.; Anthoni, Peter; Barbero, Leticia; Bopp, Laurent; Chevallier, Frédéric; Chini, Louise P.; Ciais, Philippe; Currie, Kim; Delire, Christine; Doney, Scott C.; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gkritzalis, Thanos; Harris, Ian; Hauck, Judith; Haverd, Vanessa; Hoppema, Mario; Klein Goldewijk, Kees; Jain, Atul K.; Kato, Etsushi; Körtzinger, Arne; Landschützer, Peter; Lefèvre, Nathalie; Lenton, Andrew; Lienert, Sebastian; Lombardozzi, Danica; Melton, Joe R.; Metzl, Nicolas; Millero, Frank; Monteiro, Pedro M.S.; Munro, David R.; Nabel, Julia E.M.S.; Nakaoka, S.; O'Brien, Kevin; Olsen, Are; Omar, Abdirahman M.; Ono, Tsuneo; Pierrot, Denis; Poulter, Benjamin; Rödenbeck, Christian; Salisbury, Joe; Schuster, Ute; Schwinger, Jörg; Séférian, Roland; Skjelvan, Ingunn; Stocker, Benjamin D.; Sutton, Adrienne J.; Takahashi, Taro; Tian, Hanqin; Tilbrook, Bronte; Laan-Luijkx, van der Ingrid T.; Werf, van der Guido R.; Viovy, Nicolas; Walker, Anthony P.; Wiltshire, Andrew J.; Zaehle, Sönke

2016-01-01

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere – the “global carbon budget” – is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project

Management of Globally Distributed Component-Based Software Development Projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Kotlarsky (Julia)

2005-01-01

textabstractGlobally Distributed Component-Based Development (GD CBD) is expected to become a promising area, as increasing numbers of companies are setting up software development in a globally distributed environment and at the same time are adopting CBD methodologies. Being an emerging area, the

Learning Global Leadership via Liberation Projects: An Interdisciplinary Application

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Shelbee

2014-01-01

Global leadership programs framed within singular cultural contexts do not promote authentic leadership. Unilateral methods may exclude individual multicultural experiences or identities, and further, encourage a one-size fits all approach to leadership. An interdisciplinary global leadership course aims to promote authentic unlearning and…

A hybrid concept (segmented plus monolithic fused silica shells) for a high-throughput and high-angular resolution x-ray mission (Lynx/X-Ray Surveyor like)

Science.gov (United States)

Basso, Stefano; Civitani, Marta; Pareschi, Giovanni; Parodi, Giancarlo

2017-09-01

Lynx is a large area and high angular resolution X-ray mission being studied by NASA to be presented to the next Decadal Survey for the implementation in the next decade. It aims to realize an X-ray telescope with the effective area similar to Athena (2 m2 at 1 keV) but with the same angular resolution of Chandra and a much larger Field Of View (up 20 arcmin x 20 arcmin). The science of X-ray Surveyor requires a large-throughput mirror assembly with sub-arcsec angular resolution. These future X-ray mirrors have a set of requirements which, collectively, represents very substantial advances over any currently in operation or planned for missions other than X-ray Surveyor. Of particular importance is achieving low mass per unit collecting area, while maintaining Chandra like angular resolution. Among the possible solutions under study, the direct polishing of both thin monolithic pseudo-cylindrical shells and segments made of fused silica are being considered as viable solutions for the implementation of the mirrors. Fused silica has very good thermomechanical parameters (including a very low CTE), making the material particularly well suited for for the production of the Lynx mirrors. It should be noted that the use of close shells is also very attractive, since the operations for the integration of the shells will be greatly simplified and the area lost due to the vignetting from the interfacing structures minimized even if the management of such big (diameter of 3 m) and thin shells have to be demonstrated. In this paper we will discuss a possible basic layout for a full shell mirror and a hybrid concept (segmented plus monolithic shells made of fused silica) as a second solution, for the Lynx/XRS telescope, discussing preliminary results in terms of optical and mechanical performance.

Global Radiological Source Sorting, Tracking, and Monitoring Project: Phase I Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, Randy M.; Hill, David E.; Gorman, Bryan L.

2010-01-01

As a proof of concept tested in an operational context, the Global Radiological Source Sorting, Tracking, and Monitoring (GRadSSTraM) Project successfully demonstrated that radio frequency identification (RFID) and Web 2.0* technologies can be deployed to track controlled shipments between the United States and the European Union. Between November 2009 and May 2010, a total of 19 shipments were successfully shipped from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and tracked to their delivery at England's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) by the United Kingdom Royal Mail. However, the project can only be viewed as a qualified success as notable shortcomings were observed. Although the origin and terminus of all RFID-enabled shipments were recorded and no shipments were lost, not all the waypoints between ORNL and NPL were incorporated into the pilot. Given limited resources, the project team was able to install RFID listeners/actuators at three waypoints between the two endpoints. Although it is likely that all shipments followed the same route between ORNL and NPL, it cannot be determined beyond question that all 19 shipments were routed on identical itineraries past the same three waypoints. The pilot also raises the distinct possibility that unattended RFID tracking alone, without positive confirmation that a tagged item has been properly recorded by an RFID reader, does not meet a rigorous standard for shipping controlled items. Indeed, the proof of concept test strongly suggests that a multifaceted approach to tracking may be called for, including tracking methods that are capable of reading and accepting multiple inputs for individual items (e.g., carrier-provided tracking numbers, Universal Product Codes (UPCs), and RFID tags). For controlled items, another apparent requirement is a confirmation feature, human or otherwise, which can certify that an item's RFID tag, UPC, or tracking number has been recorded.

Agency problems in hospitals participating in self-management project under global budget system in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yu-Hua; Hsu, Shuofen; Yang, Chen-Wei; Fang, Shih-Chieh

2010-02-01

The main purposes of this study are to clarify the agency problems in the hospitals participating in self-management project within the context of Global Budgeting Payment System regulated by Taiwan government, and also to provide some suggestions for hospital administrator and health policy maker in reducing the waste of healthcare resources resulting from agency problems. For the purposes above, this study examines the relationships between two agency problems (ex ante moral hazard and ex post moral hazard) aroused among the hospitals and Bureau of National Health Insurance in Taiwan's health care sector. This study empirically tested the theoretical model at organization level. The findings suggest that the hospital's ex ante moral hazards before participating the self-management project do have some influence on its ex post moral hazards after participating the self-management project. This study concludes that the goal conflict between the agents and the principal certainly exist. The principal tries hard to control the expenditure escalation and keep the financial balance, but the agents have to subsist within limited healthcare resources. Therefore, the agency cost would definitely occur due to the conflicts between both parties. According to the results of the research, some suggestions and related management concepts were proposed at the end of the paper.

Developing Global Leaders: Building Effective Global- Intercultural Collaborative Online Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Ivy, Karen Lynne-Daniels

2017-01-01

This paper shares the findings of a study conducted on a virtual inter-cultural global leadership development learning project. Mixed Methods analysis techniques were used to examine the interviews of U.S. and Uganda youth project participants. The study, based on cultural and social constructivist learning theories, investigated the effects of…

Potential and Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM During Pre-Construction, Construction and Post Construction Stage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aw Nien Wei

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The construction industry is the main economic support for all countries around the world in which continually adapting to meet competitive challenges around the global market. Nevertheless, the construction project is becoming much more complex and difficult to manage. This is because the construction project involves a large number of stakeholder, for example, the consultant companies, architects, engineers, building surveyors and quantity surveyors. The technology currently used in the construction industry is the AutoCAD (Automatic computeraided design. AutoCAD is a commercial software application for 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD and drafting develop by Autodesk. Generally, all the drawing design from Autocad will be exchanged among the stakeholder in the form of paper. Information exchanged among them mostly involves a lot of documents and drawings. This practice creates errors because of documents and drawings are mostly in a paper-based format that is not properly managed which results in miscommunication among them. Having wrong information in the construction process could hinder the productivity of projects because in a construction project information is one of the important construction materials. Building Information Modeling (BIM is one of the newly software in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC industries to ensure all parties receive the right information. BIM technology is also an intelligent model of a building constructed digitally in the way of 3D. The software will generate model containing the information needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities that needed to realize the building. This paper will discuss on potential and benefits of BIM during pre-construction stage, construction stage and during post construction stage

Global Trends in Surveying Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2005-01-01

Basically, the surveyors have been dealing with the same tasks for centuries. However, even if the core areas of cadastral surveying and land management are still the same, the paradigms and tools to be used must constantly be adapted to technological development as well as to the ever changing...... societal and administrative conditions. This of course imposes all kinds of challenges upon the profession and educational institutions. Furthermore, issues such as curricula development, quality assurance, continuing professional development, and mutual recognition are crucial to any professional...

Projected global ground-level ozone impacts on vegetation under different emission and climate scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Sicard

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The impact of ground-level ozone (O3 on vegetation is largely under-investigated at the global scale despite large areas worldwide that are exposed to high surface O3 levels. To explore future potential impacts of O3 on vegetation, we compared historical and projected surface O3 concentrations simulated by six global atmospheric chemistry transport models on the basis of three representative concentration pathways emission scenarios (i.e. RCP2.6, 4.5, 8.5. To assess changes in the potential surface O3 threat to vegetation at the global scale, we used the AOT40 metric. Results point out a significant exceedance of AOT40 in comparison with the recommendations of UNECE for the protection of vegetation. In fact, many areas of the Northern Hemisphere show that AOT40-based critical levels will be exceeded by a factor of at least 10 under RCP8.5. Changes in surface O3 by 2100 worldwide range from about +4–5 ppb in the RCP8.5 scenario to reductions of about 2–10 ppb in the most optimistic scenario, RCP2.6. The risk of O3 injury for vegetation, through the potential O3 impact on photosynthetic assimilation, decreased by 61 and 47 % under RCP2.6 and RCP4.5, respectively, and increased by 70 % under RCP8.5. Key biodiversity areas in southern and northern Asia, central Africa and North America were identified as being at risk from high O3 concentrations.

Mobile Interfaces for Building Control Surveyors

OpenAIRE

Chmielewski , Jacek; Walczak , Krzysztof; Wiza , Wojciech

2010-01-01

International audience; The problem of integrating heterogeneous back-end platforms used in public administration has been widely addressed in a number of research and development projects. In such a complex and heterogeneous environment, application of the SOA paradigm can be particularly beneficial. However, in some application domains - such as the Building Control Administration - there is an additional requirement: integration of heterogeneous front-end platforms - including access throu...

Infinitesimal bundles and projective relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, G.T.

1973-01-01

An intrinsic and global presentation of five-dimensional relativity theory is developed, in which special coordinate conditions are replaced by conditions of Lie invariance. The notion of an infinitesimal bundle is introduced, and the theory of connexions on principal bundles is extended to infinitesimal bundles. Global aspects of projective relativity are studied: it is shown that projective relativity can describe almost any space-time. In particular, it is not necessary to assume that the electromagnetic field have a global potential. (author)

The Future of Global Social Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miriam Potocky-Tripodi

2005-05-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the social work within the context of internationalism and globalization. Based on an examination of published documents on international social work in the past decade, the authors make an evidence-based projection of what is likely to occur in the future of global social work. Finally, the authors make a social work values-based projection of what should occur.

A lead for transvaluation of global nuclear energy research and funded projects in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiriyama, Eriko; Kajikawa, Yuya; Fujita, Katsuhide; Iwata, Shuichi

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Chernobyl accident had limited influence on basic research in nuclear energy. • Budget allocation to R and D and number of published papers have recently decreased. • Citation network analysis revealed reactor safety and fusion as current research trend. • Nuclear energy research policy will change after Fukushima disaster. - Abstract: The decision-making process that precedes the introduction of a new energy system should strive for a balance among human security, environmental safeguards, energy security, proliferation risk, economic risks, etc. For nuclear energy, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (Fukushima disaster) has brought forth a strong need for transvaluation of the present technology. Here, we analyzed bibliographic records of publications in nuclear science and technology to illustrate an overview and trends in nuclear energy technology and related fields by using citation network analysis. We also analyzed funding data and keywords assigned for each project by co-occurrence network analysis. This research integrates citation network analysis and bibliometric keyword analysis to compare the global trends in nuclear energy research and characteristics of research conducted at universities and institutes in Japan. We show that the Chernobyl accident had only a limited influence on basic research. The results of papers are dispersed in diverse areas of nuclear energy technology research, and the results of KAKEN projects in Japan are highly influenced by national energy policy with a focus on nuclear fuel cycle for energy security, although KAKEN allows much freedom in the selection of research projects to academic community

Global resource sharing

CERN Document Server

Frederiksen, Linda; Nance, Heidi

2011-01-01

Written from a global perspective, this book reviews sharing of library resources on a global scale. With expanded discovery tools and massive digitization projects, the rich and extensive holdings of the world's libraries are more visible now than at any time in the past. Advanced communication and transmission technologies, along with improved international standards, present a means for the sharing of library resources around the globe. Despite these significant improvements, a number of challenges remain. Global Resource Sharing provides librarians and library managers with a comprehensive

Global Software Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ebert, Christof; Kuhrmann, Marco; Prikladnicki, Rafael

2016-01-01

Professional software products and IT systems and services today are developed mostly by globally distributed teams, projects, and companies. Successfully orchestrating Global Software Engineering (GSE) has become the major success factor both for organizations and practitioners. Yet, more than...... and experience reported at the IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICGSE) series. The outcomes of our analysis show GSE as a field highly attached to industry and, thus, a considerable share of ICGSE papers address the transfer of Software Engineering concepts and solutions to the global stage...

Present and Future Projections of Habitat Suitability of the Asian Tiger Mosquito, a Vector of Viral Pathogens, from Global Climate Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Proestos, Y.; Christophides, G.; Erguler, K.; Tanarhte, M.; Waldock, J.; Lelieveld, J.

2014-12-01

Climate change can influence the transmission of vector borne diseases (VBDs) through altering the habitat suitability of insect vectors. Here we present global climate model simulations and evaluate the associated uncertainties in view of the main meteorological factors that may affect the distribution of the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which can transmit pathogens that cause Chikungunya, Dengue fever, yellow fever and various encephalitides. Using a general circulation model (GCM) at 50 km horizontal resolution to simulate mosquito survival variables including temperature, precipitation and relative humidity, we present both global and regional projections of the habitat suitability up to the middle of the 21st century. The model resolution of 50 km allows evaluation against previous projections for Europe and provides a basis for comparative analyses with other regions. Model uncertainties and performance are addressed in light of the recent CMIP5 ensemble climate model simulations for the RCP8.5 concentration pathway and using meteorological re-analysis data (ERA-Interim/ECMWF) for the recent past. Uncertainty ranges associated with the thresholds of meteorological variables that may affect the distribution of Ae. albopictus are diagnosed using fuzzy-logic methodology, notably to assess the influence of selected meteorological criteria and combinations of criteria that influence mosquito habitat suitability. From the climate projections for 2050, and adopting a habitat suitability index larger than 70%, we estimate that about 2.4 billion individuals in a land area of nearly 20 million square kilometres will potentially be exposed to Ae. albopictus. The synthesis of fuzzy-logic based on mosquito biology and climate change analysis provides new insights into the regional and global spreading of VBDs to support disease control and policy making.

Global Change Data Base Pilot (Diskette) Project for Africa. Dase base documentation version 1.1

Science.gov (United States)

1992-06-01

The data base for Africa contains vegetation data, climate data, and other thematic data for a recent three and a half year period. The documentation contains separate chapters of material edited about separate data sets of the overall Global Change Data Base, Pilot (diskette) Project for Africa. Descriptions of data formats, authors, and contributors are accompanied by documentation of the development/use of the data. These materials have been suggested and contributed directly by the authors of the individual data sets. To avoid confusion, some information contained in the documentation that is not directly relevant to the data base has been either omitted, crossed out, or blanked out.

National inventory of Global Change relevant research in Norway; Nasjonal kartlegging av global change-relevant forskning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-05-01

The Norwegian Global Change Committee has made an inventory of global change research (GCR) projects funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) in 2001. In lack of a rigid definition, GCR was defined as research that can be considered relevant to the science agenda of the four major international global change programmes DIVERSITAS, IGBP, IHDP and WCRP. Relevance was judged based on the objectives stated for each of the international programmes and their core projects. It was not attempted to check whether the projects had any kind of link to the programmes they were considered relevant for. The grants provided by the RCN in 2001 to GCR as defined above amounts to about 77 mill. NOK. Based on a recent survey on climate change research it is reasonable to estimate that the RCN finances between 30 and 40 % of all GCR in Norway. Accordingly, the total value of Norwegian research relevant to the four international global change programmes in 2001 can be estimated to 192 - 254 mill. NOK.

(Chemistry of the global atmosphere)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marland, G.

1990-09-27

The traveler attended the conference The Chemistry of the Global Atmosphere,'' and presented a paper on the anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) to the atmosphere. The conference included meetings of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) programme, a core project of the International Geosphere/Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the traveler participated in meetings on the IGAC project Development of Global Emissions Inventories'' and agreed to coordinate the working group on CO{sub 2}. Papers presented at the conference focused on the latest developments in analytical methods, modeling and understanding of atmospheric CO{sub 2}, CO, CH{sub 4}, N{sub 2}O, SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, NMHCs, CFCs, and aerosols.

New Accelerator Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delahaye, J.P.

2010-01-01

There is large number of ambitious accelerator projects with promising performances in the near (and short term) future which aims at exploring energy and/or luminosity frontiers and Complementary aspects of various particles species. High Energy Physics requirements are extremely demanding with challenging parameters: entering into the new territories of the tera-scale data, high Energy or/and High (Integrated) Luminosity, high performance, high availability, long lifetime, luminosity leveling etc.. New projects are more and more challenging: larger, more powerful, more expensive, technology above present standard. Innovative ideas and breakthrough on novel technologies are key for HEP adventure. Aggressive R and D is imperative on beam and Technology related, on cost and power consumption mitigation.. There is ambitious Test Facilities to address feasibility. More and more time and (M and P) resources are required from first ideas to project proposal: it is of prime importance to launch R and D early, explore all possible options of schemes and technologies (anticipating future Physics requests), make realistic status and schedule estimates (preserve credibility and make reasonable plans). Global Collaboration is mandatory from the R and D phase to the construction and operation in order to make best use of limited resources and available expertise as inspired from successful collaborations on Detectors. The global strategy of new accelerator projects in truly world-wide collaboration aims at: - defining all various Projects and Technology options worth exploring, - taking advantage of global teams made of world-wide experts, and of synergies to address common issues (generic R and D) of various projects, - preparing together plethora of project proposals to cover Physics Landscape (ready for window opportunity), - developing Collaborative/Competition (Experts in Collaboration, Technology and Projects options in Competition), - Joining resources on (few) selected

Global Change Research: Summaries of research in FY 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-10-01

This document describes the activities and products of the Global Research Program in FY 1993. This publication describes all of the projects funded by the Environmental Sciences Division of DOE under annual contracts, grants, and interagency agreements in FY 1993. Each description contains the project`s title; its 3-year funding history (in thousands of dollars); the period over which the funding applies; the name(s) of the principal investigator(s); the institution(s) conducting the projects; and the project`s objectives, products, approach, and results to date (for most projects older than 1 year). Project descriptions are categorized within the report according to program areas: climate modeling, quantitative links, global carbon cycle, vegetation research, ocean research, economics of global climate change, education, information and integration, and NIGEC. Within these categories, the descriptions are grouped alphabetically by principal investigator. Each program area is preceded by a brief text that defines the program area, states its goals and objectives, lists principal research questions, and identifies program managers.

Global Software Engineering: A Software Process Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Ita; Casey, Valentine; Burton, John; McCaffery, Fergal

Our research has shown that many companies are struggling with the successful implementation of global software engineering, due to temporal, cultural and geographical distance, which causes a range of factors to come into play. For example, cultural, project managementproject management and communication difficulties continually cause problems for software engineers and project managers. While the implementation of efficient software processes can be used to improve the quality of the software product, published software process models do not cater explicitly for the recent growth in global software engineering. Our thesis is that global software engineering factors should be included in software process models to ensure their continued usefulness in global organisations. Based on extensive global software engineering research, we have developed a software process, Global Teaming, which includes specific practices and sub-practices. The purpose is to ensure that requirements for successful global software engineering are stipulated so that organisations can ensure successful implementation of global software engineering.

Montes Consolider Project : Spanish Mountains and Global Change: Threats and Opportunities; El proyecto Montes Consolider: los montes espanoles y el cambio global, amenazas y oportunidades

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doble-Miranda, E.; Bermejo, V.; Retana, J.; Alonso, R.

2012-11-01

Global change is a combination of environmental and biotic alterations that threaten many natural ecosystems and the services they provide. The Project MONTES for competitive, multi-disciplinary research, in which 13 national research centers, including CIEMAT, are participating, was launched for the purpose of directing forest management toward adaptation to occurring changes. It is organized into seven work modules that study the effects of atmospheric and climate changes, land use, fire patterns, the risk that invasive species pose to the maintenance of carbon and water flows and biodiversity, plus an eighth module to coordinate cross disciplinary matters. (Author) 12 refs.

Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership: NASA's Path to Project Management Excellence

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's Path to Project Management Excellence eBook. Leadership plays a critical role in the success of today’s programs and projects. In an increasingly global and...

Global nuclear renaissance - today's issues, challenges and differences relative to the first wave of nuclear plant projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardner, William N.

2010-01-01

The development and negotiation of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract is a multi-disciplined and time consuming process. Relative to the first wave on new nuclear build projects of the 1950's - 1970's, today's EPC contracts are more complex for a variety of reasons including more demanding regulatory and environmental requirements, global supply chain versus localization issues and different world wide economic considerations. This paper discusses the impacts of some of these challenges on developing an EPC contract in today's Nuclear Renaissance. (authors)

The Wunstorf Drilling Project: Coring a Global Stratigraphic Reference Section of the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Wilmsen

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The Wunstorf drilling project aims at establishing a high resolution stable isotope record for the black shale succession (OAE 2 of the CTBI and developing this into a globally applicable high resolutionbio- and chemostratigraphic reference section. Disciplines involved include micropaleontology (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera, macropaleontology (ammonites, inoceramids, stable isotopes and cyclostratigraphy mainly based on borehole logging, multisensor core logging, and x-ray flflfluorescence (XRF scanning data. The combination of geochemical, paleontological, and logging data will allow high resolution chemo- and biostratigraphy for the CTBI which may in the future serve as an international standard.

Virtual projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Commisso, Trine Hald

2012-01-01

that the best practice knowledge has not permeated sufficiently to the practice. Furthermore, the appropriate application of information and communication technology (ICT) remains a big challenge, and finally project managers are not sufficiently trained in organizing and conducting virtual projects....... The overall implications for research and practice are to acknowledge virtual project management as very different to traditional project management and to address this difference.......Virtual projects are common with global competition, market development, and not least the financial crisis forcing organizations to reduce their costs drastically. Organizations therefore have to place high importance on ways to carry out virtual projects and consider appropriate practices...

Mars Orbiter Camera Views the 'Face on Mars' - Best View from Viking

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the 'Face on Mars' feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS.The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the 'Face', located at approximately 40.8o N, 9.6o W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The 'morning' sun was 25o above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long.This Viking Orbiter image is one of the best Viking pictures of the area Cydonia where the 'Face' is located. Marked on the image are the 'footprint' of the high resolution (narrow angle) Mars Orbiter Camera image and the area seen in enlarged views (dashed box). See PIA01440-1442 for these images in raw and processed form.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

The effectiveness of Microsoft Project in assessing extension of time under PAM 2006 standard form of contract

Science.gov (United States)

Suhaida, S. K.; Wong, Z. D.

2017-11-01

Time is equal to money; and it is applies in the construction industry where time is very important. Most of the standard form of contracts provide contractual clauses to ascertain time and money related to the scenarios while Extension of Time (EOT) is one of them. Under circumstance and delays, contractor is allow to apply EOT in order to complete the works on a later completion date without Liquidated Damages (LD) imposed to the claimant. However, both claimants and assessors encountered problems in assessing the EOT. The aim of this research is to recommend the usage of Microsoft Project as a tool in assessing EOT associated with the standard form of contract, PAM 2006. A quantitative method is applied towards the respondents that consisted of architects and quantity surveyors (QS) in order to collect data on challenges in assessing EOT claims and the effectiveness of Microsoft Project as a tool. The finding of this research highlighted that Microsoft Project can serve as a basis to perform EOT tasks as this software can be used as a data bank to store handy information which crucial for preparing and evaluating EOT.

Report on an international joint research project for global environment technology in fiscal 1998; 1998 nendo chikyu kankyo gijutsu kokusai kyodo kenkyu jigyo hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

In order to serve for measures against global problems taken by Japan, joint research was carried out with overseas research organizations. The research project selected ten themes considering urgency, internationality and economic proliferation effect in areas to serve for solution of global environment problems. These themes include removal or emission control of greenhouse effect gases, measures against atmospheric environment problems such as acid rains and ozone layer destruction, prevention of ocean contamination, development and effective utilization of energies and resources. When the feedback of these themes to the NEDO projects is considered, the research achievements in relation with development of the acid rain monitoring system in particular support indirectly development of carbon dioxide fixation technologies. The research achievements in developing an environmentally friendly biomass energy manufacturing process and environmental effect evaluation thereon contribute as an effective process to carbon dioxide reduction using biomass as raw materials. The achievements in research of nonlinear interfacial properties and mixed phase turbulence of low-purity carbon dioxide bubbles contribute to a project related to storage of carbon dioxide in oceans. (NEDO)

Global supply chain management/transportation : building a global network of scholars and educators : phase I

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

During the project period two conferences--1st Symposium and Workshop in Global : Supply Chain (http://www.business.utoledo.edu/scm) at University of Toledo, Toledo, : OH, USA (October 6-7, 2007) and 2nd Symposium and Workshop in Global Supply : Chai...

Project of CO{sub 2} fixation and utilization using catalytic hydrogenation reaction for coping with the global environment issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Discussions were given on a carbon dioxide fixing and utilizing project utilizing hydrogenating reaction by means of a catalytic method. In the discussions, development was made on such foundation technologies as CO2 separation by using Cardo type CO2 membrane, a technology to synthesize methanol through hydrogen addition by means of the catalytic method, and an electrolytic technology of membrane-electrode mixed type, as well as a methanol synthesis bench test of 50 kg/d scale. In order to develop this result into specific applications, demonstration tests are required that use methanol synthesizing pilot plants of 4 t/d and 80 t/d capacities. In addition, for the electric power to produce a huge amount of hydrogen, development is necessary on a solar energy utilizing technology of large scale and low cost. Furthermore, from the economic and social viewpoints, the achievements of this project are regarded to depend on understanding of the necessity of a policy of putting a large number of methanol fuel cell automobiles into use, and dealing with the global warming problem. Energy required to change CO2 into useful chemical substance requires five times as much energy as has been produced, hence prevention of the global warming through this channel is difficult. (NEDO)

Going global

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meade, W.; Poirier, J.L.

1992-01-01

This article discusses the global market for independent power projects and the increased competition and strategic alliances that are occurring to take advantage of the increasing demand. The topics of the article include the amount of involvement of US companies in the global market, the forces driving the market toward independent power, markets in the United Kingdom, North America, Turkey, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Federal Republic of Germany, India, the former Eastern European countries, Asia and the Pacific nations, and niche markets

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 2: Evaluation of global terrestrial evaporation data sets

KAUST Repository

Miralles, D. G.; Jimé nez, C.; Jung, M.; Michel, D.; Ershadi, Ali; McCabe, Matthew; Hirschi, M.; Martens, B.; Dolman, A. J.; Fisher, J. B.; Mu, Q.; Seneviratne, S. I.; Wood, E. F.; Fernaì ndez-Prieto, D.

2015-01-01

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project aims to advance the development of land evaporation estimates on global and regional scales. Its main objective is the derivation, validation, and intercomparison of a group of existing evaporation retrieval algorithms driven by a common forcing data set. Three commonly used process-based evaporation methodologies are evaluated: the Penman–Monteith algorithm behind the official Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), and the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL). The resulting global spatiotemporal variability of evaporation, the closure of regional water budgets, and the discrete estimation of land evaporation components or sources (i.e. transpiration, interception loss, and direct soil evaporation) are investigated using river discharge data, independent global evaporation data sets and results from previous studies. In a companion article (Part 1), Michel et al. (2016) inspect the performance of these three models at local scales using measurements from eddy-covariance towers and include in the assessment the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. In agreement with Part 1, our results indicate that the Priestley and Taylor products (PT-JPL and GLEAM) perform best overall for most ecosystems and climate regimes. While all three evaporation products adequately represent the expected average geographical patterns and seasonality, there is a tendency in PM-MOD to underestimate the flux in the tropics and subtropics. Overall, results from GLEAM and PT-JPL appear more realistic when compared to surface water balances from 837 globally distributed catchments and to separate evaporation estimates from ERAInterim and the model tree ensemble (MTE). Nonetheless, all products show large dissimilarities during conditions of water stress and drought and

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 2: Evaluation of global terrestrial evaporation data sets

KAUST Repository

Miralles, D. G.

2015-10-19

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project aims to advance the development of land evaporation estimates on global and regional scales. Its main objective is the derivation, validation, and intercomparison of a group of existing evaporation retrieval algorithms driven by a common forcing data set. Three commonly used process-based evaporation methodologies are evaluated: the Penman–Monteith algorithm behind the official Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), and the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL). The resulting global spatiotemporal variability of evaporation, the closure of regional water budgets, and the discrete estimation of land evaporation components or sources (i.e. transpiration, interception loss, and direct soil evaporation) are investigated using river discharge data, independent global evaporation data sets and results from previous studies. In a companion article (Part 1), Michel et al. (2016) inspect the performance of these three models at local scales using measurements from eddy-covariance towers and include in the assessment the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. In agreement with Part 1, our results indicate that the Priestley and Taylor products (PT-JPL and GLEAM) perform best overall for most ecosystems and climate regimes. While all three evaporation products adequately represent the expected average geographical patterns and seasonality, there is a tendency in PM-MOD to underestimate the flux in the tropics and subtropics. Overall, results from GLEAM and PT-JPL appear more realistic when compared to surface water balances from 837 globally distributed catchments and to separate evaporation estimates from ERAInterim and the model tree ensemble (MTE). Nonetheless, all products show large dissimilarities during conditions of water stress and drought and

Tropical forest policies for the global climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Groot, W.T.; Kamminga, E.M.

1995-01-01

A summary is given of the approach and findings of the NRP project 'Local Actors and Global Tree Cover Policies'. The aim of this project was to identify the most effective and efficient options for global climate policies focusing on the tropical forest. Tropical deforestation is a process with very complex and variable causes. In the project's conclusions, therefore, much care has been given to arrive at a coherent image of what really counts most in the myriad of factors, actors, policy levels and policy options. 5 refs

Mercury from wildfires: Global emission inventories and sensitivity to 2000-2050 global change

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Aditya; Wu, Shiliang; Huang, Yaoxian; Liao, Hong; Kaplan, Jed O.

2018-01-01

We estimate the global Hg wildfire emissions for the 2000s and the potential impacts from the 2000-2050 changes in climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions by combining statistical analysis with global data on vegetation type and coverage as well as fire activities. Global Hg wildfire emissions are estimated to be 612 Mg year-1. Africa is the dominant source region (43.8% of global emissions), followed by Eurasia (31%) and South America (16.6%). We find significant perturbations to wildfire emissions of Hg in the context of global change, driven by the projected changes in climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions. 2000-2050 climate change could increase Hg emissions by 14% globally and regionally by 18% for South America, 14% for Africa and 13% for Eurasia. Projected changes in land use by 2050 could decrease the global Hg emissions from wildfires by 13% mainly driven by a decline in African emissions due to significant agricultural land expansion. Future land cover changes could lead to significant increases in Hg emissions over some regions (+32% North America, +14% Africa, +13% Eurasia). Potential enrichment of terrestrial ecosystems in 2050 in response to changes in Hg anthropogenic emissions could increase Hg wildfire emissions globally (+28%) and regionally (+19% North America, +20% South America, +24% Africa, +41% Eurasia). Our results indicate that the future evolution of climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions are all important factors affecting Hg wildfire emissions in the coming decades.

Greater future global warming inferred from Earth's recent energy budget.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Patrick T; Caldeira, Ken

2017-12-06

Climate models provide the principal means of projecting global warming over the remainder of the twenty-first century but modelled estimates of warming vary by a factor of approximately two even under the same radiative forcing scenarios. Across-model relationships between currently observable attributes of the climate system and the simulated magnitude of future warming have the potential to inform projections. Here we show that robust across-model relationships exist between the global spatial patterns of several fundamental attributes of Earth's top-of-atmosphere energy budget and the magnitude of projected global warming. When we constrain the model projections with observations, we obtain greater means and narrower ranges of future global warming across the major radiative forcing scenarios, in general. In particular, we find that the observationally informed warming projection for the end of the twenty-first century for the steepest radiative forcing scenario is about 15 per cent warmer (+0.5 degrees Celsius) with a reduction of about a third in the two-standard-deviation spread (-1.2 degrees Celsius) relative to the raw model projections reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Our results suggest that achieving any given global temperature stabilization target will require steeper greenhouse gas emissions reductions than previously calculated.

Project management practice and its effects on project success in Malaysian construction industry

Science.gov (United States)

Haron, N. A.; Devi, P.; Hassim, S.; Alias, A. H.; Tahir, M. M.; Harun, A. N.

2017-12-01

The rapid economic development has increased the demand for construction of infrastructure and facilities globally. Sustainable development and globalization are the new ‘Zeitgeist’ of the 21st century. In order to implement these projects successfully and to meet the functional aim of the projects within their lifetime, an efficient project management practice is needed. The aim of this study is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and the extent of use of project management practice which affects project success, especially during the implementation stage. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires with 232 respondents. A mixed method of data collection was adopted using semi-structured interview and questionnaire approach. The result of the analysis of data obtained showed that new and emerging criteria such as customer satisfaction, competency of the project team, and performance of subcontractors/suppliers are becoming measures of success in addition to the classic iron triangle’s view of time, cost and quality. An insight on the extent of use of different project management practice in the industry was also achieved from the study.

Open Source Vulnerability Database Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jake Kouns

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This article introduces the Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB project which manages a global collection of computer security vulnerabilities, available for free use by the information security community. This collection contains information on known security weaknesses in operating systems, software products, protocols, hardware devices, and other infrastructure elements of information technology. The OSVDB project is intended to be the centralized global open source vulnerability collection on the Internet.

DaimlerChrysler - powertrain-strategy. Global requirements - global solutions; DaimlerChrysler - Powertrain-Strategie. Globale Anforderungen - Globale Loesungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mikulic, L. [Mercedes Car Group, DaimlerChrysler AG, Mercedes-Benz Technology Center, Stuttgart (Germany); Lee, R. [DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, MI (United States)

2007-07-01

'Globalization' - few concepts have shaped the last fifteen years like this has. For some it is a synonym for unexpected economic and social revolution, a threatening change in familiar arrangements, whilst others see the coalescence of global structures as, more than anything, a challenge - which, if mastered, offers endless possibilities for success. The challenges facing an automotive manufacturer in a globalized world are of quite a different nature. Not least, the constantly increasing competitive pressure has reduced the number of independent automotive manufacturers, in what is known as the Triad (Europe, Japan and North America), from 42 at the beginning of the 1960's to just 15 today. Also in Europe, consolidation has led, on the one hand, to a reduction in individual brands and on the other, to a number of collaborative projects between companies. Even in the dynamically growing East Asia markets, where the number of independent carmakers is still large, such collaborations have already occurred. In the near future much dynamics can be expected within the two fastest growing markets, China and India. Within these competitive markets, a globally operating company like DaimlerChrysler is faced with new challenges. (orig.)

Why Closely Coupled Work Matters in Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Rasmus Eskild

2014-01-01

We report on an ethnographic study of an offshore global software development project between Danish and Philippine developers in a Danish company called GlobalSoft. We investigate why the IT- developers chose to engage in more closely coupled work as the project progressed and argue that closely...

Poverty Mapping Project: Global Subnational Infant Mortality Rates

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Subnational Infant Mortality Rates consists of estimates of infant mortality rates for the year 2000. The infant mortality rate for a region or country is...

Using E-markets for Globally Distributed Work

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hillegersberg, Jos; Amrit, Chintan Amrit; Oshri, Ilan; Kotlarsky, Julia; Willcocks, Leslie P.

2015-01-01

For over a decade, dedicated E-markets have been facilitating globally distributed systems development by enhancing the traditionally high-risk global sourcing processes. At the same time, the success and potential of E-markets for sourcing project globally can be questioned, as E-markets embody a

The GEWEX LandFlux project: evaluation of model evaporation using tower-based and globally gridded forcing data

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, M. F.; Ershadi, A.; Jimenez, C.; Miralles, D. G.; Michel, D.; Wood, E. F.

2016-01-01

Determining the spatial distribution and temporal development of evaporation at regional and global scales is required to improve our understanding of the coupled water and energy cycles and to better monitor any changes in observed trends and variability of linked hydrological processes. With recent international efforts guiding the development of long-term and globally distributed flux estimates, continued product assessments are required to inform upon the selection of suitable model structures and also to establish the appropriateness of these multi-model simulations for global application. In support of the objectives of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) LandFlux project, four commonly used evaporation models are evaluated against data from tower-based eddy-covariance observations, distributed across a range of biomes and climate zones. The selected schemes include the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) approach, the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model, the Penman-Monteith-based Mu model (PM-Mu) and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM). Here we seek to examine the fidelity of global evaporation simulations by examining the multi-model response to varying sources of forcing data. To do this, we perform parallel and collocated model simulations using tower-based data together with a global-scale grid-based forcing product. Through quantifying the multi-model response to high-quality tower data, a better understanding of the subsequent model response to the coarse-scale globally gridded data that underlies the LandFlux product can be obtained, while also providing a relative evaluation and assessment of model performance. Using surface flux observations from 45 globally distributed eddy-covariance stations as independent metrics of performance, the tower-based analysis indicated that PT-JPL provided the highest overall statistical performance (0.72; 61 W m-2; 0.65), followed closely by GLEAM (0.68; 64 W m-2

Toward a pro-active scientific advice on global volcanic activity within the multi-hazard framework of the EU Aristotle project

Science.gov (United States)

Barsotti, Sara; Duncan, Melanie; Loughlin, Susan; Gísladóttir, Bryndis; Roberts, Matthew; Karlsdóttir, Sigrún; Scollo, Simona; Salerno, Giuseppe; Corsaro, Rosa Anna; Charalampakis, Marinos; Papadopoulos, Gerassimos

2017-04-01

The demand for timely analysis and advice on global volcanic activity from scientists is growing. At the same time, decision-makers require more than an understanding of hazards; they need to know what impacts to expect from ongoing and future events. ARISTOTLE (All Risk Integrated System TOwards Trans-boundary hoListic Early-warning) is a two-year EC funded pilot project designed to do just that. The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) works to support and coordinate response to disasters both inside and outside Europe using resources from the countries participating in the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. Led by INGV and ZAMG, the ARISTOTLE consortium comprises 15 institutions across Europe and aims to deliver multi-hazard advice on natural events, including their potential interactions and impact, both inside and outside of Europe to the ERCC. Where possible, the ERCC would like a pro-active provision of scientific advice by the scientific group. Iceland Met Office leads the volcanic hazards work, with BGS, INGV and NOA comprising the volcano observatory team. At this stage, the volcanology component of the project comprises mainly volcanic ash and gas dispersal and potential impact on population and ground-based critical infrastructures. We approach it by relying upon available and official volcano monitoring institutions' reporting of activity, existing assessments and global databases of past events, modelling tools, remote-sensing observational systems and official VAAC advisories. We also make use of global assessments of volcanic hazards, country profiles, exposure and proxy indicators of threat to livelihoods, infrastructure and economic assets (e.g. Global Volcano Model outputs). Volcanic ash fall remains the only hazard modelled at the global scale. Volcanic risk assessments remain in their infancy, owing to challenges related to the multitude of hazards, data availability and model representation. We therefore face a number of

Downscaling global land cover projections from an integrated assessment model for use in regional analyses: results and evaluation for the US from 2005 to 2095

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Tristram O; Le Page, Yannick; Wolf, Julie; Thomson, Allison M; Huang, Maoyi

2014-01-01

Projections of land cover change generated from integrated assessment models (IAM) and other economic-based models can be applied for analyses of environmental impacts at sub-regional and landscape scales. For those IAM and economic models that project land cover change at the continental or regional scale, these projections must be downscaled and spatially distributed prior to use in climate or ecosystem models. Downscaling efforts to date have been conducted at the national extent with relatively high spatial resolution (30 m) and at the global extent with relatively coarse spatial resolution (0.5°). We revised existing methods to downscale global land cover change projections for the US to 0.05° resolution using MODIS land cover data as the initial proxy for land class distribution. Land cover change realizations generated here represent a reference scenario and two emissions mitigation pathways (MPs) generated by the global change assessment model (GCAM). Future gridded land cover realizations are constructed for each MODIS plant functional type (PFT) from 2005 to 2095, commensurate with the community land model PFT land classes, and archived for public use. The GCAM land cover realizations provide spatially explicit estimates of potential shifts in croplands, grasslands, shrublands, and forest lands. Downscaling of the MPs indicate a net replacement of grassland by cropland in the western US and by forest in the eastern US. An evaluation of the downscaling method indicates that it is able to reproduce recent changes in cropland and grassland distributions in respective areas in the US, suggesting it could provide relevant insights into the potential impacts of socio-economic and environmental drivers on future changes in land cover. (letters)

Partial pressure (or fugacity) of carbon dioxide, salinity and other variables collected from underway - surface observations using Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer, Shower head chamber equilibrator for autonomous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement and other instruments from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Bass Strait, Coral Sea and others from 2008011 to 2010-10-31 (NODC Accession 0115181)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC Accession 0115181 includes chemical, meteorological, physical and underway - surface data collected from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Bass Strait, Coral Sea, Great...

Uncertainty Assessment of the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-GDDP) Dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weile; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Michaelis, Andrew; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Dungan, Jennifer L.; Thrasher, Bridget L.; Dixon, Keith W.

2016-01-01

The NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) dataset is comprised of downscaled climate projections that are derived from 21 General Circulation Model (GCM) runs conducted under the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and across two of the four greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Each of the climate projections includes daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation for the periods from 1950 through 2100 and the spatial resolution is 0.25 degrees (approximately 25 km x 25 km). The GDDP dataset has received warm welcome from the science community in conducting studies of climate change impacts at local to regional scales, but a comprehensive evaluation of its uncertainties is still missing. In this study, we apply the Perfect Model Experiment framework (Dixon et al. 2016) to quantify the key sources of uncertainties from the observational baseline dataset, the downscaling algorithm, and some intrinsic assumptions (e.g., the stationary assumption) inherent to the statistical downscaling techniques. We developed a set of metrics to evaluate downscaling errors resulted from bias-correction ("quantile-mapping"), spatial disaggregation, as well as the temporal-spatial non-stationarity of climate variability. Our results highlight the spatial disaggregation (or interpolation) errors, which dominate the overall uncertainties of the GDDP dataset, especially over heterogeneous and complex terrains (e.g., mountains and coastal area). In comparison, the temporal errors in the GDDP dataset tend to be more constrained. Our results also indicate that the downscaled daily precipitation also has relatively larger uncertainties than the temperature fields, reflecting the rather stochastic nature of precipitation in space. Therefore, our results provide insights in improving statistical downscaling algorithms and products in the future.

Organized Communities as a Hybrid Form of Data Sharing: Experiences from the Global STEP Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabell Stamm

2018-01-01

Full Text Available With this article, I explore a new way of how social scientists can share primary qualitative data with each other. More specifically, I examine organized research communities, which are small membership groups of scholars. This hybrid form of data sharing is positioned between informal sharing through collaboration and institutionalized sharing through accessing research archives. Using the global "Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices" (STEP project as an example, I draw attention to the pragmatic practices of data sharing in such communities. Through ongoing negotiations, organized communities can, at least temporarily, put forward sharing policies and create a culture of data sharing that elevates the re-use of qualitative data while being mindful of the data's intersubjective and processual character.

The Future of the Global Environment: A Model-based Analysis Supporting UNEP's First Global Environment Outlook

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakkes JA; Woerden JW van; Alcamo J; Berk MM; Bol P; Born GJ van den; Brink BJE ten; Hettelingh JP; Langeweg F; Niessen LW; Swart RJ; United Nations Environment; MNV

1997-01-01

This report documents the scenario analysis in UNEP's first Global Environment Outlook, published at the same time as the scenario analysis. This Outlook provides a pilot assessment of developments in the environment, both global and regional, between now and 2015, with a further projection to

Response of permafrost to projected climate change: Results from global offline model simulations with JSBACH

Science.gov (United States)

Blome, Tanja; Ekici, Altug; Beer, Christian; Hagemann, Stefan

2014-05-01

Permafrost or perennially frozen ground is an important part of the terrestrial cryosphere; roughly one quarter of Earth's land surface is underlain by permafrost. As it is a thermal phenomenon, its characteristics are highly dependent on climatic factors. The impact of the currently observed warming, which is projected to persist during the coming decades due to anthropogenic CO2 input, certainly has effects for the vast permafrost areas of the high northern latitudes. The quantification of these effects, however, is scientifically still an open question. This is partly due to the complexity of the system, where several feedbacks are interacting between land and atmosphere, sometimes counterbalancing each other. Moreover, until recently, many global circulation models (GCMs) lacked the sufficient representation of permafrost physics in their land surface schemes. In order to assess the response of permafrost to projected climate change for the 21st century, the land surface scheme of the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, JSBACH, has recently been equipped with the important physical processes for permafrost studies, and was driven globally with bias corrected climate data, thereby spanning a period from 1850 until 2100. The applied land surface scheme JSBACH now considers the effects of freezing and thawing of soil water for both energy and water cycles, thermal properties depending on soil water and ice contents, and soil moisture movement being influenced by the presence of soil ice. To address the uncertainty range arising through different greenhouse gas concentrations as well as through different climate realisations when using various climate models, combinations of two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and two GCMs were used as driving data. In order to focus only on the climatic impact on permafrost, effects due to feedbacks between climate and permafrost (namely via carbon fluxes between land and atmosphere) are excluded in the experiments

Global warming response options in Brazil's forest sector: comparison of project-level costs and benefits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fearnside, P.M.

1995-01-01

A project-level assessment of monetary and carbon costs and benefits for five classes of global warming response options in the forest sector is attempted for typical Brazilian conditions. Options considered are: silvicultural plantations (for pulp, charcoal and sawlogs), sustainable timber management and reduction of deforestation. Comparison of pulpwood and sawlog plantations with the vegetation characteristic of deforested areas indicates of modest carbon benefit. Plantations for charcoal can produce a substantial carbon benefit through fossil fuel substitution, but much of this calculated benefit disappears if discount rates greater than zero are applied to carbon. Sustainable timber management, when compared with existing forest, represents a net carbon loss, accumulation of carbon in wood products being insufficient to compensate for biomass reduction over a 100 year time scale. Reduction of deforestation has great potential as a global warming response option, its per-hectare carbon benefits being approximately four times that of silvicultural plantation establishment for pulp and sawlogs over a 100 year period. The costs of reducing deforestation are difficult to assess, however, due to the importance of government policy changes such as removal of land speculation and land tenure establishment as motives for clearing. Although these changes would not cost money and would have tremendous carbon and other benefits, they have not yet occurred. (Author)

Future changes in the East Asian rain band projected by global atmospheric models with 20-km and 60-km grid size

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kusunoki, Shoji; Mizuta, Ryo [Meteorological Research Institute, Climate Research Department, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Matsueda, Mio [Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)

2011-12-15

Global warming projection experiments were conducted using a 20-km mesh global atmospheric model, focusing on the change in the rain band of East Asian summer monsoon. To assess the uncertainty of climate change projections, we performed ensemble simulations with the 60-km resolution model combining four different SSTs and three atmospheric initial conditions. In the present-day climate simulations, the 20-km model reproduces the rain band of East Asian summer monsoon better than lower resolution models in terms of geographical distribution and seasonal march. In the future climate simulation by the 20-km model, precipitation increases over the Yangtze River valley in May through July, Korean peninsula in May, and Japan in July. The termination of rainy season over Japan tends to be delayed until August. Ensemble simulations by the 60-km model show that precipitation in the future climate for July increases over the Yangtze River valley, the East China Sea and Japan. These changes in precipitation are partly consistent with those projected by the 20-km model. Simulations by the 20-km and 60-km models consistently show that in the future climate the termination of rainy season over Japan tends to be delayed until August. The changes in the vertically integrated water vapor flux show the intensification of clockwise moisture transport over the western Pacific subtropical high. Most precipitation changes over the East Asia can be interpreted as the moisture convergence resulting from change in the horizontal transport of water vapor. (orig.)

A high-level dynamic analysis approach for studying global process plant availability and production time in the early stages of mining projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Travagini Cremonese

Full Text Available Abstract In the early stage of front-end studies of a Mining Project, the global availability (i.e. number of hours a plant is available for production and production (number of hours a plant is actually operated with material time of the process plant are normally assumed based on the experience of the study team. Understanding and defining the availability hours at the early stages of the project are important for the future stages of the project, as drastic changes in work hours will impact the economics of the project at that stage. An innovative high-level dynamic modeling approach has been developed to assist in the rapid evaluation of assumptions made by the study team. This model incorporates systems or equipment that are commonly used in mining projects from mine to product stockyard discharge after the processing plant. It includes subsystems that will simulate all the component handling, and major process plant systems required for a mining project. The output data provided by this high-level dynamic simulation approach will enhance the confidence level of engineering carried out during the early stage of the project. This study discusses the capabilities of the approach, and a test case compared with standard techniques used in mining project front-end studies.

Preparing Students for Globalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friesel, Anna

2010-01-01

A. Friesel. Preparing Students for Globalization Working with International Teams with Projects // Electronics and Electrical Engineering. - Kaunas: Technologija, 2019. - No. 6(102). - P. 111-114. This paper summarizes the activities, contents and overall outcomes of our experiences with internat......A. Friesel. Preparing Students for Globalization Working with International Teams with Projects // Electronics and Electrical Engineering. - Kaunas: Technologija, 2019. - No. 6(102). - P. 111-114. This paper summarizes the activities, contents and overall outcomes of our experiences...... the positive influence on number of our partnership agreements with other European universities. Globalisation makes it necessary to cooperate on an international platform. At the IHK we have more than 50 active Erasmus agreements. We also have bilateral agreements with many non-European countries, for example......: USA, China, Korea, Mexico, Chile and others. We describe our experiences of working on industrial projects with international teams and analyse the development and trends in student mobility. The growing popularity of these programmes and the increasing number of the students joining our international...

Globalization: prospects for future international cooperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinu, I.P.

2000-01-01

When I say 'globalization', I think to that golden beginning when President Eisenhower gave his historical speech, 'Atomic Power for Peace,' to the General Assembly of U.N.O. in 1953. He proposed, for the first time, an international cooperation for sustaining the peaceful application of nuclear energy. Years later, the global nuclear dream was shaken by Chernobyl. Humankind had seen the reverse of globalization: any lack in project, execution, or operation of an NPP has global consequences. Still, why globalization? Globalization because global urbanization trends are an important factor for energy planners and this debate is vital for fueling the bigger cities of tomorrow. (author)

Security in the Baltic region as a Projection of Global Confrontation between Russia and the USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vadim Volovoj

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article considers the problem of security in the Baltic region, namely, that of Poland and the Baltics. The authors rely on the works of Karl Deutsch, Emanuel Adler, on Michael Barnett’s theory of security communities and Barry Buzan’s re­gional security complex theory, address Steven Mann’s controlled chaos theory and the concept of Intermarium. Their starting assumption is that the situation in the Baltic depends largely on the politics of external powers — Russia and the United States, — being a projection of their global geopolitical confrontation. The US strategy thus becomes a major part of the equation. The authors believe that since the end of the second Iraq war the American elite has been divided along ideological lines into adherents of the chaos theory and traditionalists thinking in terms of sharing control with the other centres of global power. The US strategy in the Baltic region does not seek an open military conflict with Russia. On the contrary, the US strives to preserve the current level of confrontation between Russia and the EU, convincing the latter of the reality of the Russian threat. Countries that traditionally support confrontation with Russia, Poland and the Bal­tics, serve as a conduit for Washington strategy in Europe and a cordon sanitaire. This function is implemented through the Intermarium project meant to separate Russia from the EU. The four countries are rather active in this area, striving to attain the status of the US principal partners in the region and Europe in general. To retaliate, Moscow does everything within its power to ‘separate’ Brussels from Washington, yet the US influence is still very strong in Europe.

The GEWEX LandFlux project: evaluation of model evaporation using tower-based and globally-gridded forcing data

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, M. F.; Ershadi, A.; Jimenez, C.; Miralles, D. G.; Michel, D.; Wood, E. F.

2015-08-01

Determining the spatial distribution and temporal development of evaporation at regional and global scales is required to improve our understanding of the coupled water and energy cycles and to better monitor any changes in observed trends and variability of linked hydrological processes. With recent international efforts guiding the development of long-term and globally distributed flux estimates, continued product assessments are required to inform upon the selection of suitable model structures and also to establish the appropriateness of these multi-model simulations for global application. In support of the objectives of the GEWEX LandFlux project, four commonly used evaporation models are evaluated against data from tower-based eddy-covariance observations, distributed across a range of biomes and climate zones. The selected schemes include the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) approach, the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model, the Penman-Monteith based Mu model (PM-Mu) and the Global Land Evaporation: the Amsterdam Methodology (GLEAM). Here we seek to examine the fidelity of global evaporation simulations by examining the multi-model response to varying sources of forcing data. To do this, we perform parallel and collocated model simulations using tower-based data together with a global-scale grid-based forcing product. Through quantifying the multi-model response to high-quality tower data, a better understanding of the subsequent model response to coarse-scale globally gridded data that underlies the LandFlux product can be obtained, while also providing a relative evaluation and assessment of model performance. Using surface flux observations from forty-five globally distributed eddy-covariance stations as independent metrics of performance, the tower-based analysis indicated that PT-JPL provided the highest overally statistical performance (0.72; 61 W m-2; 0.65), followed closely by GLEAM (0.68; 64 W m-2; 0.62), with values in

Robust Hadley Circulation Changes and Increasing Global Dryness Due to CO2 Warming from CMIP-5 Model Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, William K. M.; Kim, K. M.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we investigate changes in the Hadley Circulation (HC) and their connections to increased global dryness under CO2 warming from CMIP-5 model projections. We find a strengthening of the ascending branch of the HC manifested in a deep-tropics squeeze (DTS), i.e., a deepening and narrowing of the convective zone, increased high clouds, and a rise of the level of maximum meridional mass outflow in the upper troposphere (200-100 hectopascals) of the deep tropics. The DTS induces atmospheric moisture divergence, reduces tropospheric relative humidity in the tropics and subtropics, in conjunction with a widening of the subsiding branches of the HC, resulting in increased frequency of dry events in preferred geographic locations worldwide. Among water cycle parameters examined, global dryness has the highest signal-to-noise ratio. Our results provide scientific bases for inferring that the observed tend of prolonged droughts in recent decades is likely attributable to greenhouse warming.

Greater future global warming inferred from Earth’s recent energy budget

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Patrick T.; Caldeira, Ken

2017-12-01

Climate models provide the principal means of projecting global warming over the remainder of the twenty-first century but modelled estimates of warming vary by a factor of approximately two even under the same radiative forcing scenarios. Across-model relationships between currently observable attributes of the climate system and the simulated magnitude of future warming have the potential to inform projections. Here we show that robust across-model relationships exist between the global spatial patterns of several fundamental attributes of Earth’s top-of-atmosphere energy budget and the magnitude of projected global warming. When we constrain the model projections with observations, we obtain greater means and narrower ranges of future global warming across the major radiative forcing scenarios, in general. In particular, we find that the observationally informed warming projection for the end of the twenty-first century for the steepest radiative forcing scenario is about 15 per cent warmer (+0.5 degrees Celsius) with a reduction of about a third in the two-standard-deviation spread (-1.2 degrees Celsius) relative to the raw model projections reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Our results suggest that achieving any given global temperature stabilization target will require steeper greenhouse gas emissions reductions than previously calculated.

Demography, Growth, and Global Income Inequality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rougoor, Ward; Van Marrewijk, Charles

2015-01-01

Global income inequality has been declining for several decades. We argue that global income inequality will reach its lowest level around 2027 and then will rise again. This development is the result of both economic and demographic forces. By combining economic projections with demographic

A global dataset of sub-daily rainfall indices

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, H. J.; Lewis, E.; Blenkinsop, S.; Guerreiro, S.; Li, X.; Barbero, R.; Chan, S.; Lenderink, G.; Westra, S.

2017-12-01

It is still uncertain how hydrological extremes will change with global warming as we do not fully understand the processes that cause extreme precipitation under current climate variability. The INTENSE project is using a novel and fully-integrated data-modelling approach to provide a step-change in our understanding of the nature and drivers of global precipitation extremes and change on societally relevant timescales, leading to improved high-resolution climate model representation of extreme rainfall processes. The INTENSE project is in conjunction with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)'s Grand Challenge on 'Understanding and Predicting Weather and Climate Extremes' and the Global Water and Energy Exchanges Project (GEWEX) Science questions. A new global sub-daily precipitation dataset has been constructed (data collection is ongoing). Metadata for each station has been calculated, detailing record lengths, missing data, station locations. A set of global hydroclimatic indices have been produced based upon stakeholder recommendations including indices that describe maximum rainfall totals and timing, the intensity, duration and frequency of storms, frequency of storms above specific thresholds and information about the diurnal cycle. This will provide a unique global data resource on sub-daily precipitation whose derived indices will be freely available to the wider scientific community.

Project management – the way to performance among corporations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminiţa PISTOL

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Project management has developed from a simple management philosophy restricted to a few functional areas into a business process that include various areas from global market. Nowadays, most of the corporations are using project management systems to achieve performance on the global market, and they realize that project management and productivity are related.

The GEWEX LandFlux project: evaluation of model evaporation using tower-based and globally gridded forcing data

KAUST Repository

McCabe, Matthew; Ershadi, Ali; Jimenez, C.; Miralles, Diego G.; Michel, D.; Wood, E. F.

2016-01-01

Determining the spatial distribution and temporal development of evaporation at regional and global scales is required to improve our understanding of the coupled water and energy cycles and to better monitor any changes in observed trends and variability of linked hydrological processes. With recent international efforts guiding the development of long-term and globally distributed flux estimates, continued product assessments are required to inform upon the selection of suitable model structures and also to establish the appropriateness of these multi-model simulations for global application. In support of the objectives of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) LandFlux project, four commonly used evaporation models are evaluated against data from tower-based eddy-covariance observations, distributed across a range of biomes and climate zones. The selected schemes include the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) approach, the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model, the Penman–Monteith-based Mu model (PM-Mu) and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM). Here we seek to examine the fidelity of global evaporation simulations by examining the multi-model response to varying sources of forcing data. To do this, we perform parallel and collocated model simulations using tower-based data together with a global-scale grid-based forcing product. Through quantifying the multi-model response to high-quality tower data, a better understanding of the subsequent model response to the coarse-scale globally gridded data that underlies the LandFlux product can be obtained, while also providing a relative evaluation and assessment of model performance.

Using surface flux observations from 45 globally distributed eddy-covariance stations as independent metrics of performance, the tower-based analysis indicated that PT-JPL provided the highest overall statistical performance (0.72; 61 W m⁻²; 0.65), followed

The GEWEX LandFlux project: evaluation of model evaporation using tower-based and globally gridded forcing data

KAUST Repository

McCabe, Matthew

2016-01-26

Determining the spatial distribution and temporal development of evaporation at regional and global scales is required to improve our understanding of the coupled water and energy cycles and to better monitor any changes in observed trends and variability of linked hydrological processes. With recent international efforts guiding the development of long-term and globally distributed flux estimates, continued product assessments are required to inform upon the selection of suitable model structures and also to establish the appropriateness of these multi-model simulations for global application. In support of the objectives of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) LandFlux project, four commonly used evaporation models are evaluated against data from tower-based eddy-covariance observations, distributed across a range of biomes and climate zones. The selected schemes include the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) approach, the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model, the Penman–Monteith-based Mu model (PM-Mu) and the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM). Here we seek to examine the fidelity of global evaporation simulations by examining the multi-model response to varying sources of forcing data. To do this, we perform parallel and collocated model simulations using tower-based data together with a global-scale grid-based forcing product. Through quantifying the multi-model response to high-quality tower data, a better understanding of the subsequent model response to the coarse-scale globally gridded data that underlies the LandFlux product can be obtained, while also providing a relative evaluation and assessment of model performance.

Using surface flux observations from 45 globally distributed eddy-covariance stations as independent metrics of performance, the tower-based analysis indicated that PT-JPL provided the highest overall statistical performance (0.72; 61 W m⁻²; 0.65), followed

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 2: Evaluation of global terrestrial evaporation data sets

KAUST Repository

Miralles, D. G.; Jimé nez, C.; Jung, M.; Michel, D.; Ershadi, Ali; McCabe, Matthew; Hirschi, M.; Martens, B.; Dolman, A. J.; Fisher, J. B.; Mu, Q.; Seneviratne, S. I.; Wood, E. F.; Ferná ndez-Prieto, D.

2016-01-01

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project aims to advance the development of land evaporation estimates on global and regional scales. Its main objective is the derivation, validation, and intercomparison of a group of existing evaporation retrieval algorithms driven by a common forcing data set. Three commonly used process-based evaporation methodologies are evaluated: the Penman–Monteith algorithm behind the official Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), and the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL). The resulting global spatiotemporal variability of evaporation, the closure of regional water budgets, and the discrete estimation of land evaporation components or sources (i.e. transpiration, interception loss, and direct soil evaporation) are investigated using river discharge data, independent global evaporation data sets and results from previous studies. In a companion article (Part 1), Michel et al. (2016) inspect the performance of these three models at local scales using measurements from eddy-covariance towers and include in the assessment the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. In agreement with Part 1, our results indicate that the Priestley and Taylor products (PT-JPL and GLEAM) perform best overall for most ecosystems and climate regimes. While all three evaporation products adequately represent the expected average geographical patterns and seasonality, there is a tendency in PM-MOD to underestimate the flux in the tropics and subtropics. Overall, results from GLEAM and PT-JPL appear more realistic when compared to surface water balances from 837 globally distributed catchments and to separate evaporation estimates from ERA-Interim and the model tree ensemble (MTE). Nonetheless, all products show large dissimilarities during conditions of water stress and

The WACMOS-ET project – Part 2: Evaluation of global terrestrial evaporation data sets

KAUST Repository

Miralles, D. G.

2016-02-23

The WAter Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project aims to advance the development of land evaporation estimates on global and regional scales. Its main objective is the derivation, validation, and intercomparison of a group of existing evaporation retrieval algorithms driven by a common forcing data set. Three commonly used process-based evaporation methodologies are evaluated: the Penman–Monteith algorithm behind the official Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) evaporation product (PM-MOD), the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), and the Priestley–Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory model (PT-JPL). The resulting global spatiotemporal variability of evaporation, the closure of regional water budgets, and the discrete estimation of land evaporation components or sources (i.e. transpiration, interception loss, and direct soil evaporation) are investigated using river discharge data, independent global evaporation data sets and results from previous studies. In a companion article (Part 1), Michel et al. (2016) inspect the performance of these three models at local scales using measurements from eddy-covariance towers and include in the assessment the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. In agreement with Part 1, our results indicate that the Priestley and Taylor products (PT-JPL and GLEAM) perform best overall for most ecosystems and climate regimes. While all three evaporation products adequately represent the expected average geographical patterns and seasonality, there is a tendency in PM-MOD to underestimate the flux in the tropics and subtropics. Overall, results from GLEAM and PT-JPL appear more realistic when compared to surface water balances from 837 globally distributed catchments and to separate evaporation estimates from ERA-Interim and the model tree ensemble (MTE). Nonetheless, all products show large dissimilarities during conditions of water stress and

Global Inventory and Analysis of Smart Grid Demonstration Projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulder, W.; Kumpavat, K.; Faasen, C.; Verheij, F.; Vaessen, P [DNV KEMA Energy and Sustainability, Arnhem (Netherlands)

2012-10-15

As the key enabler of a more sustainable, economical and reliable energy system, the development of smart grids has received a great deal of attention in recent times. In many countries around the world the benefits of such a system have begun to be investigated through a number of demonstration projects. With such a vast array of projects it can be difficult to keep track of changes, and to understand which best practices are currently available with regard to smart grids. This report aims to address these issues through providing a comprehensive outlook on the current status of smart grid projects worldwide.

Focus: Global histories of science. Introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Sivasundaram, Sujit

2010-03-01

An interest in global histories of science is not new. Yet the project envisioned by this Focus section is different from that pursued by natural historians and natural philosophers in the early modern age. Instead of tracing universal patterns, there is value in attending to the connections and disconnections of science on the global stage. Instead of assuming the precision of science's boundaries, historians might consider the categories of "science" and "indigenous knowledge" to have emerged from globalization. New global histories of science will be characterized by critical reflection on the limits of generalization, as well as a creative adoption of new sources, methods, and chronologies, in an attempt to decenter the European history of science. Such a project holds the promise of opening up new conversations between historians, anthropologists, philosophers, and sociologists of science. It is of critical importance if the discipline is not to fragment into regional and national subfields or become dominated by structural frameworks such as imperialism.

Partial pressure (or fugacity) of carbon dioxide, salinity and other variables collected from underway - surface observations using Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer, Shower head chamber equilibrator for autonomous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement and other instruments from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Great Australian Bight and others from 2011-04-06 to 2011-11-26 (NODC Accession 0115708)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC Accession 0115708 includes chemical, meteorological, physical and underway - surface data collected from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Great Australian...

The Open Global Glacier Model

Science.gov (United States)

Marzeion, B.; Maussion, F.

2017-12-01

Mountain glaciers are one of the few remaining sub-systems of the global climate system for which no globally applicable, open source, community-driven model exists. Notable examples from the ice sheet community include the Parallel Ice Sheet Model or Elmer/Ice. While the atmospheric modeling community has a long tradition of sharing models (e.g. the Weather Research and Forecasting model) or comparing them (e.g. the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project or CMIP), recent initiatives originating from the glaciological community show a new willingness to better coordinate global research efforts following the CMIP example (e.g. the Glacier Model Intercomparison Project or the Glacier Ice Thickness Estimation Working Group). In the recent past, great advances have been made in the global availability of data and methods relevant for glacier modeling, spanning glacier outlines, automatized glacier centerline identification, bed rock inversion methods, and global topographic data sets. Taken together, these advances now allow the ice dynamics of glaciers to be modeled on a global scale, provided that adequate modeling platforms are available. Here, we present the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM), developed to provide a global scale, modular, and open source numerical model framework for consistently simulating past and future global scale glacier change. Global not only in the sense of leading to meaningful results for all glaciers combined, but also for any small ensemble of glaciers, e.g. at the headwater catchment scale. Modular to allow combinations of different approaches to the representation of ice flow and surface mass balance, enabling a new kind of model intercomparison. Open source so that the code can be read and used by anyone and so that new modules can be added and discussed by the community, following the principles of open governance. Consistent in order to provide uncertainty measures at all realizable scales.

Project W.A.T.E.R.

Science.gov (United States)

EnviroTeach, 1992

1992-01-01

Introduces networking projects for studying rivers and water quality. Describes two projects in South Africa (Project W.A.T.E.R and SWAP) associated with the international network, Global Rivers Environmental Education Network. Discusses water test kits and educational material developed through Project W.A.T.E.R. (Water Awareness through…

Where theory and practice of global health intersect: the developmental history of a Canadian global health initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Daibes, Ibrahim; Sridharan, Sanjeev

2014-01-01

This paper examines the scope of practice of global health, drawing on the practical experience of a global health initiative of the Government of Canada--the Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program. A number of challenges in the practical application of theoretical definitions and understandings of global health are addressed. These challenges are grouped under five areas that form essential characteristics of global health: equity and egalitarian North-South partnerships, interdisciplinary scope, focus on upstream determinants of health, global conceptualization, and global health as an area of both research and practice. Information in this paper is based on the results of an external evaluation of the program, which involved analysis of project proposals and technical reports, surveys with grantees and interviews with grantees and program designers, as well as case studies of three projects and a review of relevant literature. The philosophy and recent definitions of global health represent a significant and important departure from the international health paradigm. However, the practical applicability of this maturing area of research and practice still faces significant systemic and structural impediments that, if not acknowledged and addressed, will continue to undermine the development of global health as an effective means to addressing health inequities globally and to better understanding, and acting upon, upstream determinants of health toward health for all. While it strives to redress global inequities, global health continues to be a construct that is promoted, studied, and dictated mostly by Northern institutions and scholars. Until practical mechanisms are put in place for truly egalitarian partnerships between North and South for both the study and practice of global health, the emerging philosophy of global health cannot be effectively put into practice.

Global product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taylor, Thomas Paul; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2016-01-01

Selecting key performance indicators in conventional product development is a challenging task for project management and is compound by global product development. Informed from the findings of two in depth case studies conducted with large Danish manufacturing companies, in this paper we develo...

Globalization of Innovation : Manifestation, Determinants and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

China and India are now considered the favored locations for technology outsourcing. But, compared to the amount of literature on the globalization of trade in commodities, services and capital, the globalization of innovation is an under-researched area. This project came out of an IDRC-supported consultation workshop, ...

Longitudinal observations of globally distributed design teams: The impacts on Product Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taylor, Thomas Paul; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2015-01-01

Factors impacting the success of Product Development (PD) projects are intensified when teams are distributed globally, making it a challenging task for project management to deal with effects on time, cost and quality. It is important for project management to understand when challenges......, such as communication difficulties, a lack of common vision between team members or issues related to documentation, may occur during PD projects, enabling them to take the necessary preventative action (Edmondson and Nembhard, 2009). When investigating factors impacting the success of PD, the majority of research...... studies of globally distributed design teams in PD projects. This paper aims to contribute to the further understanding of the factors impacting the success of PD projects when teams are distributed globally. With the results from a longitudinal observational study over 8 months, the factors impacting...

Partial pressure (or fugacity) of carbon dioxide, salinity and other variables collected from underway - surface observations using Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas analyzer, Shower head chamber equilibrator for autonomous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement and other instruments from the SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Indian Ocean and others from 2012-04-11 to 2012-07-25 (NODC Accession 0115295)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC Accession 0115295 includes chemical, meteorological, physical and underway - surface data collected from SOUTHERN SURVEYOR in the Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South...

Spatial and temporal distributions of Martian north polar cold spots before, during, and after the global dust storm of 2001

Science.gov (United States)

Cornwall, C.; Titus, T.N.

2009-01-01

In the 1970s, Mariner and Viking observed features in the Mars northern polar region that were a few hundred kilometers in diameter with 20 fj,m brightness temperatures as low as 130 K (considerably below C02 ice sublimation temperatures). Over the past decade, studies have shown that these areas (commonly called "cold spots") are usually due to emissivity effects of frost deposits and occasionally to active C02 snowstorms. Three Mars years of Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer data were used to observe autumn and wintertime cold spot activity within the polar regions. Many cold spots formed on or near scarps of the perennial cap, probably induced by adiabatic cooling due to orographic lifting. These topographically associated cold spots were often smaller than those that were not associated with topography. We determined that initial grain sizes within the cold spots were on the order of a few millimeters, assuming the snow was uncontaminated by dust or water ice. On average, the half-life of the cold spots was 5 Julian days. The Mars global dust storm in 2001 significantly affected cold spot activity in the north polar region. Though overall perennial cap cold spot activity seemed unaffected, the distribution of cold spots did change by a decrease in the number of topographically associated cold spots and an increase in those not associated with topography. We propose that the global dust storm affected the processes that form cold spots and discuss how the global dust storm may have affected these processes. ?? 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

The GEWEX LandFlux project: evaluation of model evaporation using tower-based and globally-gridded forcing data

KAUST Repository

McCabe, Matthew

2015-08-24

Determining the spatial distribution and temporal development of evaporation at regional and global scales is required to improve our understanding of the coupled water and energy cycles and to better monitor any changes in observed trends and variability of linked hydrological processes. With recent international efforts guiding the development of long-term and globally distributed flux estimates, continued product assessments are required to inform upon the selection of suitable model structures and also to establish the appropriateness of these multi-model simulations for global application. In support of the objectives of the GEWEX LandFlux project, four commonly used evaporation models are evaluated against data from tower-based eddy-covariance observations, distributed across a range of biomes and climate zones. The selected schemes include the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) approach, the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model, the Penman-Monteith based Mu model (PM-Mu) and the Global Land Evaporation: the Amsterdam Methodology (GLEAM). Here we seek to examine the fidelity of global evaporation simulations by examining the multi-model response to varying sources of forcing data. To do this, we perform parallel and collocated model simulations using tower-based data together with a global-scale grid-based forcing product. Through quantifying the multi-model response to high-quality tower data, a better understanding of the subsequent model response to coarse-scale globally gridded data that underlies the LandFlux product can be obtained, while also providing a relative evaluation and assessment of model performance.

Using surface flux observations from forty-five globally distributed eddy-covariance stations as independent metrics of performance, the tower-based analysis indicated that PT-JPL provided the highest overally statistical performance (0.72; 61 W m⁻²; 0.65), followed closely by GLEAM (0.68; 64 W m

Attribution of projected changes in summertime US ozone and PM2.5 concentrations to global changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Guenther

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The impact that changes in future climate, anthropogenic US emissions, background tropospheric composition, and land-use have on summertime regional US ozone and PM2.5 concentrations is examined through a matrix of downscaled regional air quality simulations, where each set of simulations was conducted for five months of July climatology, using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ model. Projected regional scale changes in meteorology due to climate change under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC A2 scenario are derived through the downscaling of Parallel Climate Model (PCM output with the MM5 meteorological model. Future chemical boundary conditions are obtained through downscaling of MOZART-2 (Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 2.4 global chemical model simulations based on the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES A2 emissions scenario. Projected changes in US anthropogenic emissions are estimated using the EPA Economic Growth Analysis System (EGAS, and changes in land-use are projected using data from the Community Land Model (CLM and the Spatially Explicit Regional Growth Model (SERGOM. For July conditions, changes in chemical boundary conditions are found to have the largest impact (+5 ppbv on average daily maximum 8-h (DM8H ozone. Changes in US anthropogenic emissions are projected to increase average DM8H ozone by +3 ppbv. Land-use changes are projected to have a significant influence on regional air quality due to the impact these changes have on biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. When climate changes and land-use changes are considered simultaneously, the average DM8H ozone decreases due to a reduction in biogenic VOC emissions (−2.6 ppbv. Changes in average 24-h (A24-h PM2.5 concentrations are dominated by projected changes in anthropogenic emissions (+3 μg m−3, while changes in chemical boundary conditions have a negligible effect. On average, climate change reduces A24-h PM2

Forestry and biomass energy projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swisher, J.N.

1994-01-01

This paper presents a comprehensive and consistent methodology to account for the costs and net carbon flows of different categories of forestry and biomass energy projects and describes the application of the methodology to several sets of projects in Latin America. The results suggest that both...... biomass energy development and forestry measures including reforestation and forest protection can contribute significantly to the reduction of global CO2 emissions, and that local land-use capacity must determine the type of project that is appropriate in specific cases. No single approach alone...... is sufficient as either a national or global strategy for sustainable land use or carbon emission reduction. The methodology allows consistent comparisons of the costs and quantities of carbon stored in different types of projects and/or national programs, facilitating the inclusion of forestry and biomass...

Biomass burning studies and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project

Science.gov (United States)

Prinn, Ronald G.

1991-01-01

IGAC is an ambitious, decade-long and global research initiative concerned with major research challenges in the field of atmospheric chemistry; its chemists and ecosystem biologists are addressing the problems associated with global biomass burning (BMB). Among IGAC's goals is the achievement of a fundamental understanding of the natural and anthropogenic processes determining changes in atmospheric composition and chemistry, in order to allow century-long predictions. IGAC's studies have been organized into 'foci', encompassing the marine, tropical, polar, boreal, and midlatitude areas, as well as their global composite interactions. Attention is to be given to the effects of BMB on biogeochemical cycles.

The Voyager Journey to Interstellar Space

KAUST Repository

Stone, Edward

2017-01-01

on television and the Web. Highlights of his decade of leadership as the Direction of JPL include Galileo's five-year orbital mission to Jupiter, the launch of Cassini to Saturn, the launch of Mars Global Surveyor and a new generation of Earth science satellites

Global climate-oriented building energy use scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvey, L.D. Danny

2014-01-01

This paper explores the extent to which global fuel use in buildings could be reduced, and the growth in global electricity use in buildings limited, by applying stringent (factor of 3–4) improvements to recent building codes for new buildings worldwide and large (factor of 2–3) reductions in the energy use of existing buildings through renovations. The analysis is carried out for 10 different socio-economic regions of the world, taking into account existing building stock and energy intensities in each region and projected changes in population and income, which in most parts of the world will drive large increases in building floor area. A stock turnover model is applied to project changes in heating, cooling, service hot water (SHW) and non-thermal electricity demand with various rates of improvement in standards for new and renovated buildings, and various rates of renovation and demolition of existing buildings. For a scenario in which population peaks at about 9 billion and global average per capita GDP increases to twice the 2010 value by 2100, the global fuel demand could be reduced by a factor of four while limiting maximum annual electricity demand to twice the 2010 value. - Highlights: • A detailed model for generating global scenarios of building energy use is presented. • Drivers of increasing energy use are population and per capita GDP in 10 regions. • Heating, cooling and ventilation energy uses are projected using a stock turnover model. • Global building fuel demand could decrease by 60–80% by 2100 relative to 2010. • Global building electricity demand could be limited to a 100–200% increase

Estimating Climatological Bias Errors for the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP)

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert; Gu, Guojun; Huffman, George

2012-01-01

A procedure is described to estimate bias errors for mean precipitation by using multiple estimates from different algorithms, satellite sources, and merged products. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) monthly product is used as a base precipitation estimate, with other input products included when they are within +/- 50% of the GPCP estimates on a zonal-mean basis (ocean and land separately). The standard deviation s of the included products is then taken to be the estimated systematic, or bias, error. The results allow one to examine monthly climatologies and the annual climatology, producing maps of estimated bias errors, zonal-mean errors, and estimated errors over large areas such as ocean and land for both the tropics and the globe. For ocean areas, where there is the largest question as to absolute magnitude of precipitation, the analysis shows spatial variations in the estimated bias errors, indicating areas where one should have more or less confidence in the mean precipitation estimates. In the tropics, relative bias error estimates (s/m, where m is the mean precipitation) over the eastern Pacific Ocean are as large as 20%, as compared with 10%-15% in the western Pacific part of the ITCZ. An examination of latitudinal differences over ocean clearly shows an increase in estimated bias error at higher latitudes, reaching up to 50%. Over land, the error estimates also locate regions of potential problems in the tropics and larger cold-season errors at high latitudes that are due to snow. An empirical technique to area average the gridded errors (s) is described that allows one to make error estimates for arbitrary areas and for the tropics and the globe (land and ocean separately, and combined). Over the tropics this calculation leads to a relative error estimate for tropical land and ocean combined of 7%, which is considered to be an upper bound because of the lack of sign-of-the-error canceling when integrating over different areas with a

Comparison of TRMM and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Precipitation Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George J.; Bolvin, David; Nelkin, Eric; Curtis, Scott

1999-01-01

This paper describes recent results of using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) (launched in November 1997) information as the key calibration tool in a merged analysis on a 1 x 1' latitude/longitude monthly scale based on multiple satellite sources and raingauge analyses. The TRMM-based product is compared with the community-based Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) results. The long-term GPCP analysis is compared to the new TRMM-based analysis which uses the most accurate TRMM information to calibrate the estimates from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and geosynchronous IR observations and merges those estimates together with the TRMM and gauge information to produce accurate rainfall estimates with the increased sampling provided by the combined satellite information. The comparison with TRMM results on a month-to-month basis should clarify the strengths and weaknesses of the long-term GPCP product in the tropics and point to how to improve the monitoring analysis. Preliminary results from the TRMM merged satellite analysis indicates fairly close agreement with the GPCP estimates. The GPCP analysis is done at 2.5 degree latitude/longitude resolution and interpolated to a 1 degree grid for comparison with the TRMM analysis. As expected the same features are evident in both panels, but there are subtle differences in the magnitudes. Focusing on the Pacific Ocean Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) one can see the TRMM-based estimates having higher peak values and lower values in the ITCZ periphery. These attributes also show up in the statistics, where GPCP>TRMM at low values (below 10 mm/d) and TRMM>GPCP at high values (greater than 15 mm/d). The area in the Indian Ocean which shows consistently higher values of TRMM over GPCP needs to be examined carefully to determine if the lack of geosynchronous data has led to a difference in the two analyses. By the time of the meeting over a year of TRMM products will be available for

The Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University: Fundamental Research Towards Future Energy Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Milne, Jennifer L.; Sassoon, Richard E.; Hung, Emilie; Bosshard, Paolo; Benson, Sally M.

The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), at Stanford University, invests in research with the potential to lead to energy technologies with lower greenhouse gas emissions than current energy technologies. GCEP is sponsored by four international companies, ExxonMobil, GE, Schlumberger, and Toyota and supports research programs in academic institutions worldwide. Research falls into the broad areas of carbon based energy systems, renewables, electrochemistry, and the electric grid. Within these areas research efforts are underway that are aimed at achieving break-throughs and innovations that greatly improve efficiency, performance, functionality and cost of many potential energy technologies of the future including solar, batteries, fuel cells, biofuels, hydrogen storage and carbon capture and storage. This paper presents a summary of some of GCEP's activities over the past 7 years with current research areas of interest and potential research directions in the near future.

Surface reflectance and conversion efficiency dependence of technologies for mitigating global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edmonds, Ian [Solartran Pty Ltd., 12 Lentara St, Kenmore, Brisbane 4069 (Australia); Smith, Geoff [Physics and Advanced Materials, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007 (Australia)

2011-05-15

A means of assessing the relative impact of different renewable energy technologies on global warming has been developed. All power plants emit thermal energy to the atmosphere. Fossil fuel power plants also emit CO{sub 2} which accumulates in the atmosphere and provides an indirect increase in global warming via the greenhouse effect. A fossil fuel power plant may operate for some time before the global warming due to its CO{sub 2} emission exceeds the warming due to its direct heat emission. When a renewable energy power plant is deployed instead of a fossil fuel power plant there may be a significant time delay before the direct global warming effect is less than the combined direct and indirect global warming effect from an equivalent output coal fired plant - the ''business as usual'' case. Simple expressions are derived to calculate global temperature change as a function of ground reflectance and conversion efficiency for various types of fossil fuelled and renewable energy power plants. These expressions are used to assess the global warming mitigation potential of some proposed Australian renewable energy projects. The application of the expressions is extended to evaluate the deployment in Australia of current and new geo-engineering and carbon sequestration solutions to mitigate global warming. Principal findings are that warming mitigation depends strongly on the solar to electric conversion efficiency of renewable technologies, geo-engineering projects may offer more economic mitigation than renewable energy projects and the mitigation potential of reforestation projects depends strongly on the location of the projects. (author)

Global mainpower requirements for projected nuclear programmes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammond, S.B.; Lane, J.A.; Rogov, A.; Skjoeldebrand, R.

1976-01-01

The scarcity of trained engineers and technicians may be an important bottleneck to the continued growth of nuclear power, particularly in developing countries, if steps are not taken at an early date to insure against such a limitation. This paper presents a quantitative indication of both regional and global needs for trained manpower in all sectors of the nuclear power industry and compares these with estimates of the corresponding output of engineers. Studies of a few selected countries are also presented to illustrate potential problems on a national scale. (orig./UA) [de

Doing global science a guide to responsible conduct in the global research enterprise

CERN Document Server

InterAcademy Partnership

2016-01-01

This concise introductory guide explains the values that should inform the responsible conduct of scientific research in today's global setting. Featuring accessible discussions and ample real-world scenarios, Doing Global Science covers proper conduct, fraud and bias, the researcher's responsibilities to society, communication with the public, and much more. The book places special emphasis on the international and highly networked environment in which modern research is done, presenting science as an enterprise that is being transformed by globalization, interdisciplinary research projects, team science, and information technologies. Accessibly written by an InterAcademy Partnership committee comprised of leading scientists from around the world, Doing Global Science is required reading for students, practitioners, and anyone concerned about the responsible conduct of science today.

Neoliberal Optimism: Applying Market Techniques to Global Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Mei, Yuyang

2017-01-01

Global health and neoliberalism are becoming increasingly intertwined as organizations utilize markets and profit motives to solve the traditional problems of poverty and population health. I use field work conducted over 14 months in a global health technology company to explore how the promise of neoliberalism re-envisions humanitarian efforts. In this company's vaccine refrigerator project, staff members expect their investors and their market to allow them to achieve scale and develop accountability to their users in developing countries. However, the translation of neoliberal techniques to the global health sphere falls short of the ideal, as profits are meager and purchasing power remains with donor organizations. The continued optimism in market principles amidst such a non-ideal market reveals the tenacious ideological commitment to neoliberalism in these global health projects.

Quantifying the effect of autonomous adaptation to global river flood projections: application to future flood risk assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Kinoshita, Youhei; Tanoue, Masahiro; Watanabe, Satoshi; Hirabayashi, Yukiko

2018-01-01

This study represents the first attempt to quantify the effects of autonomous adaptation on the projection of global flood hazards and to assess future flood risk by including this effect. A vulnerability scenario, which varies according to the autonomous adaptation effect for conventional disaster mitigation efforts, was developed based on historical vulnerability values derived from flood damage records and a river inundation simulation. Coupled with general circulation model outputs and future socioeconomic scenarios, potential future flood fatalities and economic loss were estimated. By including the effect of autonomous adaptation, our multimodel ensemble estimates projected a 2.0% decrease in potential flood fatalities and an 821% increase in potential economic losses by 2100 under the highest emission scenario together with a large population increase. Vulnerability changes reduced potential flood consequences by 64%-72% in terms of potential fatalities and 28%-42% in terms of potential economic losses by 2100. Although socioeconomic changes made the greatest contribution to the potential increased consequences of future floods, about a half of the increase of potential economic losses was mitigated by autonomous adaptation. There is a clear and positive relationship between the global temperature increase from the pre-industrial level and the estimated mean potential flood economic loss, while there is a negative relationship with potential fatalities due to the autonomous adaptation effect. A bootstrapping analysis suggests a significant increase in potential flood fatalities (+5.7%) without any adaptation if the temperature increases by 1.5 °C-2.0 °C, whereas the increase in potential economic loss (+0.9%) was not significant. Our method enables the effects of autonomous adaptation and additional adaptation efforts on climate-induced hazards to be distinguished, which would be essential for the accurate estimation of the cost of adaptation to

Poverty Mapping Project: Global Subnational Prevalence of Child Malnutrition

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Subnational Prevalence of Child Malnutrition dataset consists of estimates of the percentage of children with weight-for-age z-scores that are more than...

2020 Vision Project Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gordon, K.W.; Scott, K.P.

2000-11-01

Since the 2020 Vision project began in 1996, students from participating schools have completed and submitted a variety of scenarios describing potential world and regional conditions in the year 2020 and their possible effect on US national security. This report summarizes the students' views and describes trends observed over the course of the 2020 Vision project's five years. It also highlights the main organizational features of the project. An analysis of thematic trends among the scenarios showed interesting shifts in students' thinking, particularly in their views of computer technology, US relations with China, and globalization. In 1996, most students perceived computer technology as highly beneficial to society, but as the year 2000 approached, this technology was viewed with fear and suspicion, even personified as a malicious, uncontrollable being. Yet, after New Year's passed with little disruption, students generally again perceived computer technology as beneficial. Also in 1996, students tended to see US relations with China as potentially positive, with economic interaction proving favorable to both countries. By 2000, this view had transformed into a perception of China emerging as the US' main rival and ''enemy'' in the global geopolitical realm. Regarding globalization, students in the first two years of the project tended to perceive world events as dependent on US action. However, by the end of the project, they saw the US as having little control over world events and therefore, we Americans would need to cooperate and compromise with other nations in order to maintain our own well-being.

Poor understanding? Challenges to Global Development Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Buchanan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available As members of a global community, we cohabit a metaphorically shrinking physical environment, and are increasingly connected one to another, and to the world, by ties of culture, economics, politics, communication and the like. Education is an essential component in addressing inequalities and injustices concerning global rights and responsibilities. The increasing multicultural nature of societies locally, enhanced access to distal information, and the work of charitable organisations worldwide are some of the factors that have contributed to the interest in, and need for, understanding global development education. The project on which this paper reports sought answers to the question: to what extent and in what ways can a semester-long subject enhance and extend teacher education students’ understandings of and responses to global inequalities and global development aid? In the course of the project, a continuum model emerged, as follows: Indifference or ignorance ➝ pity and charity ➝ partnership and development among equals. In particular, this paper reports on some of the challenges and obstacles that need to be addressed in order to enhance pre-service teachers’ understandings of global development education. The study, conducted in Australia, has implications for global development education in other developed nations.

Projected changes in prevailing winds for transatlantic migratory birds under global warming.

Science.gov (United States)

La Sorte, Frank A; Fink, Daniel

2017-03-01

A number of terrestrial bird species that breed in North America cross the Atlantic Ocean during autumn migration when travelling to their non-breeding grounds in the Caribbean or South America. When conducting oceanic crossings, migratory birds tend to associate with mild or supportive winds, whose speed and direction may change under global warming. The implications of these changes for transoceanic migratory bird populations have not been addressed. We used occurrence information from eBird (1950-2015) to estimate the geographical location of population centres at a daily temporal resolution across the annual cycle for 10 transatlantic migratory bird species. We used this information to estimate the location and timing of autumn migration within the transatlantic flyway. We estimated how prevailing winds are projected to change within the transatlantic flyway during this time using daily wind speed anomalies (1996-2005 and 2091-2100) from 29 Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models implemented under CMIP5. Autumn transatlantic migrants have the potential to encounter strong westerly crosswinds early in their transatlantic journey at intermediate and especially high migration altitudes, strong headwinds at low and intermediate migration altitudes within the Caribbean that increase in strength as the season progresses, and weak tailwinds at intermediate and high migration altitudes east of the Caribbean. The CMIP5 simulations suggest that, during this century, the likelihood of autumn transatlantic migrants encountering strong westerly crosswinds will diminish. As global warming progresses, the need for species to compensate or drift under the influence of strong westerly crosswinds during the initial phase of their autumn transatlantic journey may be diminished. Existing strategies that promote headwind avoidance and tailwind assistance will likely remain valid. Thus, climate change may reduce time and energy requirements and the chance of mortality or

Lifestyles and Global Land-use Change

OpenAIRE

Heilig, G.K.

1995-01-01

One of the most influential publications on land-use change is a small booklet, published by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP). It was written -- as its subtitle says -- as a "proposal for an IGBP-HDP Core Project" on "Relating Land Use and Global Land-Cover Change". The booklet can be seen as some kind of programmatic statement to guide international collaborative research on global land-use change. ...

Transforming global health with mobile technologies and social enterprises: global health and innovation conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Kayingo, Gerald

2012-09-01

More than 2,000 people convened for the ninth annual Global Health and Innovation Conference at Yale University on April 21-22, 2012. Participants discussed the latest innovations, ideas in development, lessons learned, opportunities and challenges in global health activities. Several themes emerged, including the important role of frontline workers, strengthening health systems, leveraging social media, and sustainable and impact-driven philanthropy. Overall, the major outcome of the conference was the increased awareness of the potential of mobile technologies and social enterprises in transforming global health. Experts warned that donations and technological advances alone will not transform global health unless there are strong functioning health infrastructures and improved workforce. It was noted that there is a critical need for an integrated systems approach to global health problems and a need for scaling up promising pilot projects. Lack of funding, accountability, and sustainability were identified as major challenges in global health.

Global drivers of future river flood risk

Science.gov (United States)

Winsemius, Hessel C.; Aerts, Jeroen C. J. H.; van Beek, Ludovicus P. H.; Bierkens, Marc F. P.; Bouwman, Arno; Jongman, Brenden; Kwadijk, Jaap C. J.; Ligtvoet, Willem; Lucas, Paul L.; van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Ward, Philip J.

2016-04-01

Understanding global future river flood risk is a prerequisite for the quantification of climate change impacts and planning effective adaptation strategies. Existing global flood risk projections fail to integrate the combined dynamics of expected socio-economic development and climate change. We present the first global future river flood risk projections that separate the impacts of climate change and socio-economic development. The projections are based on an ensemble of climate model outputs, socio-economic scenarios, and a state-of-the-art hydrologic river flood model combined with socio-economic impact models. Globally, absolute damage may increase by up to a factor of 20 by the end of the century without action. Countries in Southeast Asia face a severe increase in flood risk. Although climate change contributes significantly to the increase in risk in Southeast Asia, we show that it is dwarfed by the effect of socio-economic growth, even after normalization for gross domestic product (GDP) growth. African countries face a strong increase in risk mainly due to socio-economic change. However, when normalized to GDP, climate change becomes by far the strongest driver. Both high- and low-income countries may benefit greatly from investing in adaptation measures, for which our analysis provides a basis.

Part 1. The GLOSAS Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Utsumi, Takeshi; Mogalhaes, Maria Rosa Abreu

1993-01-01

Describes accomplishments of the Global Systems Analysis and Simulation (GLOSAS) project from 1973 to the present, including a system for global peace gaming. The capabilities of interactive multimedia to link people across political and geographic boundaries for joint study, debate, research, planetary problem solving, and political action are…

Global Carbon Budget 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Le Quéré, C.; Moriarty, R.; Andrew, R. M.; Canadell, J. G.; Sitch, S.; Korsbakken, J. I.; Friedlingstein, P.; Peters, G. P.; Andres, R. J.; Boden, T. A.; Houghton, R. A.; House, J. I.; Keeling, R. F.; Tans, P.; Arneth, A.; Bakker, D. C. E.; Barbero, L.; Bopp, L.; Chang, J.; Chevallier, F.; Chini, L. P.; Ciais, P.; Fader, M.; Feely, R. A.; Gkritzalis, T.; Harris, I.; Hauck, J.; Ilyina, T.; Jain, A. K.; Kato, E.; Kitidis, V.; Klein Goldewijk, K.; Koven, C.; Landschützer, P.; Lauvset, S. K.; Lefèvre, N.; Lenton, A.; Lima, I. D.; Metzl, N.; Millero, F.; Munro, D. R.; Murata, A.; Nabel, J. E. M. S.; Nakaoka, S.; Nojiri, Y.; O'Brien, K.; Olsen, A.; Ono, T.; Pérez, F. F.; Pfeil, B.; Pierrot, D.; Poulter, B.; Rehder, G.; Rödenbeck, C.; Saito, S.; Schuster, U.; Schwinger, J.; Séférian, R.; Steinhoff, T.; Stocker, B. D.; Sutton, A. J.; Takahashi, T.; Tilbrook, B.; van der Laan-Luijkx, I. T.; van der Werf, G. R.; van Heuven, S.; Vandemark, D.; Viovy, N.; Wiltshire, A.; Zaehle, S.; Zeng, N.

2015-12-01

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe data sets and a methodology to quantify all major components of the global carbon budget, including their uncertainties, based on the combination of a range of data, algorithms, statistics, and model estimates and their interpretation by a broad scientific community. We discuss changes compared to previous estimates as well as consistency within and among components, alongside methodology and data limitations. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry (EFF) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, while emissions from land-use change (ELUC), mainly deforestation, are based on combined evidence from land-cover-change data, fire activity associated with deforestation, and models. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration is measured directly and its rate of growth (GATM) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The mean ocean CO2 sink (SOCEAN) is based on observations from the 1990s, while the annual anomalies and trends are estimated with ocean models. The variability in SOCEAN is evaluated with data products based on surveys of ocean CO2 measurements. The global residual terrestrial CO2 sink (SLAND) is estimated by the difference of the other terms of the global carbon budget and compared to results of independent dynamic global vegetation models forced by observed climate, CO2, and land-cover change (some including nitrogen-carbon interactions). We compare the mean land and ocean fluxes and their variability to estimates from three atmospheric inverse methods for three broad latitude bands. All uncertainties are reported as ±1σ, reflecting the current capacity to characterise the annual estimates of each component of the global

A comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from global and catchment-scale hydrological models

Science.gov (United States)

Gosling, S. N.; Taylor, R. G.; Arnell, N. W.; Todd, M. C.

2011-01-01

We present a comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from two types of distributed hydrological model, a global hydrological model (GHM) and catchment-scale hydrological models (CHM). Analyses are conducted for six catchments that are global in coverage and feature strong contrasts in spatial scale as well as climatic and developmental conditions. These include the Liard (Canada), Mekong (SE Asia), Okavango (SW Africa), Rio Grande (Brazil), Xiangxi (China) and Harper's Brook (UK). A single GHM (Mac-PDM.09) is applied to all catchments whilst different CHMs are applied for each catchment. The CHMs include SLURP v. 12.2 (Liard), SLURP v. 12.7 (Mekong), Pitman (Okavango), MGB-IPH (Rio Grande), AV-SWAT-X 2005 (Xiangxi) and Cat-PDM (Harper's Brook). The CHMs typically simulate water resource impacts based on a more explicit representation of catchment water resources than that available from the GHM and the CHMs include river routing, whereas the GHM does not. Simulations of mean annual runoff, mean monthly runoff and high (Q5) and low (Q95) monthly runoff under baseline (1961-1990) and climate change scenarios are presented. We compare the simulated runoff response of each hydrological model to (1) prescribed increases in global-mean air temperature of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 °C relative to baseline from the UKMO HadCM3 Global Climate Model (GCM) to explore response to different amounts of climate forcing, and (2) a prescribed increase in global-mean air temperature of 2.0 °C relative to baseline for seven GCMs to explore response to climate model structural uncertainty. We find that the differences in projected changes of mean annual runoff between the two types of hydrological model can be substantial for a given GCM (e.g. an absolute GHM-CHM difference in mean annual runoff percentage change for UKMO HadCM3 2 °C warming of up to 25%), and they are generally larger for indicators of high and low monthly runoff. However

A comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from global and catchment-scale hydrological models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. N. Gosling

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We present a comparative analysis of projected impacts of climate change on river runoff from two types of distributed hydrological model, a global hydrological model (GHM and catchment-scale hydrological models (CHM. Analyses are conducted for six catchments that are global in coverage and feature strong contrasts in spatial scale as well as climatic and developmental conditions. These include the Liard (Canada, Mekong (SE Asia, Okavango (SW Africa, Rio Grande (Brazil, Xiangxi (China and Harper's Brook (UK. A single GHM (Mac-PDM.09 is applied to all catchments whilst different CHMs are applied for each catchment. The CHMs include SLURP v. 12.2 (Liard, SLURP v. 12.7 (Mekong, Pitman (Okavango, MGB-IPH (Rio Grande, AV-SWAT-X 2005 (Xiangxi and Cat-PDM (Harper's Brook. The CHMs typically simulate water resource impacts based on a more explicit representation of catchment water resources than that available from the GHM and the CHMs include river routing, whereas the GHM does not. Simulations of mean annual runoff, mean monthly runoff and high (Q5 and low (Q95 monthly runoff under baseline (1961–1990 and climate change scenarios are presented. We compare the simulated runoff response of each hydrological model to (1 prescribed increases in global-mean air temperature of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 °C relative to baseline from the UKMO HadCM3 Global Climate Model (GCM to explore response to different amounts of climate forcing, and (2 a prescribed increase in global-mean air temperature of 2.0 °C relative to baseline for seven GCMs to explore response to climate model structural uncertainty.

We find that the differences in projected changes of mean annual runoff between the two types of hydrological model can be substantial for a given GCM (e.g. an absolute GHM-CHM difference in mean annual runoff percentage change for UKMO HadCM3 2 °C warming of up to 25%, and they are generally larger for indicators of high and low monthly runoff

Global Entrepreneurship and the United States

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

Global Entrepreneurship and the United States by Zoltan J. Acs Laszlo Szerb Ruxton, MD 21204 for under contract number SBAHQ-09...SUBTITLE Global Entrepreneurship and the United States 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...3 2.1. Assessing Entrepreneurship ..................................................................................4 2.2. Stages of Development

Measuring the quality of clinical audit projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Millard, A D

2000-11-01

The aim of the study was to develop and pilot a scale measuring the quality of audit projects through audit project reports. Statements about clinical audit projects were selected from existing instruments assessing the quality of clinical audit projects to form a Likert scale. Audit facilitators based in Scottish health boards and trusts piloted the scale. The participants were known to have over 2 years of experience of supporting clinical audit. The response at first test was 11 of 14 and at the second test 27 of 46. Audit facilitators tested the draft scale by expressing their strength of agreement or disagreement with each statement for three reports. Validity and reliability were assessed by test - re-test, item - total, and total - global indicator correlation. Of the 20 statements, 15 had satisfactory correlation with scale totals. Scale totals had good correlation with global indicators. Test re-test correlation was modest. The wide range of responses means further research is needed to measure the consistency of audit facilitators' interpretations, perhaps comparing a trained group with an untrained group. There may be a need for a separate scale for reaudits. Educational impact is distinct from project impact generally. It may be more meaningful to treat the selection of projects and aims, methodology and impact separately as subscales and take a project profiling approach rather than attempting to produce a global quality index.

Trends and EIE higher education response to the current global technical challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poboroniuc, Marian; Livint, Gheorghe; Friesel, Anna

2014-01-01

Education Institutions (SALEIE), an EU supported project, gathers together a global team aiming to provide higher education models in the EIE disciplines that can respond to the key global technical challenges. This paper deals with findings within the SALEIE project's work package WP3 (Global Challenges......), namely: state-of-the-art in implementation of the Bologna recommendation for Bachelor and Master, technical challenges that the EIE higher education faces nowadays, and existing models in EIE higher education and their degree of response to key global technical challenges....

The IUGS/IAGC Task Group on Global Geochemical Baselines

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David B.; Wang, Xueqiu; Reeder, Shaun; Demetriades, Alecos

2012-01-01

The Task Group on Global Geochemical Baselines, operating under the auspices of both the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the International Association of Geochemistry (IAGC), has the long-term goal of establishing a global geochemical database to document the concentration and distribution of chemical elements in the Earth’s surface or near-surface environment. The database and accompanying element distribution maps represent a geochemical baseline against which future human-induced or natural changes to the chemistry of the land surface may be recognized and quantified. In order to accomplish this long-term goal, the activities of the Task Group include: (1) developing partnerships with countries conducting broad-scale geochemical mapping studies; (2) providing consultation and training in the form of workshops and short courses; (3) organizing periodic international symposia to foster communication among the geochemical mapping community; (4) developing criteria for certifying those projects whose data are acceptable in a global geochemical database; (5) acting as a repository for data collected by those projects meeting the criteria for standardization; (6) preparing complete metadata for the certified projects; and (7) preparing, ultimately, a global geochemical database. This paper summarizes the history and accomplishments of the Task Group since its first predecessor project was established in 1988.

Global Operations Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

In the current context of global economic liberalisation and technological advancements, industrial companies are less likely to generate value in the traditional vertically integrated chain. Instead, they are doing so by means of elaborate cross-border and cross-organisational networks. As a rule......, these networks are configured on a global basis and consist of diverse and interdependent affiliates (linked both through ownership and non-equity relationships), which are engaged in an exchange of goods, services and information. The Scandinavian context is no exception to this trend. Nevertheless......, international comparative studies providing comprehensive insights from it are still rare. With the objective of bridging this gap, Global Operations Networks (GONE) project (sponsored by the Danish Research Council) brought together numerous academic and industrial partners from Denmark, Sweden and Finland...

Digital Storytelling for Transformative Global Citizenship Education

Science.gov (United States)

Truong-White, Hoa; McLean, Lorna

2015-01-01

This article explores how digital storytelling offers the potential to support transformative global citizenship education (TGCE) through a case study of the Bridges to Understanding program that connected middle and high school students globally using digital storytelling. Drawing on a TGCE framework, this research project probed the curriculum…

Project CLIMPEAT - Influence of global warming and drought on the carbon sequestration and biodiversity of Sphagnum peatlands

Science.gov (United States)

Lamentowicz, M.; Buttler, A.; Mitchell, E. A. D.; Chojnicki, B.; Słowińska, S.; Słowiński, M.

2012-04-01

Northern peatlands represent a globally significant pool of carbon and are subject to the highest rates of climate warming, and most of these peatlands are in continental settings. However, it is unclear if how fast peatlands respond to past and present changes in temperature and surface moisture in continental vs. oceanic climate settings. The CLIMPEAT project brings together scientists from Poland and Switzerland. Our goal is to assess the past and present vulnerability to climate change of Sphagnum peatland plant and microbial communities, peat organic matter transformations and carbon sequestration using a combination of field and mesocosm experiments simulating warming and water table changes and palaeoecological studies. Warming will be achieved using ITEX-type "Open-Top Chambers". The field studies are conducted in Poland, at the limit between oceanic and continental climates, and are part of a network of projects also including field experiments in the French Jura (sub-oceanic) and in Siberia (continental). We will calibrate the response of key biological (plants, testate amoebae) and geochemical (isotopic composition of organic compounds, organic matter changes) proxies to warming and water table changes and use these proxies to reconstruct climate changes during the last 1000 years.

Climate-model induced differences in the 21st century global and regional glacier contributions to sea-level rise

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giesen, R.H.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304831603; Oerlemans, J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/06833656X

2013-01-01

The large uncertainty in future global glacier volume projections partly results from a substantial range in future climate conditions projected by global climate models. This study addresses the effect of global and regional differences in climate input data on the projected twenty-first century

Hydrogen based global renewable energy network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akai, Makoto [Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, AIST, MITI, Namiki, Tsukuba (Japan)

1993-12-31

In the last quarter of this century, global environmental problem has emerged as a major scientific, political and social issue. Specific Problems include: depletion of ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), acid rain, destruction of tropical forests and desertification, pollution of the sea and global wanning due to the greenhouse effect by carbon dioxide and others. Among these problems, particular attention of the world has been focused on the global warming because it has direct linkage to energy consumption which our economic development depends on so far. On the other hand, the future program of The Sunshine Project for alternative energy technology R&D, The Moonlight Project for energy conservation technology R&D, and The Global Environmental Technology Program for environmental problem mitigating technology R&D which are Japan`s national projects being promoted by their Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry have been reexamined in view of recent changes in the situations surrounding new energy technology. In this regard, The New Sunshine Program will be established by integrating these three activities to accelerate R&D in the field of energy and environmental technologies. In the reexamination, additional stress has been laid on the contribution to solving global environmental problem through development of clean renewable energies which constitute a major part of the {open_quotes}New Earth 21{close_quotes}, a comprehensive, long-term and international cooperative program proposed by MITI. The present paper discusses the results of feasibility study on hydrogen energy system leading to the concept of WE-NET following a brief summary on R&D status on solar and wind energy in Japan.

The Costa Rica GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Project as a Learning Science Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Castro Rojas, María Dolores; Zuñiga, Ana Lourdes Acuña; Ugalde, Emmanuel Fonseca

2015-12-01

GLOBE is a global educational program for elementary and high school levels, and its main purpose in Costa Rica is to develop scientific thinking and interest for science in high school students through hydrology research projects that allow them to relate science with environmental issues in their communities. Youth between 12 and 17 years old from public schools participate in science clubs outside of their regular school schedule. A comparison study was performed between different groups, in order to assess GLOBE's applicability as a learning science atmosphere and the motivation and interest it generates in students toward science. Internationally applied scales were used as tools for measuring such indicators, adapted to the Costa Rican context. The results provide evidence statistically significant that the students perceive the GLOBE atmosphere as an enriched environment for science learning in comparison with the traditional science class. Moreover, students feel more confident, motivated and interested in science than their peers who do not participate in the project. However, the results were not statistically significant in this last respect.

Health diplomacy the adaptation of global health interventions to local needs in sub-Saharan Africa and Thailand: Evaluating findings from Project Accept (HPTN 043

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevany Sebastian

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Study-based global health interventions, especially those that are conducted on an international or multi-site basis, frequently require site-specific adaptations in order to (1 respond to socio-cultural differences in risk determinants, (2 to make interventions more relevant to target population needs, and (3 in recognition of ‘global health diplomacy' issues. We report on the adaptations development, approval and implementation process from the Project Accept voluntary counseling and testing, community mobilization and post-test support services intervention. Methods We reviewed all relevant documentation collected during the study intervention period (e.g. monthly progress reports; bi-annual steering committee presentations and conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with project directors and between 12 and 23 field staff at each study site in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Thailand and Tanzania during 2009. Respondents were asked to describe (1 the adaptations development and approval process and (2 the most successful site-specific adaptations from the perspective of facilitating intervention implementation. Results Across sites, proposed adaptations were identified by field staff and submitted to project directors for review on a formally planned basis. The cross-site intervention sub-committee then ensured fidelity to the study protocol before approval. Successfully-implemented adaptations included: intervention delivery adaptations (e.g. development of tailored counseling messages for immigrant labour groups in South Africa political, environmental and infrastructural adaptations (e.g. use of local community centers as VCT venues in Zimbabwe; religious adaptations (e.g. dividing clients by gender in Muslim areas of Tanzania; economic adaptations (e.g. co-provision of income generating skills classes in Zimbabwe; epidemiological adaptations (e.g. provision of ‘youth-friendly’ services in South Africa, Zimbabwe

VGI in surveying engineering: Introducing collaborative cloud land surveying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioannis Sofos

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Volunteered geographic information (VGI has enabled many innovative applications in various scientific fields. This paper introduces a new framework called "collaborative cloud-based land surveying" (CCLS that uses VGI principles for data sharing among surveyor engineers to boost the productivity and improve the quality of their applications. A cloud-based spatio-temporal data repository is presented, aiming to facilitate the sharing of VGI among surveyor engineers. A fully-functional distributed software application has been developed and used to apply CCLS in a large-scale land surveying project run by the Greek Ministry of Culture, which involves the mapping of the historic center of Athens. Results from the data analysis of hundreds of measurements indicate a substantial (30% to 60% error reduction and also a significant productivity raise (~22%. The collected measurements are shared in an online database, accessible by professional surveyors who can in turn contribute their own data to further enhance the CCLS system.

Final Report, “Exploiting Global View for Resilience”

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chien, Andrew [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

2017-03-29

Final technical report for the "Exploiting Global View for Resilience" project. The GVR project aims to create a new approach to portable, resilient applications. The GVR approach builds on a global view data model,, adding versioning (multi-version), user control of timing and rate (multi-stream), and flexible cross layer error signalling and recovery. With a versioned array as a portable abstraction, GVR enables application programmers to exploit deep scientific and application code insights to manage resilience (and its overhead) in a flexible, portable fashion.

Cruise report; RV Coastal Surveyor Cruise C1-99; multibeam mapping of the Long Beach, California continental shelf; April 12 through May 19, 1999

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, James V.; Hughes-Clarke, John E.; Mayer, Larry A.

1999-01-01

The greater Los Angeles area of California is home to more than 10 million people. This large population puts increased pressure on the adjacent offshore continental shelf and margin with activities such as ocean disposal for dredged spoils, explosive disposal, waste-water outfall, and commercial fishing. The increased utilization of the shelf and margin in this area has generated accelerated multi-disciplinary research efforts in all aspects of the environment of the coastal zone. Prior to 1996 there were no highly accurate base maps of the continental shelf and slope upon which the research activities could be located and monitored. In 1996, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Seafloor Mapping Project began to address this problem by mapping the Santa Monica shelf and margin (Fig. 1) using a state-of-the-art, high-resolution multibeam sonar system (Gardner, et al., 1996; 1999). Additional seafloor mapping in 1998 provided coverage of the continental margin from south of Newport to the proximal San Pedro Basin northwest of Palos Verdes Peninsula (Gardner, et al., 1998) (Fig. 1). The mapping of the seafloor in the greater Los Angeles continental shelf and margin was completed with a 30-day mapping of the Long Beach shelf in April and May 1999, the subject of this report. The objective of Cruise C-1-99-SC was to completely map the broad continental shelf from the eastern end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula to the narrow shelf south of Newport Beach, from the break in slope at about 120-m isobath to the inner shelf at about the 10-m isobath. Mapping the Long Beach shelf was jointly funded by the U.S. Geological Survey and the County of Orange (CA) Sanitation District and was conducted under a Cooperative Agreement with the Ocean Mapping Group from the University of New Brunswick (OMG/UNB). The OMG/UNB contracted with C&C Technologies, Inc. of Lafayette, LA for use of the RV Coastal Surveyor and the latest evolution of high-resolution multibeam sonars, a

Moon/Mars Landing Commemorative Release: Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

the mouth of Ma'adim Vallis--are composed of sediment that eroded out of the highlands to the south of Gusev Crater. In 1995, the Exobiology Program Office at NASA Headquarters produced a report, An Exobiological Strategy for Mars Exploration (NASA SP-530), that included Gusev Crater as a possible priority site for future Mars exploration because it might once have been a lake.At 12:17 a.m. (PDT) on April 24, 1998-- during Mars Global Surveyor's 259th orbit--MOC obtained the high resolution image of Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis shown above, in part to test some of the proposed hypotheses. The raw image has a scale of 7.3 meters (24 feet) per pixel. At this scale, there are no obvious shorelines that would indicate the past presence of a lake in either Ma'adim Vallis or Gusev Crater. There are several alternative explanations for this absence, including: It is possible that any lake in Gusev occurred so long ago that erosion by wind and hillslope processes have long since removed such features. It is possible that 7.3 meters per pixel is insufficient to identify key diagnostic lake features. It is possible that a lake once existed, but that shore- and near-shore processes as they occur in terrestrial lake environments did not occur on Mars. It is possible no lake ever existed. When Mars Global Surveyor achieves its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, MOC will have the ability to obtain pictures with resolutions around 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel. Sometime during the mapping mission, it may be possible to image Gusev Crater again to look for potential lake features and possible future landing sites.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from

Global warming and nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodgson, P.E.

1999-01-01

The problems of pollution, global warming and renewable energy sources are not going to go away. Governments need to act with urgency if they are to produce a long-term energy policy. This paper looks at the current energy situation, and how this would project into the future without the instigation of radical changes. It concludes that nuclear is the best option available for averting a growing energy, pollution and global warming crisis. (author)

Project and Sports Events Management

OpenAIRE

Sebastian Madalin MUNTEANU

2011-01-01

This paper tries to capture the importance it holds the project management in socio-cultural sector which stands out when we refer to the sport. So when we talk about project management in sport, to consider a much larger vision, a new project management perspective, they involve a responsibility for the implementation of an event with global impact on very long term. Sports projects, as history shows us, played a significant role in developing societies. Also, all major sports industry proje...

Globalization and Europeanization. A Projection on a European Model of Public Administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ani Matei

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The specialized studies and literature present moreover and insistently the connection between globalization and Europeanization, more precisely between globalization and a European model of integration, whose features aim to set up a global-type European society. The development of the European model of integration starts with economic elements, it reveals nowadays the Economic and Monetary Union and in perspective it will be structured within a sui generis system of transnational governance. The values of the European model of integration become fundamental values of a social process, with powerful economic and political determinations, aiming the multi-causal interference between individual, community and European construction. This process, remarked increasingly in the specialized literature, being assigned with the name of Europeanization, has got original, functional features in the spectrum of significations of the globalization paradigm. As essential global-type formula, within Europeanization, we shall find models with economic, political or social finality, integrating also a model of administration among the latter ones. When we say administration, we refer to its up dated and adequate contents to the new European developments. This assertion derives from a less economic modality to conceptualize the relationship between globalization and Europeanization, presenting Europeanization more as a political adaptation to globalization and even a political expression of globalization. In this context, the development of a system for European governance on several levels (local, regional, national, intergovernmental and supranational suggests its evolution towards globalization. In fact, the literature specific for Europeanization asserts the fact that the European model has also features with integrative nature related to the supranational and trans-governmental dimensions, as well as features with normative nature in view of harmonization

Similar Estimates of Temperature Impacts on Global Wheat Yield by Three Independent Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Asseng, Senthold; Muller, Christoph; Ewart, Frank; Elliott, Joshua; Lobell, David B.; Martre, Pierre; Ruane, Alex C.; Wallach, Daniel; Jones, James W.;

Similar estimates of temperature impacts on global wheat yield by three independent methods

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Asseng, Senthold; Müller, Christoph; Ewert, Frank; Elliott, Joshua; Lobell, David B.; Martre, Pierre; Ruane, Alex C.; Wallach, Daniel; Jones, James W.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Aggarwal, Pramod K.; Alderman, Phillip D.; Anothai, Jakarat; Basso, Bruno; Biernath, Christian; Cammarano, Davide; Challinor, Andy; Deryng, Delphine; Sanctis, Giacomo De; Doltra, Jordi; Fereres, Elias; Folberth, Christian; Garcia-Vila, Margarita; Gayler, Sebastian; Hoogenboom, Gerrit; Hunt, Leslie A.; Izaurralde, Roberto C.; Jabloun, Mohamed; Jones, Curtis D.; Kersebaum, Kurt C.; Kimball, Bruce A.; Koehler, Ann-Kristin; Kumar, Soora Naresh; Nendel, Claas; O'Leary, Garry J.; Olesen, Jørgen E.; Ottman, Michael J.; Palosuo, Taru; Prasad, P. V. Vara; Priesack, Eckart; Pugh, Thomas A. M.; Reynolds, Matthew; Rezaei, Ehsan E.; Rötter, Reimund P.; Schmid, Erwin; Semenov, Mikhail A.; Shcherbak, Iurii; Stehfest, Elke; Stöckle, Claudio O.; Stratonovitch, Pierre; Streck, Thilo; Supit, Iwan; Tao, Fulu; Thorburn, Peter; Waha, Katharina; Wall, Gerard W.; Wang, Enli; White, Jeffrey W.; Wolf, Joost; Zhao, Zhigan; Zhu, Yan

2016-12-01

The potential impact of global temperature change on global crop yield has recently been assessed with different methods. Here we show that grid-based and point-based simulations and statistical regressions (from historic records), without deliberate adaptation or CO2 fertilization effects, produce similar estimates of temperature impact on wheat yields at global and national scales. With a 1 °C global temperature increase, global wheat yield is projected to decline between 4.1% and 6.4%. Projected relative temperature impacts from different methods were similar for major wheat-producing countries China, India, USA and France, but less so for Russia. Point-based and grid-based simulations, and to some extent the statistical regressions, were consistent in projecting that warmer regions are likely to suffer more yield loss with increasing temperature than cooler regions. By forming a multi-method ensemble, it was possible to quantify `method uncertainty’ in addition to model uncertainty. This significantly improves confidence in estimates of climate impacts on global food security.

Global work contexts as sites of discursive sense making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Nils Braad

2014-01-01

Global work contexts represent highly complex working environments with simultaneous attachment to several projects and teams (Rosen, Furst & Blackburn, 2007). This complexity increases the for the sense-making capabilities of employees (Weick, 1995). MyPhD project examines this sense-making proc...... of knowledge communication networks in a global organisation. Interviews were fully transscribed analysed using a combination of James Gee’s approach to discourse analysis, and a novel adaptation of Auatin’s speech act theory....

Toward global planning of sustainable use of the earth. Development of global eco-engineering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murai, S [ed.; School of Advanced Technologies, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok (Thailand)

1995-07-01

Better understanding of global environmental systems and the magnitude of human impacts is the most fundamental research task for developing an ecologically sound basis for the continuous human habitation and sustainable development of the earth`s limited resources. Although many research projects are already underway to begin addressing these issues, using global data mainly obtained from remote sensing technologies, our knowledge is far from sufficient. This volume is intended to promote further research towards the development of global eco-engineering which is seeking continuous human habitation and improvement of human welfare, based on the sustainable utilization of global environmental resources and preservation of global eco-systems. In the 42 papers in this volume a variety of disciplines is covered, including remote sensing, geography, meteorology, biology, biochemistry, ecology, marines science, hydrology, agriculture, environmental engineering, urban planning, social science, economy, ethics and philosophy. 160 figs., 66 tabs., 760 refs.

Modeling the Global Workplace Using Emerging Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Dorazio, Patricia; Hickok, Corey

2008-01-01

The Fall 2006 term of COM495, Senior Practicum in Communication, offered communication and information design students the privilege of taking part in a transatlantic intercultural virtual project. To emulate real world experience in today's global workplace, these students researched and completed a business communication project with German…

Managing Geographically Dispersed Teams: From Temporary to Permanent Global Virtual Teams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svane Hansen, Tine; Hope, Alexander John; Moehler, Robert C.

2012-01-01

for organisations to move towards establishing permanent Global Virtual Teams in order to leverage knowledge sharing and cooperation across distance. To close this gap, this paper will set the scene for a research project investigating the changed preconditions for organisations. As daily face-to-face communication......The rise and spread of information communication technologies (ICT) has enabled increasing use of geographically dispersed work teams (Global Virtual Teams). Originally, Global Virtual Teams were mainly organised into temporary projects. Little research has focused on the emergent challenge...... generation of self-lead digital natives, who are already practising virtual relationships and a new approach to work, and currently joining the global workforce; and improved communication technologies. Keywords: Global Virtual teams, ICT, leadership, motivation, self-management, millenials....

The Rhetoric of Globalization and Communication Education in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper attempts an assessment of the various conceptual projections for the evaluation of the supposed derivations of globalization. The many scholastic discourses and some obviously identifiable fallacies are measured from rhetorical standpoint. The dictates of globalization suggest that every nation needs to ...

Variations and Trends in Global and Regional Precipitation Based on the 22-year GPCP (Global Precipitation Climatology Project) and Three-year TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) Data Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, R.; Curtis, S.; Huffman, G.; Bolvin, D.; Nelkin, E.

2001-05-01

This paper gives an overview of the analysis of global precipitation over the last few decades and the impact of the new TRMM precipitation observations. The 20+ year, monthly, globally complete precipitation analysis of the World Climate Research Program's (WCRP/GEWEX) Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) is used to study global and regional variations and trends and is compared to the much shorter TRMM(Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) tropical data set. The GPCP data set shows no significant trend in global precipitation over the twenty years, unlike the positive trend in global surface temperatures over the past century. The global trend analysis must be interpreted carefully, however, because the inhomogeneity of the data set makes detecting a small signal very difficult, especially over this relatively short period. The relation of global (and tropical) total precipitation and ENSO events is quantified with no significant signal when land and ocean are combined. Identifying regional trends in precipitation may be more practical. From 1979 to 2000 the tropics have pattern of regional rainfall trends that has an ENSO-like pattern with features of both the El Nino and La Nina. This feature is related to a possible trend in the frequency of ENSO events (either El Nino or La Nina) over the past 20 years. Monthly anomalies of precipitation are related to ENSO variations with clear signals extending into middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres. The El Nino and La Nina mean anomalies are near mirror images of each other and when combined produce an ENSO signal with significant spatial continuity over large distances. A number of the features are shown to extend into high latitudes. Positive anomalies extend in the Southern Hemisphere (S.H.) from the Pacific southeastward across Chile and Argentina into the south Atlantic Ocean. In the Northern Hemisphere (N.H.) the counterpart feature extends across the southern U.S. and Atlantic Ocean into Europe

Impacts of Dams and Global Warming on Fish Biodiversity in the Indo-Burma Hotspot.

Science.gov (United States)

Kano, Yuichi; Dudgeon, David; Nam, So; Samejima, Hiromitsu; Watanabe, Katsutoshi; Grudpan, Chaiwut; Grudpan, Jarungjit; Magtoon, Wichan; Musikasinthorn, Prachya; Nguyen, Phuong Thanh; Praxaysonbath, Bounthob; Sato, Tomoyuki; Shibukawa, Koichi; Shimatani, Yukihiro; Suvarnaraksha, Apinun; Tanaka, Wataru; Thach, Phanara; Tran, Dac Dinh; Yamashita, Tomomi; Utsugi, Kenzo

2016-01-01

Both hydropower dams and global warming pose threats to freshwater fish diversity. While the extent of global warming may be reduced by a shift towards energy generation by large dams in order to reduce fossil-fuel use, such dams profoundly modify riverine habitats. Furthermore, the threats posed by dams and global warming will interact: for example, dams constrain range adjustments by fishes that might compensate for warming temperatures. Evaluation of their combined or synergistic effects is thus essential for adequate assessment of the consequences of planned water-resource developments. We made projections of the responses of 363 fish species within the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot to the separate and joint impacts of dams and global warming. The hotspot encompasses the Lower Mekong Basin, which is the world's largest freshwater capture fishery. Projections for 81 dam-building scenarios revealed progressive impacts upon projected species richness, habitable area, and the proportion of threatened species as generating capacity increased. Projections from 126 global-warming scenarios included a rise in species richness, a reduction in habitable area, and an increase in the proportion of threatened species; however, there was substantial variation in the extent of these changes among warming projections. Projections from scenarios that combined the effects of dams and global warming were derived either by simply adding the two threats, or by combining them in a synergistic manner that took account of the likelihood that habitat shifts under global warming would be constrained by river fragmentation. Impacts on fish diversity under the synergistic projections were 10-20% higher than those attributable to additive scenarios, and were exacerbated as generating capacity increased-particularly if CO2 emissions remained high. The impacts of dams, especially those on river mainstreams, are likely to be greater, more predictable and more immediately pressing for

Impacts of Dams and Global Warming on Fish Biodiversity in the Indo-Burma Hotspot.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuichi Kano

Full Text Available Both hydropower dams and global warming pose threats to freshwater fish diversity. While the extent of global warming may be reduced by a shift towards energy generation by large dams in order to reduce fossil-fuel use, such dams profoundly modify riverine habitats. Furthermore, the threats posed by dams and global warming will interact: for example, dams constrain range adjustments by fishes that might compensate for warming temperatures. Evaluation of their combined or synergistic effects is thus essential for adequate assessment of the consequences of planned water-resource developments. We made projections of the responses of 363 fish species within the Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot to the separate and joint impacts of dams and global warming. The hotspot encompasses the Lower Mekong Basin, which is the world's largest freshwater capture fishery. Projections for 81 dam-building scenarios revealed progressive impacts upon projected species richness, habitable area, and the proportion of threatened species as generating capacity increased. Projections from 126 global-warming scenarios included a rise in species richness, a reduction in habitable area, and an increase in the proportion of threatened species; however, there was substantial variation in the extent of these changes among warming projections. Projections from scenarios that combined the effects of dams and global warming were derived either by simply adding the two threats, or by combining them in a synergistic manner that took account of the likelihood that habitat shifts under global warming would be constrained by river fragmentation. Impacts on fish diversity under the synergistic projections were 10-20% higher than those attributable to additive scenarios, and were exacerbated as generating capacity increased-particularly if CO2 emissions remained high. The impacts of dams, especially those on river mainstreams, are likely to be greater, more predictable and more

Multi-model ensemble projections of European river floods and high flows at 1.5, 2, and 3 degree global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Thober, S.; Kumar, R.; Wanders, N.; Marx, A.; Pan, M.; Rakovec, O.; Samaniego, L. E.; Sheffield, J.; Wood, E. F.; Zink, M.

2017-12-01

Severe river floods often result in huge economic losses and fatalities. Since 1980, almost 1500 such events have been reported in Europe. This study investigates climate change impacts on European floods under 1.5, 2, and 3 K global warming. The impacts are assessed employing a multi-model ensemble containing three hydrologic models (HMs: mHM, Noah-MP, PCR-GLOBWB) forced by five CMIP5 General Circulation Models (GCMs) under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 2.6, 6.0, and 8.5). This multi-model ensemble is unprecedented with respect to the combination of its size (45 realisations) and its spatial resolution, which is 5 km over entire Europe. Climate change impacts are quantified for high flows and flood events, represented by 10% exceedance probability and annual maxima of daily streamflow, respectively. The multi-model ensemble points to the Mediterranean region as a hotspot of changes with significant decrements in high flows from -11% at 1.5 K up to -30% at 3 K global warming mainly resulting from reduced precipitation. Small changes (< ±10%) are observed for river basins in Central Europe and the British Isles under different levels of warming. Projected higher annual precipitation increases high flows in Scandinavia, but reduced snow water equivalent decreases flood events in this region. The contribution by the GCMs to the overall uncertainties of the ensemble is in general higher than that by the HMs. The latter, however, have a substantial share of the overall uncertainty and exceed GCM uncertainty in the Mediterranean and Scandinavia. Adaptation measures for limiting the impacts of global warming could be similar under 1.5 K and 2 K global warming, but has to account for significantly higher changes under 3 K global warming.

Global Health and Social Media: Using Instagram and Twitter in an Open Online Class for Global Service-Learning Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Messner, Marcus; Medina-Messner, Vivian; Guidry, Jeanine

2016-01-01

Course description: An undergraduate open online course used Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to explore global health issues and designed social media campaigns for nonprofit clients. Social media platforms were used as teaching as well as learning platforms to allow students to explore their real life applications in global health contexts.

Mars Navigator: An Interactive Multimedia Program about Mars, Aerospace Engineering, Astronomy, and the JPL Mars Missions. [CD-ROM

Science.gov (United States)

Gramoll, Kurt

This CD-ROM introduces basic astronomy and aerospace engineering by examining the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor missions to Mars. It contains numerous animations and narrations in addition to detailed graphics and text. Six interactive laboratories are included to help understand topics such as the…

Projected global health impacts from severe nuclear accidents: Conversion of projected doses to risks on a global scale: Experience from Chernobyl releases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catlin, R.J.; Goldman, M.; Anspaugh, L.R.

1988-01-01

Estimates of projected collective dose and average individual dose commitments from Chernobyl releases were made for various regions. Consideration was given to the possible effectiveness of protective actions taken by various countries to reduce projected doses to their populations. Although some preliminary data indicate possible mean reductions of about 25% in total collective doses over the first year, and of about 55% in collective dose to the thyroid, no corrections were made to these dose estimates because of the variable nature of the data. A new combined set of dose-effect models recently published by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission was then applied to estimate the ranges of possible future additional health effects due to the Chernobyl accident. In this method possible health effects are estimated on an individual site basis and the results are then summed. Both absolute and relative risk projection models are used. By use of these methods, ''best'' estimates of possible additional health effects were projected for the Northern Hemisphere as follows: 1) over the next 50 years, up to 28 thousand radiation-induced fatal cancers, compared to an expected 600 million cancer deaths from natural or spontaneous causes; 2) over the next year, up to 700 additional cases of severe mental retardation, compared to a normal expectation of 340 thousand cases; and 3) in the first generation, up to 1.9 thousand radiation-induced genetic disorders, compared to 180 million naturally-occurring cases. The possibility of zero health effects at very low doses and dose rates cannot be excluded. Owing to the very large numbers of naturally-occurring health effects, it is unlikely that any additional health effects will be demonstrable except, perhaps, for the more highly exposed population in the immediate vicinity of Chernobyl. 13 refs, 4 figs, 6 tabs

Projecting Nigerian Image through the Globalization of Her Dances ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The historical methodology is employed. The findings of this paper is that Nigerian dances have not benefited from globalization because, many of our dances and dance patterns have been stolen and repackaged to us as Western Euro-America cultural products. The paper therefore posits that Nigerians should take their ...

Implementing the global plan to stop TB, 2011-2015--optimizing allocations and the Global Fund's contribution: a scenario projections study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eline L Korenromp

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The Global Plan to Stop TB estimates funding required in low- and middle-income countries to achieve TB control targets set by the Stop TB Partnership within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. We estimate the contribution and impact of Global Fund investments under various scenarios of allocations across interventions and regions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using Global Plan assumptions on expected cases and mortality, we estimate treatment costs and mortality impact for diagnosis and treatment for drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB, including antiretroviral treatment (ART during DOTS for HIV-co-infected patients, for four country groups, overall and for the Global Fund investments. In 2015, China and India account for 24% of funding need, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA for 33%, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA for 20%, and other low- and middle-income countries for 24%. Scale-up of MDR-TB treatment, especially in EECA, drives an increasing global TB funding need--an essential investment to contain the mortality burden associated with MDR-TB and future disease costs. Funding needs rise fastest in SSA, reflecting increasing coverage need of improved TB/HIV management, which saves most lives per dollar spent in the short term. The Global Fund is expected to finance 8-12% of Global Plan implementation costs annually. Lives saved through Global Fund TB support within the available funding envelope could increase 37% if allocations shifted from current regional demand patterns to a prioritized scale-up of improved TB/HIV treatment and secondly DOTS, both mainly in Africa--with EECA region, which has disproportionately high per-patient costs, funded from alternative resources. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings, alongside country funding gaps, domestic funding and implementation capacity and equity considerations, should inform strategies and policies for international donors, national governments and

Recognition as welfare in globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pantović Branislav

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The subject matter of this study is an interdisciplinary envisaging of cultural problem in the process of globalization. The development and theoretical organization of the project that deals with cultural identity and strategy to represent Serbia on a global level could be a part of an overall strategy of the Serbian Government for development and advancement of the country. Globalization, as a gradual, progressive cycle of the world integrations is resulting in cultural exchange increase and represents a parameter for description of changes in the society. Culture constitutes a significant segment of international integration, where cultural authenticity and its promotion are of particular significance.

The Challenges and Enhancing Opportunities of Global Project Management: Evidence from Chinese and Dutch Cross-Cultural Project Management

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Ying; Marquis, Christopher G; Filippov, Sergey; Haasnoot, Henk-Jan; van der Steen, Martijn

2015-01-01

This study investigates the role of national and organisational culture in day-to-day activities of multinational project teams, specifically focusing on differences between Chinese and Dutch project managers. We rely on fieldwork observation and interviews with representatives from a diverse set of organizations in China and the Netherlands. Analyses focus on the impact of cultural differences on five project management processes – (1) project planning, (2) cost and quality management, (3) r...

Projected continent-wide declines of the emperor penguin under climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jenouvrier, S.; Holland, M.; Stroeve, J.; Serreze, M.; Barbraud, C.; Weimerskirch, H.; Caswell, H.

2014-01-01

Climate change has been projected to affect species distribution1 and future trends of local populations2, 3, but projections of global population trends are rare. We analyse global population trends of the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), an iconic Antarctic top predator, under the influence

Analysis of the Main Access Municipal Project Free and Free Internet in Public Squares: Digital Inclusion in the Present Corporate Information Globalized

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderson Nogueira Oliveira

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present study has as its theme the role of municipalities in the current global information society. So it has the general objective analysis on the free access to the internet in public places as a means of digital inclusion, with such spaces known as digital o hotspots squares. In this case we will present concepts, definitions and brief historical development of the objects of study of this research, namely, globalization, the information society and digital inclusion. We emphasize that this research will analyze recent data on internet access in Brazil, and will check the key municipal projects freely and free internet access in public squares. For this research we use the hypothetical-deductive method by the methodology of analysis of books, scientific papers and official data by renamed institutions to present a scientifically valid conclusion.

Japan's English-Medium Instruction Initiatives and the Globalization of Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Heath; McKinley, Jim

2018-01-01

This article analyzes a recent initiative of Japan's Ministry of Education, which aims to internationalize higher education in Japan. The large-investment project "Top Global University Project" (TGUP) has emerged to create globally oriented universities, to increase the role of foreign languages in higher education, and to foster global…

Will surface winds weaken in response to global warming?

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jian; Foltz, Gregory R.; Soden, Brian J.; Huang, Gang; He, Jie; Dong, Changming

2016-12-01

The surface Walker and tropical tropospheric circulations have been inferred to slow down from historical observations and model projections, yet analysis of large-scale surface wind predictions is lacking. Satellite measurements of surface wind speed indicate strengthening trends averaged over the global and tropical oceans that are supported by precipitation and evaporation changes. Here we use corrected anemometer-based observations to show that the surface wind speed has not decreased in the averaged tropical oceans, despite its reduction in the region of the Walker circulation. Historical simulations and future projections for climate change also suggest a near-zero wind speed trend averaged in space, regardless of the Walker cell change. In the tropics, the sea surface temperature pattern effect acts against the large-scale circulation slow-down. For higher latitudes, the surface winds shift poleward along with the eddy-driven mid-latitude westerlies, resulting in a very small contribution to the global change in surface wind speed. Despite its importance for surface wind speed change, the influence of the SST pattern change on global-mean rainfall is insignificant since it cannot substantially alter the global energy balance. As a result, the precipitation response to global warming remains ‘muted’ relative to atmospheric moisture increase. Our results therefore show consistency between projections and observations of surface winds and precipitation.

TALENTED CARING NURSES ARE NEEDED IN A GLOBAL WORLD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Débora Kirschbaum Nitkin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Nursing professional practice has been strongly impacted by the increase of global affairs and the appeals for international exchanges arisen by globalization. Moreover, in the last decades, nursing scholars, graduate and undergraduate students from different continents and countries have been involved in joined research projects, knowledge exchange, and capacity building projects that concurrently contribute to the enrichment of knowledge transference, public good, and the achievement of the corporate university project. Besides to the aforementioned initiatives, one also observes an intense demand for nurses in developing countries divulged in the media1 that may stimulate Brazilian nurses’ migration, following a tendency that has been observed in North America and Europe in recent years.

Using Project Complexity Determinations to Establish Required Levels of Project Rigor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrews, Thomas D.

2015-10-01

This presentation discusses the project complexity determination process that was developed by National Security Technologies, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office for implementation at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The complexity determination process was developed to address the diversity of NNSS project types, size, and complexity; to fill the need for one procedure but with provision for tailoring the level of rigor to the project type, size, and complexity; and to provide consistent, repeatable, effective application of project management processes across the enterprise; and to achieve higher levels of efficiency in project delivery. These needs are illustrated by the wide diversity of NNSS projects: Defense Experimentation, Global Security, weapons tests, military training areas, sensor development and testing, training in realistic environments, intelligence community support, sensor development, environmental restoration/waste management, and disposal of radioactive waste, among others.

Integrating Project Portfolio With Business Strategy: Imagineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cesar Buaes Dal Maso

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aligning project management to the strategy of a big company is a difficult job. Through Imagineering (the business department and project management program, The Walt Disney Company has done this alignment in an exemplary way. Using a theoretical investigation, this study analyzed the Imagineering as a reference in strategic management of global projects through Disney´s business portfolio, a global benchmarking and with Malmberg et al. (2010 as a company guide. As the main results of the correlations carried out, it was noted that the Imagineers who work in project teams apply tools and techniques with a strategic vision focused on differentiation, generating value, and mixing imagination with technical capacity. The Blue Sky department and its integrated units make possible the creation and deployment of the attractions, the theme parks, hotels, resorts and the Disney sea cruises, demonstrating in this way, to be a highly effective project management office.

Standards and Specifications for Ground Processing of Space Vehicles: From an Aviation-Based Shuttle Project to Global Application

Science.gov (United States)

Ingalls, John; Cipolletti, John

2011-01-01

and methods are incongruent. Some processing products are still done on paper, some electronic, and many being converted in between. Business systems then are not fully compatible, and paper as well as electronic conversions are time-consuming and costly. NASA and its Shuttle contractors setup rules and systems to handle what has produced over 130 RLV launches, but they have had many challenges. Attempts have been made to apply aviation industry specifications to make the Shuttle more efficient with its ground processing. One efficiency project example was to make a Shuttle Maintenance Manual (SMM) based on the commercial ATA (Air Transport Association of America) Spec 100 for technical publications. This industry standard, along with others, has been a foundation for efficient global MRO of commercial airlines for years. A modified version was also made for some military aircraft. The SMM project found many similarities in Spec 100 which apply to the Shuttle, and room for expansion for space systems/structures not in aircraft. The SMM project team met with the ATA and representatives from NASA's X-33 and X-34 programs to discuss collaboration on a national space standard based on Spec 100. A pilot project was enabled for a subset of Shuttle systems. Full implementation was not yet achieved, X-33 and X-34 were cancelled, and the Shuttles were then designated for retirement. Nonetheless, we can learn from this project how to expand this concept to all space vehicle products. Since then, ATA has joined with ASD (AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe) and AIA (Aerospace Industries Association) to form a much-enhanced and expanded international specification: Sl000D, International Specification for Technical Publications. It includes air, land, and sea vehicles, missiles, support equipment, ordnance, and communications. It is used by a growing number of countries for commercial and government products. Its modular design is supported by a Common Source

What Climate Sensitivity Index Is Most Useful for Projections?

Science.gov (United States)

Grose, Michael R.; Gregory, Jonathan; Colman, Robert; Andrews, Timothy

2018-02-01

Transient climate response (TCR), transient response at 140 years (T140), and equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) indices are intended as benchmarks for comparing the magnitude of climate response projected by climate models. It is generally assumed that TCR or T140 would explain more variability between models than ECS for temperature change over the 21st century, since this timescale is the realm of transient climate change. Here we find that TCR explains more variability across Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 than ECS for global temperature change since preindustrial, for 50 or 100 year global trends up to the present, and for projected change under representative concentration pathways in regions of delayed warming such as the Southern Ocean. However, unexpectedly, we find that ECS correlates higher than TCR for projected change from the present in the global mean and in most regions. This higher correlation does not relate to aerosol forcing, and the physical cause requires further investigation.

Projected Temperature-Related Years of Life Lost From Stroke Due To Global Warming in a Temperate Climate City, Asia: Disease Burden Caused by Future Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guoxing; Guo, Qun; Liu, Yang; Li, Yixue; Pan, Xiaochuan

2018-04-01

Global warming has attracted worldwide attention. Numerous studies have indicated that stroke is associated with temperature; however, few studies are available on the projections of the burden of stroke attributable to future climate change. We aimed to investigate the future trends of stroke years of life lost (YLL) associated with global warming. We collected death records to examine YLL in Tianjin, China, from 2006 to 2011. We fitted a standard time-series Poisson regression model after controlling for trends, day of the week, relative humidity, and air pollution. We estimated temperature-YLL associations with a distributed lag nonlinear model. These models were then applied to the local climate projections to estimate temperature-related YLL in the 2050s and 2070s. We projected temperature-related YLL from stroke in Tianjin under 19 global-scale climate models and 3 different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The results showed a slight decrease in YLL with percent decreases of 0.85%, 0.97%, and 1.02% in the 2050s and 0.94%, 1.02%, and 0.91% in the 2070s for the 3 scenarios, respectively. The increases in heat-related annual YLL and the decreases in cold-related YLL under the high emission scenario were the strongest. The monthly analysis showed that the most significant increase occurred in the summer months, particularly in August, with percent changes >150% in the 2050s and up to 300% in the 2070s. Future changes in climate are likely to lead to an increase in heat-related YLL, and this increase will not be offset by adaptation under both medium emission and high emission scenarios. Health protections from hot weather will become increasingly necessary, and measures to reduce cold effects will also remain important. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Agricultural Water Use under Global Change

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, T.; Ringler, C.; Rosegrant, M. W.

2008-12-01

Irrigation is by far the single largest user of water in the world and is projected to remain so in the foreseeable future. Globally, irrigated agricultural land comprises less than twenty percent of total cropland but produces about forty percent of the world's food. Increasing world population will require more food and this will lead to more irrigation in many areas. As demands increase and water becomes an increasingly scarce resource, agriculture's competition for water with other economic sectors will be intensified. This water picture is expected to become even more complex as climate change will impose substantial impacts on water availability and demand, in particular for agriculture. To better understand future water demand and supply under global change, including changes in demographic, economic and technological dimensions, the water simulation module of IMPACT, a global water and food projection model developed at the International Food Policy Research Institute, is used to analyze future water demand and supply in agricultural and several non-agricultural sectors using downscaled GCM scenarios, based on water availability simulation done with a recently developed semi-distributed global hydrological model. Risk analysis is conducted to identify countries and regions where future water supply reliability for irrigation is low, and food security may be threatened in the presence of climate change. Gridded shadow values of irrigation water are derived for global cropland based on an optimization framework, and they are used to illustrate potential irrigation development by incorporating gridded water availability and existing global map of irrigation areas.

The global historical climatology network: Long-term monthly temperature, precipitation, and pressure data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vose, R.S.; Schmoyer, R.L.; Peterson, T.C.; Steurer, P.M.; Heim, R.R. Jr.; Karl, T.R.; Eischeid, J.K.

1992-01-01

Interest in global climate change has risen dramatically during the past several decades. In a similar fashion, the number of data sets available to study global change has also increased. Unfortunately, many different organizations and researchers have compiled these data sets, making it confusing and time consuming for individuals to acquire the most comprehensive data. In response to this rapid growth in the number of global data sets, DOE's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) established the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) project. The purpose of this project is to compile an improved data set of long-term monthly mean temperature, precipitation, sea level pressure, and station pressure for as dense a network of global stations as possible. Specifically, the GHCN project seeks to consolidate the numerous preexisting national-, regional-, and global-scale data sets into a single global data base; to subject the data to rigorous quality control; and to update, enhance, and distribute the data set at regular intervals. The purpose of this paper is to describe the compilation and contents of the GHCN data base (i.e., GHCN Version 1.0)

Projected loss of a salamander diversity hotspot as a consequence of projected global climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph R. Milanovich; William E. Peterman; Nathan P. Nibbelink; John C. Maerz

2010-01-01

Background: Significant shifts in climate are considered a threat to plants and animals with significant physiological limitations and limited dispersal abilities. The southern Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for plethodontid salamander diversity. Plethodontids are lungless ectotherms, so their ecology is strongly governed by temperature and precipitation....

Global warming impact assessment of a crop residue gasification project—A dynamic LCA perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jin; Chen, Bin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A dynamic LCA is proposed considering time-varying factors. • Dynamic LCA is used to highlight GHG emission hotspots of gasification projects. • Indicators are proposed to reflect GHG emission performance. • Dynamic LCA alters the static LCA results. • Crop residue gasification project has high GHG abatement potential. - Abstract: Bioenergy from crop residues is one of the prevailing sustainable energy sources owing to the abundant reserves worldwide. Amongst a wide variety of energy conversion technologies, crop residue gasification has been regarded as promising owing to its higher energy efficiency than that of direct combustion. However, prior to large-scale application of crop residue gasification, the lifetime environmental performance should be investigated to shed light on sustainable strategies. As traditional static life cycle assessment (LCA) does not include temporal information for dynamic processes, we proposed a dynamic life cycle assessment approach, which improves the static LCA approach by considering time-varying factors, e.g., greenhouse gas characterization factors and energy intensity. As the gasification project can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) discharge compared with traditional direct fuel combustion, trade-offs between the benefits of global warming mitigation and the impact on global warming of crop residue gasification should be considered. Therefore, indicators of net global warming mitigation benefit and global warming impact mitigation period are put forward to justify the feasibility of the crop residue gasification project. The proposed dynamic LCA and indicators were then applied to estimate the life cycle global warming impact of a crop residue gasification system in China. Results show that the crop residue gasification project has high net global warming mitigation benefit and a short global warming impact mitigation period, indicating its prominent potential in alleviating global warming impact. During

Ocean acidification over the next three centuries using a simple global climate carbon-cycle model: projections and sensitivities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartin, Corinne A.; Bond-Lamberty, Benjamin; Patel, Pralit; Mundra, Anupriya

2016-08-01

Continued oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ is projected to significantly alter the chemistry of the upper oceans over the next three centuries, with potentially serious consequences for marine ecosystems. Relatively few models have the capability to make projections of ocean acidification, limiting our ability to assess the impacts and probabilities of ocean changes. In this study we examine the ability of Hector v1.1, a reduced-form global model, to project changes in the upper ocean carbonate system over the next three centuries, and quantify the model's sensitivity to parametric inputs. Hector is run under prescribed emission pathways from the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and compared to both observations and a suite of Coupled Model Intercomparison (CMIP5) model outputs. Current observations confirm that ocean acidification is already taking place, and CMIP5 models project significant changes occurring to 2300. Hector is consistent with the observational record within both the high- (> 55°) and low-latitude oceans (< 55°). The model projects low-latitude surface ocean pH to decrease from preindustrial levels of 8.17 to 7.77 in 2100, and to 7.50 in 2300; aragonite saturation levels (Ω_Ar) decrease from 4.1 units to 2.2 in 2100 and 1.4 in 2300 under RCP 8.5. These magnitudes and trends of ocean acidification within Hector are largely consistent with the CMIP5 model outputs, although we identify some small biases within Hector's carbonate system. Of the parameters tested, changes in [H⁺] are most sensitive to parameters that directly affect atmospheric CO₂ concentrations – Q₁₀ (terrestrial respiration temperature response) as well as changes in ocean circulation, while changes in Ω_Ar saturation levels are sensitive to changes in ocean salinity and Q₁₀. We conclude that Hector is a robust tool well suited for rapid ocean acidification

The present effect of global warming on U.S. industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bendel, W.B.

1993-01-01

This paper will discuss how global warming issues are currently affecting U.S. industry. Global climate models are projecting global temperature increases in the 1.5-4.5 degrees C range within the next 50-60 years. This increase is based on the assumption that CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere will continue to increase 1-2% per year, resulting in a doubling of preindustrial CO 2 levels by mid twenty-first century. These projections may cause U.S. industry to readjust its thinking with respect to the benefits of pollution prevention as they relate to global warming, corporate image enhancement, global competitiveness and risk assessment or balance. Real or perceived impacts of global warming are already influencing U.S. competitiveness within the global economy because Japan and the European countries are taking the global warming threat more seriously than is the U.S. Mitigation of CO 2 emissions through carbon taxes or permitting will be discussed. Options available to U.S. industry to deal with the current uncertainties of global warming will be presented. Examples of how specific companies are coping with this issue will be given. Finally, recommendations are presented for proactive planning to determine which segments, divisions or facilities in a multinational company would be most sensitive to CO 2 stabilization regulations

Novel Natural Products for Healthy Ageing from the Mediterranean Diet and Food Plants of Other Global Sources-The MediHealth Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Waltenberger, Birgit; Halabalaki, Maria; Schwaiger, Stefan; Adamopoulos, Nicolas; Allouche, Noureddine; Fiebich, Bernd L; Hermans, Nina; Jansen-Dürr, Pidder; Kesternich, Victor; Pieters, Luc; Schönbichler, Stefan; Skaltsounis, Alexios-Leandros; Tran, Hung; Trougakos, Ioannis P; Viljoen, Alvaro; Wolfender, Jean-Luc; Wolfrum, Christian; Xynos, Nikos; Stuppner, Hermann

2018-05-06

There is a rapid increase in the percentage of elderly people in Europe. Consequently, the prevalence of age-related diseases will also significantly increase. Therefore, the main goal of MediHealth, an international research project, is to introduce a novel approach for the discovery of active agents of food plants from the Mediterranean diet and other global sources that promote healthy ageing. To achieve this goal, a series of plants from the Mediterranean diet and food plants from other origins are carefully selected and subjected to in silico, cell-based, in vivo (fly and mouse models), and metabolism analyses. Advanced analytical techniques complement the bio-evaluation process for the efficient isolation and identification of the bioactive plant constituents. Furthermore, pharmacological profiling of bioactive natural products, as well as the identification and synthesis of their metabolites, is carried out. Finally, optimization studies are performed in order to proceed to the development of innovative nutraceuticals, dietary supplements or herbal medicinal products. The project is based on an exchange of researchers between nine universities and four companies from European and non-European countries, exploiting the existing complementary multidisciplinary expertise. Herein, the unique and novel approach of this interdisciplinary project is presented.

Global-minded Human Resources and Expectations for Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Inoue, Hiroshi

Under the globalized economy, Japanese corporations compete with rivals of the western countries and emerging economies. And domestically, they face with deflation, falling birth-rate, an aging society, and shrinking market. So they need to foster and retain global-minded human resources who can play an active role in global business, and who can drive innovation. What Japanese corporations expect for global-minded human resources are ability to meet challenges, ability to think independently free from conventional wisdom, communication skills in foreign languages, interests in foreign cultures and different values, and so on. In order to foster global-minded human resources, Keidanren work with the 13 universities selected under the Japanese Government‧s “Global 30” projects to undertake “Global-minded Human Resources Development Projects” .

Global Carbon Budget 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Quéré, Corinne Le; Andrew, Robbie M.; Canadell, Josep G.; Sitch, Stephen; Korsbakken, Jan Ivar; Peters, Glen P.; Manning, Andrew C.; Boden, Thomas A.; Tans, Pieter P.; Houghton, Richard A.;

Observing the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization with Variable-delay Polarization Modulators for the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Kathleen; CLASS Collaboration

2018-01-01

The search for inflationary primordial gravitational waves and the optical depth to reionization, both through their imprint on the large angular scale correlations in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), has created the need for high sensitivity measurements of polarization across large fractions of the sky at millimeter wavelengths. These measurements are subjected to instrumental and atmospheric 1/f noise, which has motivated the development of polarization modulators to facilitate the rejection of these large systematic effects.Variable-delay polarization modulators (VPMs) are used in the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) telescopes as the first element in the optical chain to rapidly modulate the incoming polarization. VPMs consist of a linearly polarizing wire grid in front of a moveable flat mirror; varying the distance between the grid and the mirror produces a changing phase shift between polarization states parallel and perpendicular to the grid which modulates Stokes U (linear polarization at 45°) and Stokes V (circular polarization). The reflective and scalable nature of the VPM enables its placement as the first optical element in a reflecting telescope. This simultaneously allows a lock-in style polarization measurement and the separation of sky polarization from any instrumental polarization farther along in the optical chain.The Q-Band CLASS VPM was the first VPM to begin observing the CMB full time in 2016. I will be presenting its design and characterization as well as demonstrating how modulating polarization significantly rejects atmospheric and instrumental long time scale noise.

Implementing the global plan to stop TB, 2011-2015 - optimizing allocations and the global fund's contribution: A scenario projections study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.L. Korenromp (Eline); P. Glaziou (Philippe); C. Fitzpatrick (Christopher); K. Floyd (Katherine); M. Hosseini (Mehran); M.C. Raviglione (Mario); R. Atun (Rifat); B. Williams (Brian)

2012-01-01

textabstractBackground: The Global Plan to Stop TB estimates funding required in low- and middle-income countries to achieve TB control targets set by the Stop TB Partnership within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. We estimate the contribution and impact of Global Fund investments

Evaluation of conducting a screening assessment of nutritional status of hospitalized patients. Presentation of main goals and objectives of the global health project "NutritionDay".

Science.gov (United States)

Jeznach-Steinhagen, Anna; Ostrowska, Joanna; Czerwonogrodzka-Senczyna, Aneta

2016-01-01

European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) commenced in 2004 a global health project named "NutritionDay" aiming to promote awareness of proper nutritional status of hospitalized patients and to draw attention to the need for early detection of malnutrition among patients. Under the Polish law--pursunat to the regulation of the Minister of Health dated September 15, 2011 (amendment as of 27.12.2013)--a nutritional status of each patient should be assessed at the time of a hospital admission. of this study was to analyze the fulfilment of the mandatory questionnaire assessment of nutritional status at selected wards of one of Warsaw's clinical hospitals. The study included an analysis of medical records of patients hospitalized within 6 months (n = 26375). The correct fulfilment of screening questionnaire assessing nutritional status (NRS 2002 survey) and the information about patients' body weight as well as the results assessment of nutritional status were subject to the analysis. NRS 2002 questionnaire was present in only 67,14% medical records of patients, however 49.24% of them were unfilled. The obtained results confirming low degree of NRS 2002 questionnaires' fulfilment in one of the Warsaw clinical hospitals draws attention to the need for education of hospital personnel in the field of significance of screening of nutritional assessment and its regulations. The "NutritionDay" project is an interesting form to attract attention of the aforementioned problem and its global extent additionally encourage medical units to participate in the project.

Assess and control global change in agriculture through ecosystem models integrated in geographic information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ponti, Luigi; Gutierrez, Andrew Paul; Iannetta, Massimo

2015-01-01

ENEA has created, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley, the Global Change Biology project that, for the first time, has made available in Europe a technology that can be It used to interpret and effectively manage change Global agriculture. The aim of the project was to provide tools to summarize, manage and analyze data Ecological on the effects of global change in agricultural systems, using traditional Mediterranean crops (Eg. Vineyards and olive) as model systems (http: // cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/89728_en.html). [it

Special section: OptIPlanet - The OptIPuter global collaboratory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smarr, L.; Brown, M.; de Laat, C.

The technological developments made by OptIPuter research project as an OptIPlanet Collaboratory of virtual organizations, in various scientific and technology domains, enhancing and contributing to this evolving cyberinfrastructure to solve complex global problems, are summarized. OptIPuter project

The Future of the Global Environment: A Model-based Analysis Supporting UNEP's First Global Environment Outlook

OpenAIRE

Bakkes JA; Woerden JW van; Alcamo J; Berk MM; Bol P; Born GJ van den; Brink BJE ten; Hettelingh JP; Langeweg F; Niessen LW; Swart RJ; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenia; MNV

1997-01-01

This report documents the scenario analysis in UNEP's first Global Environment Outlook, published at the same time as the scenario analysis. This Outlook provides a pilot assessment of developments in the environment, both global and regional, between now and 2015, with a further projection to 2050. The study was carried out in support of the Agenda 21 interim evaluation, five years after 'Rio' and ten years after 'Brundtland'. The scenario analysis is based on only one scenario, Conventional...

Future Urban Climate Projection in A Tropical Megacity Based on Global and Regional Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Darmanto, N. S.; Varquez, A. C. G.; Kanda, M.

2017-12-01

Cities in Asian developing countries experience rapid transformation in urban morphology and energy consumption, which correspondingly affects urban climate. Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled with improved single-layer urban canopy model incorporating realistic distribution of urban parameters and anthropogenic heat emission (AHE) in the tropic Jakarta Greater Area was conducted. Simulation was conducted during the dry months from 2006 to 2015 and agreed well with point and satellite observation. The same technology coupled with pseudo global warming (PGW) method based on representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenario 2.6 and 8.5 was conducted to produce futuristic climate condition in 2050. Projected urban morphology and AHE in 2050s were constructed using regional urban growing model with shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) among its inputs. Compact future urban configuration, based on SSP1, was coupled to RCP2.6. Unrestrained future urban configuration, based on SSP3, was coupled to RCP8.5. Results show that background warming from RCP 2.6 and 8.5 will increase background temperature by 0.55°C and 1.2°C throughout the region, respectively. Future projection of urban sprawl results to an additional 0.3°C and 0.5°C increase on average, with maximum increase of 1.1°C and 1.3°C due to urban effect for RCP2.6/compact and RCP8.5/unrestrained, respectively. Higher moisture content in urban area is indicated in the future due to higher evaporation. Change in urban roughness is likely affect slower wind velocity in urban area and sea breeze front inland penetration the future compare with current condition. Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-14) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

Project Solaris, a Global Network of Autonomous Observatories: Design, Commissioning, and First Science Results

Science.gov (United States)

Kozłowski, S. K.; Sybilski, P. W.; Konacki, M.; Pawłaszek, R. K.; Ratajczak, M.; Hełminiak, K. G.; Litwicki, M.

2017-10-01

We present the design and commissioning of Project Solaris, a global network of autonomous observatories. Solaris is a Polish scientific undertaking aimed at the detection and characterization of circumbinary exoplanets and eclipsing binary stars. To accomplish this, a network of four fully autonomous observatories has been deployed in the Southern Hemisphere: Solaris-1 and Solaris-2 in the South African Astronomical Observatory in South Africa; Solaris-3 in Siding Spring Observatory in Australia; and Solaris-4 in Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito in Argentina. The four stations are nearly identical and are equipped with 0.5-m Ritchey-Crétien (f/15) or Cassegrain (f/9, Solaris-3) optics and high-grade 2 K × 2 K CCD cameras with Johnson and Sloan filter sets. We present the design and implementation of low-level security; data logging and notification systems; weather monitoring components; all-sky vision system, surveillance system; and distributed temperature and humidity sensors. We describe dedicated grounding and lighting protection system design and robust fiber data transfer interfaces in electrically demanding conditions. We discuss the outcomes of our design, as well as the resulting software engineering requirements. We describe our system’s engineering approach to achieve the required level of autonomy, the architecture of the custom high-level industry-grade software that has been designed and implemented specifically for the use of the network. We present the actual status of the project and first photometric results; these include data and models of already studied systems for benchmarking purposes (Wasp-4b, Wasp-64b, and Wasp-98b transits, PG 1663-018, an eclipsing binary with a pulsator) as well J024946-3825.6, an interesting low-mass binary system for which a complete model is provided for the first time.

General, crystallized and fluid intelligence are not associated with functional global network efficiency: A replication study with the human connectome project 1200 data set.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruschwitz, J D; Waller, L; Daedelow, L S; Walter, H; Veer, I M

2018-05-01

One hallmark example of a link between global topological network properties of complex functional brain connectivity and cognitive performance is the finding that general intelligence may depend on the efficiency of the brain's intrinsic functional network architecture. However, although this association has been featured prominently over the course of the last decade, the empirical basis for this broad association of general intelligence and global functional network efficiency is quite limited. In the current study, we set out to replicate the previously reported association between general intelligence and global functional network efficiency using the large sample size and high quality data of the Human Connectome Project, and extended the original study by testing for separate association of crystallized and fluid intelligence with global efficiency, characteristic path length, and global clustering coefficient. We were unable to provide evidence for the proposed association between general intelligence and functional brain network efficiency, as was demonstrated by van den Heuvel et al. (2009), or for any other association with the global network measures employed. More specifically, across multiple network definition schemes, ranging from voxel-level networks to networks of only 100 nodes, no robust associations and only very weak non-significant effects with a maximal R 2 of 0.01 could be observed. Notably, the strongest (non-significant) effects were observed in voxel-level networks. We discuss the possibility that the low power of previous studies and publication bias may have led to false positive results fostering the widely accepted notion of general intelligence being associated to functional global network efficiency. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Are the Projections of Future Climate Change Reliable in the IPCC Reports?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zongci Zhao

2011-01-01

@@ As we know,the projections of future climate change including impacts and strategies in the IPCC Assessment Reports were based on global climate models with scenarios on various human activities.Global climate model simulations provide key inputs for climate change assessments. In this study,the main objective is to analyze if the projections of fu-ture climate change by global climate models are reli-able.Several workshops have been held on this issue,such as the IPCC expert meeting on assessing and combining multi-model climate projections in January of 2010 (presided by the co-chairs of the IPCC WGI and WGII AR5),and the workshop of the combined global climate model group held by NCAR in June of 2010.

Exploring Patterns of Soil Organic Matter Decomposition with Students and the Public Through the Global Decomposition Project (GDP)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, J. H.; Natali, S.

2014-12-01

The Global Decomposition Project (GDP) is a program designed to introduce and educate students and the general public about soil organic matter and decomposition through a standardized protocol for collecting, reporting, and sharing data. This easy-to-use hands-on activity focuses on questions such as "How do environmental conditions control decomposition of organic matter in soil?" and "Why do some areas accumulate organic matter and others do not?" Soil organic matter is important to local ecosystems because it affects soil structure, regulates soil moisture and temperature, and provides energy and nutrients to soil organisms. It is also important globally because it stores a large amount of carbon, and when microbes "eat", or decompose organic matter they release greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, which affects the earth's climate. The protocol describes a commonly used method to measure decomposition using a paper made of cellulose, a component of plant cell walls. Participants can receive pre-made cellulose decomposition bags, or make decomposition bags using instructions in the protocol and easily obtained materials (e.g., window screen and lignin-free paper). Individual results will be shared with all participants and the broader public through an online database. We will present decomposition bag results from a research site in Alaskan tundra, as well as from a middle-school-student led experiment in California. The GDP demonstrates how scientific methods can be extended to educate broader audiences, while at the same time, data collected by students and the public can provide new insight into global patterns of soil decomposition. The GDP provides a pathway for scientists and educators to interact and reach meaningful education and research goals.

The MGS Avionics System Architecture: Exploring the Limits of Inheritance

Science.gov (United States)

Bunker, R.

1994-01-01

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) avionics system architecture comprises much of the electronics on board the spacecraft: electrical power, attitude and articulation control, command and data handling, telecommunications, and flight software. Schedule and cost constraints dictated a mix of new and inherited designs, especially hardware upgrades based on findings of the Mars Observer failure review boards.

Dayside ionosphere of Mars: Empirical model based on data from the MARSIS instrument

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Němec, F.; Morgan, D. D.; Gurnett, D. A.; Duru, F.; Truhlík, Vladimír

2011-01-01

Roč. 116, - (2011), E07003/1-E07003/14 ISSN 0148-0227 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : RADIO OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS * GLOBAL SURVEYOR OBSERVATIONS * MARTIAN IONOSPHERE Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 3.021, year: 2011 http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2010JE003789.shtml

Global Interconnectedness and Multiculturalism in Undergraduate Sociology Courses in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Kyoung-Ho

2014-01-01

This study attempts to explain a process of inserting global transnational elements into an undergraduate sociology course. After a review of global themes covered in introductory sociology textbooks, the author administered two projects (Global Multiculturalism and Sociology of Wal-Mart) in an undergraduate sociology course. The current study…

Vortex structure in abelian-projected lattice gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambjoern, J.; Giedt, J.; Greensite, J.

2000-01-01

We report on a breakdown of both monopole dominance and positivity in abelian-projected lattice Yang-Mills theory. The breakdown is associated with observables involving two units of the abelian charge. We find that the projected lattice has at most a global Z 2 symmetry in the confined phase, rather than the global U(1) symmetry that might be expected in a dual superconductor or monopole Coulomb gas picture. Implications for monopole and center vortex theories of confinement are discussed

Eurasian Economic Union Foundation : Issues of Global Regionalization

OpenAIRE

Lagutina, Maria

2014-01-01

This paper is devoted to the theoretical conceptualization of political-economic processes within the Eurasian Economic Union. The author elaborates on this project within the framework of “global regionalization” and regards it as a fledging “global region.” In this paper, the European Union is analyzed as a model of the existing global region. The Eurasian region also has its own specific traits and experience of post-Soviet integration. The article argues that for successful Eurasian integ...

Globally Collaborative Experiential Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takeshi UTSUMI

2005-07-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The Global University System (GUS [Utsumi, et al, 2003] is a worldwide initiative to create advanced telecommunications infrastructure for access to educational resources across national and cultural boundaries for global peace. GUS aims to create a worldwide consortium of universities to provide the underdeveloped world with access to 21st Century education via broadband Internet technologies. The aim is to achieve “education and healthcare for all,” anywhere, anytime and at any pace. The GUS works in the major regions of the globe with partnerships of higher education and healthcare institutions. Learners in these regions will be able to take their courses from member institutions around the world to receive a GUS degree. These learners and their professors from partner institutions will also form a global forum for exchange of ideas and information and for conducting collaborative research and development with emerging global GRID computer network technology. Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming (GCEPG project [Utsumi, 2003] with a globally distributed computer simulation system, focusing on the issue of environment and sustainable development in developing countries, is to train would-be decision-makers in crisis management, conflict resolution, and negotiation techniques basing on “facts and figures.” The GUS will supply game players from around the world.

Oral health promotion and education messages in Live.Learn.Laugh. projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Virginie; Phantumvanit, Prathip

2014-10-01

The FDI-Unilever Live.Learn.Laugh. phase 2 partnership involved dissemination of the key oral health message of encouraging 'twice-daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste' and education of people worldwide by FDI, National Dental Associations, the Unilever Oral Care global team and local brands. The dissemination and education process used different methodologies, each targeting specific groups, namely: mother and child (Project option A); schoolchildren (Project option B); dentists and patients (Project option C); and specific communities (Project option D). Altogether, the partnership implemented 29 projects in 27 countries. These consisted of educational interventions, evaluations including (in some cases) clinical assessment, together with communication activities at both global and local levels, to increase the reach of the message to a broader population worldwide. The phase 2 experience reveals the strength of such a public-private partnership approach in tackling global oral health issues by creating synergies between partners and optimising the promotion and education process. © 2014 FDI World Dental Federation.

Improving the effectiveness of communication about climate science: Insights from the "Global Warming's Six Americas" audience segmentation research project

Science.gov (United States)

Maibach, E.; Roser-Renouf, C.

2011-12-01

That the climate science community has not been entirely effective in sharing what it knows about climate change with the broader public - and with policy makers and organizations that should be considering climate change when making decisions - is obvious. Our research shows that a large majority of the American public trusts scientists (76%) and science-based agencies (e.g., 76% trust NOAA) as sources of information about climate change. Yet, despite the widespread agreement in the climate science community that the climate is changing as a result of human activity, only 64% of the public understand that the world's average temperature has been increasing (and only about half of them are sure), less than half (47%) understand that the warming is caused mostly by human activity, and only 39% understand that most scientists think global warming is happening (in fact, only 13% understand that the large majority of climate scientists think global warming is happening). Less obvious is what the climate science community should do to become more effective in sharing what it knows. In this paper, we will use evidence from our "Global Warming's Six Americas" audience segmentation research project to suggest ways that individual climate scientists -- and perhaps more importantly, ways in which climate science agencies and professional societies -- can enhance the effectiveness of their communication efforts. We will conclude by challenging members of the climate science community to identify and convey "simple, clear messages, repeated often, by a variety of trusted sources" - an approach to communication repeatedly shown to be effective by the public health community.

Similar estimates of temperature impacts on global wheat yield by three independent methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Bing; Asseng, Senthold; Müller, Christoph

2016-01-01

The potential impact of global temperature change on global crop yield has recently been assessed with different methods. Here we show that grid-based and point-based simulations and statistical regressions (from historic records), without deliberate adaptation or CO2 fertilization effects, produ......-method ensemble, it was possible to quantify ‘method uncertainty’ in addition to model uncertainty. This significantly improves confidence in estimates of climate impacts on global food security.......The potential impact of global temperature change on global crop yield has recently been assessed with different methods. Here we show that grid-based and point-based simulations and statistical regressions (from historic records), without deliberate adaptation or CO2 fertilization effects, produce...... similar estimates of temperature impact on wheat yields at global and national scales. With a 1 °C global temperature increase, global wheat yield is projected to decline between 4.1% and 6.4%. Projected relative temperature impacts from different methods were similar for major wheat-producing countries...

Investment and Project Economics: Contemporary Lessons for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Taking up the contemporary challenge to sensitize and synergize instructional, industrial and governmental functionaries along this line are leading global faculties such as the Academy of Project Management (APM), Project Management Institute (PMI), and Business Analyst (BA) Times, amongst others. This work is ...

Climate change - global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciconkov, Risto

2001-01-01

An explanation about climate, weather, climate changes. What is a greenhouse effect, i.e. global warming and reasons which contribute to this effect. Greenhouse gases (GHG) and GWP (Global Warming Potential) as a factor for estimating their influence on the greenhouse effect. Indicators of the climate changes in the previous period by known international institutions, higher concentrations of global average temperature. Projecting of likely scenarios for the future climate changes and consequences of them on the environment and human activities: industry, energy, agriculture, water resources. The main points of the Kyoto Protocol and problems in its realization. The need of preparing a country strategy concerning the acts of the Kyoto Protocol, suggestions which could contribute in the preparation of the strategy. A special attention is pointed to the energy, its resources, the structure of energy consumption and the energy efficiency. (Author)

Projection of actual evapotranspiration using the COSMO-CLM regional climate model under global warming scenarios of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C in the Tarim River basin, China

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Buda; Jian, Dongnan; Li, Xiucang; Wang, Yanjun; Wang, Anqian; Wen, Shanshan; Tao, Hui; Hartmann, Heike

2017-11-01

Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is an important component of the water cycle. The goals for limiting global warming to below 2.0 °C above pre-industrial levels and aspiring to 1.5 °C were negotiated in the Paris Agreement in 2015. In this study, outputs from the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM) for the Tarim River basin (TRB) were used to calculate ETa with an advection-aridity model, and changes in ETa under global warming scenarios of 1.5 °C (2020 to 2039) and 2.0 °C (2040 to 2059) were analyzed. Comparison of warming at the global and regional scale showed that regional 1.5 °C warming would occur later than the global average, while regional 2.0 °C warming would occur earlier than the global average. For global warming of 1.5 °C, the average ETa in the TRB is about 222.7 mm annually, which represents an increase of 6.9 mm relative to the reference period (1986-2005), with obvious increases projected for spring and summer. The greatest increases in ETa were projected for the northeast and southwest. The increment in the annual ETa across the TRB considering a warming of 1.5 °C was 4.3 mm less than that for a warming of 2.0 °C, and the reduction between the two levels of warming was most pronounced in the summer, when ETa was 3.4 mm smaller. The reduction in the increment of annual ETa for warming of 1.5 °C relative to warming of 2.0 °C was most pronounced in the southwest and northeast, where it was projected to be 8.2 mm and 9.3 mm smaller, respectively. It is suggested that the higher ETa under a warming of 2.0 °C mainly results from an increase in the sunshine duration (net radiation) in the southwestern basin and an increase in precipitation in the northeastern basin. Vapor is removed from the limited surface water supplies by ETa. The results of this study are therefore particularly relevant for water resource planning in the TRB.

Global warming and extinctions of endemic species from biodiversity hotspots.

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm, Jay R; Liu, Canran; Neilson, Ronald P; Hansen, Lara; Hannah, Lee

2006-04-01

Global warming is a key threat to biodiversity, but few researchers have assessed the magnitude of this threat at the global scale. We used major vegetation types (biomes) as proxies for natural habitats and, based on projected future biome distributions under doubled-CO2 climates, calculated changes in habitat areas and associated extinctions of endemic plant and vertebrate species in biodiversity hotspots. Because of numerous uncertainties in this approach, we undertook a sensitivity analysis of multiple factors that included (1) two global vegetation models, (2) different numbers of biome classes in our biome classification schemes, (3) different assumptions about whether species distributions were biome specific or not, and (4) different migration capabilities. Extinctions were calculated using both species-area and endemic-area relationships. In addition, average required migration rates were calculated for each hotspot assuming a doubled-CO2 climate in 100 years. Projected percent extinctions ranged from hotspots were the Cape Floristic Region, Caribbean, Indo-Burma, Mediterranean Basin, Southwest Australia, and Tropical Andes, where plant extinctions per hotspot sometimes exceeded 2000 species. Under the assumption that projected habitat changes were attained in 100 years, estimated global-warming-induced rates of species extinctions in tropical hotspots in some cases exceeded those due to deforestation, supporting suggestions that global warming is one of the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity.

Comparing climate projections to observations up to 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahmstorf, Stefan; Foster, Grant; Cazenave, Anny

2012-01-01

We analyse global temperature and sea-level data for the past few decades and compare them to projections published in the third and fourth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results show that global temperature continues to increase in good agreement with the best estimates of the IPCC, especially if we account for the effects of short-term variability due to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, volcanic activity and solar variability. The rate of sea-level rise of the past few decades, on the other hand, is greater than projected by the IPCC models. This suggests that IPCC sea-level projections for the future may also be biased low. (letter)

Global environmental technologies in the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, M.

1994-01-01

This paper outlines the activities of New Energy and industrial Technology Development Organization's (NEDO) 'Research and Development of Industrial Technology' projects which are related to global environmental technologies. Then, it describes four new material programs and two biotechnology ones, and presents a list of a few environmentally-friendly technologies. These national projects are carried out by private companies which are consigned by NEDO in conformity with MITI's fundamental Research and Development policy. (TEC)

General overview: European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI – integrating aerosol research from nano to global scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Simpson

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe and summarize the main achievements of the European Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions project (EUCAARI. EUCAARI started on 1 January 2007 and ended on 31 December 2010 leaving a rich legacy including: (a a comprehensive database with a year of observations of the physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosol particles over Europe, (b comprehensive aerosol measurements in four developing countries, (c a database of airborne measurements of aerosols and clouds over Europe during May 2008, (d comprehensive modeling tools to study aerosol processes fron nano to global scale and their effects on climate and air quality. In addition a new Pan-European aerosol emissions inventory was developed and evaluated, a new cluster spectrometer was built and tested in the field and several new aerosol parameterizations and computations modules for chemical transport and global climate models were developed and evaluated. These achievements and related studies have substantially improved our understanding and reduced the uncertainties of aerosol radiative forcing and air quality-climate interactions. The EUCAARI results can be utilized in European and global environmental policy to assess the aerosol impacts and the corresponding abatement strategies.

Building global learning communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Averill Gordon

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning communities around a community of practice of learning researchers and practitioners. The results include the development of a framework for utilising mobile social media to support collaborative curriculum development across international boundaries. We conclude that this framework is potentially transferrable to a range of educational contexts where the focus is upon student-generated mobile social media projects.

Frost on Dunes

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

18 March 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark dunes on a crater floor during the southern spring. Some of the dunes have frost on their south-facing slopes. Location near: 52.3oS, 326.7oW Image width: 3 km (1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Spring

Spider Web Pattern

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

A delicate pattern, like that of a spider web, appears on top of the Mars residual polar cap, after the seasonal carbon-dioxide ice slab has disappeared. Next spring, these will likely mark the sites of vents when the carbon-dioxide ice cap returns. This Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Orbiter Camera image is about 3-kilometers wide (2-miles).

Status of Project Management Education in Pakistan

Science.gov (United States)