WorldWideScience

Sample records for project helping small

  1. Project Finance Model for Small Contractors in USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jawahar Nesan

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Construction projects do not require a large capital outlay but a large working capital to start up the project. Unfortunately, for small contractors there are very limited options available from the banks or other lending institutions to cover this large working capital requirement in the absence of sufficient collateral. The “Project Finance” method presented in this paper is recommended as the most effective method for small contractors in the United States. The problems of small and start up contractors in funding their projects have been little addressed in the literature. The current financing practices were observed through both the literature review and interviews with contractors and bankers in the western Michigan area and subsequently a system has been proposed which could help a small start-up company seeking higher growth. The growth rates that can be achieved using the project finance system in contrast to the traditional “line of credit” arrangements as illustrated in this paper show that the project finance model is beneficial.

  2. Geothermal Small Business Workbook [Geothermal Outreach and Project Financing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elizabeth Battocletti

    2003-05-01

    Small businesses are the cornerstone of the American economy. Over 22 million small businesses account for approximately 99% of employers, employ about half of the private sector workforce, and are responsible for about two-thirds of net new jobs. Many small businesses fared better than the Fortune 500 in 2001. Non-farm proprietors income rose 2.4% in 2001 while corporate profits declined 7.2%. Yet not all is rosy for small businesses, particularly new ones. One-third close within two years of opening. From 1989 to 1992, almost half closed within four years; only 39.5% were still open after six years. Why do some new businesses thrive and some fail? What helps a new business succeed? Industry knowledge, business and financial planning, and good management. Small geothermal businesses are no different. Low- and medium-temperature geothermal resources exist throughout the western United States, the majority not yet tapped. A recent survey of ten western states identified more than 9,000 thermal wells and springs, over 900 low- to moderate-temperature geothermal resource areas, and hundreds of direct-use sites. Many opportunities exist for geothermal entrepreneurs to develop many of these sites into thriving small businesses. The ''Geothermal Small Business Workbook'' (''Workbook'') was written to give geothermal entrepreneurs, small businesses, and developers the tools they need to understand geothermal applications--both direct use and small-scale power generation--and to write a business and financing plan. The Workbook will: Provide background, market, and regulatory data for direct use and small-scale (< 1 megawatt) power generation geothermal projects; Refer you to several sources of useful information including owners of existing geothermal businesses, trade associations, and other organizations; Break down the complicated and sometimes tedious process of writing a business plan into five easy steps; Lead you

  3. How Configuration Management Helps Projects Innovate and Communicate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cioletti, Louis A.; Guidry, Carla F.

    2009-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the concept of Configuration Management (CM) and compares it to the standard view of Project management (PM). It presents two PM models: (1) Kepner-Tregoe,, and the Deming models, describes why projects fail, and presents methods of how CM helps projects innovate and communicate.

  4. Trevino Project: a fast-track approach for a small construction project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schick, C.J.; Lynn, N.S.

    1982-01-01

    The approach to a construction project can vary according to the size, location, and degree of difficulty associated with the project. This paper deals with one approach that can be taken to a small construction project, the fast-track approach. A small construction project can be defined as a project having less than $20 million capital cost or a project with a low degree of difficulty. This approach is very applicable to in-situ leaching uranium projects, small precious metal operations, etc. The approach to the small project is that of fast-tracking the project in order to minimize the time over which capital expenditure occurs and also to reduce the indirect costs of field expense, construction supplies, construction equipment, etc. In order to fast-track a project it is necessary to do a very precise job on the preliminary phases of the project such as preliminary engineering, plant site location, environmental permits, etc. 2 figures, 2 tables

  5. IMPLEMENTING SMALL AND MEDIUM IT PROJECTS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENERPRISES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix DUMITRESCU

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Information technology is essential nowadays for all companies. Small enterprises are an important part of the economy and this article aims at providing some useful insight in implementing modern IT projects to their benefit. Due to the limited funding available for the IT infrastructure in most start-ups and small businesses, the projects should be adapted to fulfill the needs of the company for the lowest cost. The paper will start by defining small and medium project management theory and outlining the target of the study, small and medium sized companies. Next it will show a number of case studies of IT projects implemented in different types of small companies in Romania. Based on these implementations the article will draw some conclusions relevant to most small companies which need to design or improve their IT infrastructure.

  6. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Programs and Projects for 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2016-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR)/(STTR) technologies into NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) projects. Other Government and commercial projects managers can also find this useful.

  7. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Science Mission Directorate Projects at Glenn Research Center for 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2016-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Glenn ResearchCenter Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR)/(STTR)technologies into NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) programs/projects. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this useful.

  8. A Guide to Bundling Small-scale CDM Projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mariyappan, J.; Bhardwaj, N.; De Coninck, H.; Van der Linden, N.

    2005-07-01

    Small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that fit the development needs of many developing countries, can potentially be supported via the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), one of the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms for tackling climate change. However, there is concern that due to high transaction costs, as well as many existing barriers, very few investments will be made in small-scale projects, which are often the most suitable development option in countries such as India. In view of this, the 'bundling' together of appropriate small-scale projects on a regional basis has been proposed as a way in which funding can be leveraged from international sources and transaction costs reduced. IT Power, IT Power India and the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) are carrying out a 2-year project to establish the capacity within India to enable individual small scale projects to be bundled as a single CDM project. Overall objectives are to develop the necessary institutional capabilities to formulate and implement small scale CDM projects in India; to provide a guide on how to bundle small scale projects under the CDM in developing countries; and to raise the awareness of the potential for investment in small scale energy projects which can gain funding through the CDM

  9. NREL-Led Efforts Help Bring Financing to Solar Projects - Continuum

    Science.gov (United States)

    source of costs and estimating specific project costs, to helping large institutional investors direct , operations, and maintenance-as well as good-quality data on asset performance-we can allow the cash flows projects, analyzing proposed projects for their capital costs, operating costs, power production, and

  10. Teaching Small Group Communication: The Do Good Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minei, Elizabeth M.

    2016-01-01

    This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the "Do Good" project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures…

  11. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Projects for 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2017-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) projects. Other Government and commercial projects managers can also find this useful. Space Transportation; Life Support and Habitation Systems; Extra-Vehicular Activity; High EfficiencySpace Power; Human Exploration and Operations Mission,

  12. Managing Small Spacecraft Projects: Less is Not Easier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barley, Bryan; Newhouse, Marilyn

    2012-01-01

    Managing small, low cost missions (class C or D) is not necessarily easier than managing a full flagship mission. Yet, small missions are typically considered easier to manage and used as a training ground for developing the next generation of project managers. While limited resources can be a problem for small missions, in reality most of the issues inherent in managing small projects are not the direct result of limited resources. Instead, problems encountered by managers of small spacecraft missions often derive from 1) the perception that managing small projects is easier if something is easier it needs less rigor and formality in execution, 2) the perception that limited resources necessitate or validate omitting standard management practices, 3) less stringent or unclear guidelines or policies for small projects, and 4) stakeholder expectations that are not consistent with the size and nature of the project. For example, the size of a project is sometimes used to justify not building a full, detailed integrated master schedule. However, while a small schedule slip may not be a problem for a large mission, it can indicate a serious problem for a small mission with a short development phase, highlighting the importance of the schedule for early identification of potential issues. Likewise, stakeholders may accept a higher risk posture early in the definition of a low-cost mission, but as launch approaches this acceptance may change. This presentation discusses these common misconceptions about managing small, low cost missions, the problems that can result, and possible solutions.

  13. Make Projects Small Form Factor PCs

    CERN Document Server

    Wessels, Duane

    2006-01-01

    Shoebox sized and smaller, small-form-factor PCs can pack as much computing muscle as a full-sized desktop computer. They consumer less power, have few or no moving parts, and are very quiet. Whether you plan to use one as a standalone PC or want to embed it in your next hacking project, a small-form-factor PC can be a lot of fun to build. Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs is the only book available that shows you how to build small-form-factor PCs -- from kits and from scratch -- that are more interesting and more personalized than what a full-sized PC can give you. Included in the book

  14. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology into Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Projects for 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2017-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) technologies into NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) projects. Other Government and commercial project managers interested in ARMD funding opportunities through NASA's SBIR program will find this report useful as well.

  15. Deep Help in Complex Project Work: Guiding and Path-Clearing Across Difficult Terrain

    OpenAIRE

    Fisher, Colin M.; Pillemer, Julianna; Amabile, Teresa M.

    2017-01-01

    How do teams working on complex projects get the help they need? Our qualitative investigation of the help provided to project teams at a prominent design firm revealed two distinct helping processes, both characterized by deep, sustained engagement that far exceeds the brief interactions described in the helping literature. Such deep help consisted of (1) guiding a team through a difficult juncture by working with its members in several prolonged, tightly clustered sessions, or (2) path-clea...

  16. Project management for humans helping people get things done

    CERN Document Server

    Harned, Brett

    2017-01-01

    Project management—it’s not just about following a template or using a tool, but rather developing personal skills and intuition to find a method that works for everyone. Whether you’re a designer or a manager, Project Management for Humans will help you estimate and plan tasks, scout and address issues before they become problems, and communicate with and hold people accountable.

  17. Teaching Small Group Communication: A Do Good Project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth M. Minei, PhD

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the “Do Good” project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures (e.g., team dynamics, project management, conflict resolution, decision making, leadership with community outreach. Included are an overview of the project, and examples for how each component both challenges students’ ability to communicate in groups and provides motivation that foster students’ ability to link in-class knowledge with practical, real world application.

  18. Long Frontal Projections Help Battus philenor (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) Larvae Find Host Plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kandori, Ikuo; Tsuchihara, Kazuko; Suzuki, Taichi A; Yokoi, Tomoyuki; Papaj, Daniel R

    2015-01-01

    Animals sometimes develop conspicuous projections on or near their heads as, e.g., weaponry, burrowing or digging tools, and probes to search for resources. The frontal projections that insects generally use to locate and assess resources are segmented appendages, including antennae, maxillary palps, and labial palps. There is no evidence to date that arthropods, including insects, use projections other than true segmental appendages to locate food. In this regard, it is noteworthy that some butterfly larvae possess a pair of long antenna-like projections on or near their heads. To date, the function of these projections has not been established. Larvae of pipevine swallowtail butterflies Battus philenor (Papilionidae) have a pair of long frontal fleshy projections that, like insect antennae generally, can be actively moved. In this study, we evaluated the possible function of this pair of long moveable frontal projections. In laboratory assays, both frontal projections and lateral ocelli were shown to increase the frequency with which search larvae found plants. The frontal projections increased finding of host and non-host plants equally, suggesting that frontal projections do not detect host-specific chemical cues. Detailed SEM study showed that putative mechanosensillae are distributed all around the frontal as well as other projections. Taken together, our findings suggest that the frontal projections and associated mechanosensillae act as vertical object detectors to obtain tactile information that, together with visual information from lateral ocelli and presumably chemical information from antennae and mouthparts, help larvae to find host plants. Field observations indicate that host plants are small and scattered in southern Arizona locations. Larvae must therefore find multiple host plants to complete development and face significant challenges in doing so. The frontal projections may thus be an adaptation for finding a scarce resource before starving to

  19. Problem Drug Use, Marijuana, and European Projects: How Epidemiology Helped Czech Policy Reformers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Morávek

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available I examine the transfer of the Problem Drug Use (PDU concept into Czech scientific discourse through European institutions’ projects, and view PDU’s utilization by Czech researchers in relation to marijuana decriminalization efforts.PDU is defined as intravenous and/or long-term and regular use of opiates, cocaine, or amphetamines. Out of a vast array of illicit drug use patterns, this concept isolates a relatively small population with the riskiest use patterns to become the focus of public policies. A series of European Union and Council of Europe projects in 1990’s helped bring PDU into European research mainstream. The new common standard, promoted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, was utilized by Czech authors in a 2001 policy analysis entitled “Impact Analysis Project of the New Drug Legislation in the Czech Republic” (PAD. PDU played a crucial role in PAD’s drug problem modeling, focusing on a “hard core” of opiate and methamphetamine users, while diverting attention from a large group of cannabis users.By using the new European methodological standard, PAD’s authors constructed marijuana as a non-problem. This helped drug policy reformers in the Czech Government legitimize their focus on “harder” drugs, and subsequently propose more lenient sanctions for the possession and cultivation of marijuana. I argue that continued ignorance of marijuana problems might jeopardize the tolerant expert-driven drug policy in the Czech Republic. Measurement of problem cannabis use should be introduced.

  20. M.S. independent research study : partnering on small construction project

    OpenAIRE

    Conley, Michael A

    1997-01-01

    This investigation will address the possibility that partnering concepts are underutilized in small government projects. If Government Contracting Officers utilized partnering concepts on small construction projects, there could be a potential for saving millions of dollars annually. The primary objective of this report is to inform Contracting Officers of the benefits of partnering on small construction projects. Small projects will be considered to have a value of less than $3 million, mid-...

  1. APPLICATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES AT A SMALL BUSINESSES ENTERPRISES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey V. Rajewski

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses the types of organizational structures of project management and their application in project management in small and medium-sized enterprises. Among the approaches and methods to organize projects emphasizing project management as part of the existing functional structure of the enterprise. Analyzed the most relevant organizational tools of project management in small business: a network schedule; matrix distribution of administrative and management tasks of the project; schedule of the project plan; information and technological methods and models used in the process of project management; software applications for project management, used in the sphere of small business.

  2. APPLICATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES AT A SMALL BUSINESSES ENTERPRISES

    OpenAIRE

    Sergey V. Rajewski

    2016-01-01

    This article discusses the types of organizational structures of project management and their application in project management in small and medium-sized enterprises. Among the approaches and methods to organize projects emphasizing project management as part of the existing functional structure of the enterprise. Analyzed the most relevant organizational tools of project management in small business: a network schedule; matrix distribution of administrative and management tasks of the projec...

  3. Dynamic Capabilities and Project Management in Small Software Companies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørbjerg, Jacob; Nielsen, Peter Axel; Persson, John Stouby

    2017-01-01

    A small software company depends on its capability to adapt to rapid technological and other changes in its environment—its dynamic capabilities. In this paper, we argue that to evolve and maintain its dynamic capabilities a small software company must pay attention to the interaction between...... dynamic capabilities at different levels of the company — particularly between the project management and the company levels. We present a case study of a small software company and show how successful dynamic capabilities at the company level can affect project management in small software companies...

  4. Cogeneration for small SAGD projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Albion, Stuart [AMEC BDR Limited (United Kingdom)

    2011-07-01

    As many SAGD projects are being developed in remote locations, the supply of a steady source of power to them becomes an important question. Connecting these remote facilities to a grid can often be difficult and costly. This presentation, by AMEC BDR Limited, promotes the use of cogeneration in small SAGD projects. Cogeneration is the generation of two forms of energy from one fuel source. In this particular case, the energy forms would be electricity and heat. In many SAGD projects, a gas turbine system is used to generate the electricity, while a heat recovery system is utilized to generate steam. The use of cogeneration systems in SAGD projects, as opposed to using separate heat and electricity systems, has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of energy lost, the amount of emissions and power costs, in addition to ensuring that there is a reliable supply of steam and electricity.

  5. Financing options for small hydro projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shepherd, J.C.

    1993-01-01

    Examples and techniques used to enhance the ability to finance small hydro projects, or to finance them in non-standard ways, were discussed. It was suggested that factors that motivate investors, namely the maximization of the rate of return on capital, and minimization of risk, should be the primary concern for any would-be developer. A responsible, conservative approach to financial projections was recommended as the best to impress potential investors

  6. Small-scale CDM projects in a competitive electricity industry: How good is a simplified baseline methodology?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shrestha, Ram M.; Abeygunawardana, A.M.A.K.

    2007-01-01

    Setting baseline emissions is one of the principal tasks involved in awarding credits for greenhouse gas emission (GHG) mitigation projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). An emission baseline has to be project-specific in order to be accurate. However, project-specific baseline calculations are subject to high transaction costs, which disadvantage small-scale projects. For this reason, the CDM-Executive Board (CDM-EB) has approved simplified baseline methodologies for selected small-scale CDM project categories. While the simplified methods help reduce the transaction cost, they may also result in inaccuracies in the estimation of emission reductions from CDM projects. The purpose of this paper is to present a rigorous economic scheduling method for calculating the GHG emission reduction in a hypothetical competitive electricity industry due to the operation of a renewable energy-based power plant under CDM and compare the GHG emission reduction derived from the rigorous method with that obtained from the use of a simplified (i.e., standardized) method approved by the CDM-EB. A key finding of the paper is that depending upon the level of power demand, prices of electricity and input fuels, the simplified method can lead to either significant overestimation or substantial underestimation of emission reduction due to the operation of renewable energy-based power projects in a competitive electricity industry

  7. The Milky Way Project: A Census of Small Bubbles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arvidsson, Kim; Wolf-Chase, G. A.; Way Project, Milky

    2013-01-01

    The first data release (DR1) from the Milky Way Project (MWP) contains 1362 visually identified small bubbles drawn by users. These small infrared bubbles typically have diameters MSX6C point source catalog; >90% of all small bubbles are MSX point sources.

  8. Helping Students Understand Intersectionality: Reflections from a Dialogue Project in Residential Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claros, Sharon Chia; Garcia, Gina A.; Johnston-Guerrero, Marc P.; Mata, Christine

    2017-01-01

    In this chapter, the authors share insights from a dialogue project focused on intersectionality within a residential life setting and discuss additional strategies for helping students understand intersectionality.

  9. Staff Helping Attain Relevant Education (Project SHARE): Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranadive, Jyoti

    Project SHARE (Staff Helping Attain Relevant Education), a project funded by Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was in its third and final year of operation in 1992-93, in eight primary schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan (New York). The project served 141 limited English proficient students from low-income families…

  10. Social welfare as small-scale help: evolutionary psychology and the deservingness heuristic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Michael Bang

    2012-01-01

    Public opinion concerning social welfare is largely driven by perceptions of recipient deservingness. Extant research has argued that this heuristic is learned from a variety of cultural, institutional, and ideological sources. The present article provides evidence supporting a different view: that the deservingness heuristic is rooted in psychological categories that evolved over the course of human evolution to regulate small-scale exchanges of help. To test predictions made on the basis of this view, a method designed to measure social categorization is embedded in nationally representative surveys conducted in different countries. Across the national- and individual-level differences that extant research has used to explain the heuristic, people categorize welfare recipients on the basis of whether they are lazy or unlucky. This mode of categorization furthermore induces people to think about large-scale welfare politics as its presumed ancestral equivalent: small-scale help giving. The general implications for research on heuristics are discussed.

  11. Small and low head pumped storage projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makarechian, A.H.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to focus attention on small and low head pumped storage projects. These projects may be defined as having a capacity of less than 200-300 MW and down to about 20 MW, with heads of 1200 ft to about 300 ft or less. Many advantages of these smaller pumped storage projects include more flexibility in siting of a project, considerably shorter licensing and construction period, adaptability to closed system design concept to reduce adverse environmental impacts, considerably reduced risks of delays and substantial cost over-runs, better suited to meeting peaking capacity requirements for individual utilities, and much less transmission inter-connection requirements. An overall licensing and construction schedule of about 3 to 3 1/2 years is realistic for many smaller pumped storage projects, and competitive costs in terms of dollars per kW installed can be achieved

  12. Helping You Help Me: The Role of Diagnostic (In)congruence in the Helping Process within Organizations

    OpenAIRE

    Fisher, Colin M.; Pillemer, Julianna; Amabile, Teresa M.

    2014-01-01

    Through an inductive, multi-method field study at a major design firm, we investigated the helping process in project work and how that process affects the success of a helping episode, as perceived by help-givers and/or -receivers. We used daily diary entries and weekly interviews from four project teams, and a separate sample of critical incident interviews, to induce process models of successful and unsuccessful helping episodes. We found that, in unsuccessful episodes, help-givers and -re...

  13. Microsoft Project 2010 The Missing Manual

    CERN Document Server

    Biafore, Bonnie

    2010-01-01

    Microsoft Project is brimming with features to help you manage any project, large or small. But learning the software is only half the battle. What you really need is real-world guidance: how to prep your project before touching your PC, which Project tools work best, and which ones to use with care. This book explains it all, helping you go from project manager to project master. Get a project management primer. Discover what it takes to handle a project successfullyLearn the program inside out. Get step-by-step instructions for Project Standard and Project ProfessionalBuild and refine your

  14. The Nothuesli small hydro project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balachandran, S.; Jorde, K.

    2008-01-01

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) discusses the project for a small 16-kilowatt hydro plant on the Gonzenbaechli stream in eastern Switzerland. The site, which was used even before 1860 for obtaining power from the stream is briefly described, as are the present remains of earlier installations. An old Francis turbine has been retrieved and could possibly be reused. Water-flow figures and fall-heights are noted. Design flows and residual water quantities required by legislation are noted and discussed, as are the geology and topology of the catchment area. The proposals for a new hydro-power plant are described, including the apparatus proposed with a power of 20 kVA. Environmental aspects are also discussed, as are the investment costs and the economic viability of the project. The paper is completed with a comprehensive appendix, including detailed cost estimates.

  15. Help-Seeking and Help-Giving for Teen Dating Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weisz, Arlene N.; Black, Beverly M.

    2009-01-01

    This article is based on numerous research projects conducted by the authors on adolescent dating violence. It reviews the results of those projects as they relate to how teens seek help for dating violence and how teens provide help to their friends in violent dating relationships. It concludes with helpful strategies for adults who work with…

  16. The average carbon-stock approach for small-scale CDM AR projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia Quijano, J.F.; Muys, B. [Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory for Forest, Nature and Landscape Research, Leuven (Belgium); Schlamadinger, B. [Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Institute for Energy Research, Graz (Austria); Emmer, I. [Face Foundation, Arnhem (Netherlands); Somogyi, Z. [Forest Research Institute, Budapest (Hungary); Bird, D.N. [Woodrising Consulting Inc., Belfountain, Ontario (Canada)

    2004-06-15

    In many afforestation and reforestation (AR) projects harvesting with stand regeneration forms an integral part of the silvicultural system and satisfies local timber and/or fuelwood demand. Especially clear-cut harvesting will lead to an abrupt and significant reduction of carbon stocks. The smaller the project, the more significant the fluctuations of the carbon stocks may be. In the extreme case a small-scale project could consist of a single forest stand. In such case, all accounted carbon may be removed during a harvesting operation and the time-path of carbon stocks will typically look as in the hypothetical example presented in the report. For the aggregate of many such small-scale projects there will be a constant benefit to the atmosphere during the projects, due to averaging effects.

  17. Small launchers (current and future projects in the world)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naumann, W. G.

    1993-01-01

    Small satellites need launching services using small launchers capable of injecting 100 to 1000 kg into a polar orbit at an altitude of 1000 km. Operational small launchers are reviewed as well as developing and planned ones. Launcher characteristics, constraints, performance, and status are detailed. Few technical problems are encountered, as most launcher projects call for existing components and well known technologies. Most of the difficulties have come from launch site availability and from financial considerations.

  18. Small car exposure data project. Phase 1 : methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-10-01

    The Small Car Exposure Data Project represents the first phase of an effort to build a data : base of exposure variables for crash-avoidance studies. Among these are: (1) vehicle make, : model, year, body style, wheel base, weight, and horsepower; (2...

  19. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Projects at NASA Glenn Research Center for 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.; Morris, Jessica R.

    2015-01-01

    This document is intended to enable the more effective transition of NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) SBIR technologies funded by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program as well as its companion, the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program into NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) projects. Primarily, it is intended to help NASA program and project managers find useful technologies that have undergone extensive research and development (RRD), through Phase II of the SBIR program; however, it can also assist non-NASA agencies and commercial companies in this process. aviation safety, unmanned aircraft, ground and flight test technique, low emissions, quiet performance, rotorcraft

  20. IT Project Management in Very Small Software Companies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shakir, Shahid Nadeem; Nørbjerg, Jacob

    2013-01-01

    In developing countries very small software companies (VSSCs) with only 1-10 employees play an important role both in the local economy and as providers of software and services to customers in other parts of the world. Understanding and improving their IT project management (ITPM) practices...... and challenges are, therefore, important in the local as well as the larger context of globalized software development. There is, however, very little research into small shop software practices in developing countries. The current paper explores actual ITPM practices in Pakistani VSSCs based on a qualitative...... study of seven Pakistani VSSCs. We find that some Pakistani ITPM practices are similar to what is reported from VSSCs in other parts of the world, while others seem to be related to the companies' position in the global software development chain. This paper is part of a larger research project aiming...

  1. The 'Chriz' small hydro project; Kleinkraftwerk Chriz - Konzessionsprojekt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amacker, P.

    2008-07-01

    This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at the project for the renewal of a small hydropower installation in the village of Eischoll in the Swiss Alps. The history of the power station is reviewed and its present state is analysed. The possibilities for its renewal and project financing are discussed, as are rights concerning the use of water and regional planning aspects. The project foresees the use of various older installations and the construction of a new turbine house in the valley. Details on dimensions, the proposed installed power and energy production of the scheme are presented as well as details on the connection to the electricity mains. Environmental aspects and details on the costs and time-scales involved in the construction of the small power station are presented.

  2. The Help-line "Invito alla Vita": a new project for suicide prevention in Trentino region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Napoli, Wilma; Andreatta, Olaf

    2014-11-01

    "Invito alla Vita" is a community-based suicide prevention project that officially started in Trentino in late 2008. The project was promoted by the local Health Services, trying from the beginning to involve other community subjects, and has been working over five years and a half in different directions, particularly promoting a phone help-line. The aims of the Invito alla Vita (IaV) Help Line have been clear from the beginning: decrease the sense of loneliness, offer encouragement and support, promote engagement with health services, reduce stigma and prejudice. Contrary to popular misconceptions, talking with people about suicide will not increase suicide risk, neither will it induce patients to commit suicide.The volunteers involved in the IaV help-line offer people empathic listening without judgment and easy tips, to reduce loneliness, sadness and supply reassurance that other people care. In this study we tried to deepen our knowledges about the volunteers' motivations and necessities to use them for creating a better system of support: we realized indeed that continuous training and supervision, along with official awards given by community institutions, are basic factors to sustain the volunteers' motives to cooperate with the help line.

  3. Financing small scale wind energy projects in the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, Catherine

    1993-01-01

    This paper shows how wind energy projects in the UK have obtained finance. It attempts to list the financing options open to small scale developments and to note any likely problems which may occur. (UK)

  4. A comparison of the aquatic impacts of large hydro and small hydro projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Lara A.

    The expansion of small hydro development in British Columbia has raised concerns surrounding the effects of these projects, and the provincial government's decision to proceed with Site C has brought attention to the impacts of large hydro. Together, these decisions highlight that there are impacts associated with all energy development. My study examines the aquatic effects of large and small hydro projects using two case study sites: Site C and the Upper Harrison Water Power Project. I first determine the aquatic effects of each of the case study sites. Next, I use existing literature and benefits transfer to determine the monetary value of these effects. My results suggest that, with mitigation, small hydro projects have less of an effect on the environment than a large hydro project per unit of electricity. I also describe the implications of my study in the context of current British Columbia energy policy. Keywords: hydropower; aquatic effects. Subject Terms: environmental impact assessment; benefits transfer.

  5. Small-scale bioenergy projects in rural China: Lessons to be learnt

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Han, Jingyi; Mol, A.P.J.; Lu, Y.; Zhang, L.

    2008-01-01

    Large amounts of small-scale bioenergy projects were carried out in China's rural areas in light of its national renewable energy policies. These projects applied pyrolysis gasification as the main technology, which turns biomass waste at low costs into biogas. This paper selects seven bioenergy

  6. Canadian small wind market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moorhouse, E.

    2010-01-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed initiatives and strategies adopted by the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) to support the development of Canada's small wind market. The general public has shown a significant interest in small wind projects of 300 kW. Studies have demonstrated that familiarity and comfort with small wind projects can help to ensure the successful implementation of larger wind projects. Small wind markets include residential, farming and commercial, and remote community applications. The results of CanWEA market survey show that the small wind market grew by 78 percent in 2008 over 2007, and again in 2009 by 32 percent over 2008. The average turbine size is 1 kW. A total of 11,000 turbines were purchased in 2007 and 2008. Global small wind market growth increased by 110 percent in 2008, and the average turbine size was 2.4 kW. Eighty-seven percent of the turbines made by Canadian mid-size wind turbine manufacturers are exported, and there is now a significant risk that Canada will lose its competitive advantage in small wind manufacturing as financial incentives have not been implemented. American and Canadian-based small wind manufacturers were listed, and small wind policies were reviewed. The presentation concluded with a set of recommendations for future incentives, educational programs and legislation. tabs., figs.

  7. Does Lean & Agile Project Management Help Coping with Project Complexity?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jalali Sohi, A.; Hertogh, M.J.C.M.; Bosch-Rekveldt, M.G.C.; Blom, R.; Serpell, A.; Ferrada, X.

    2016-01-01

    Still, projects in the construction sector are delivered with time delays and cost overruns. One of the reasons for poor performance was assigned to project complexity. A combination of lean construction and agile project management are hypothesized as a possible solution to cope with project

  8. Project Monitor: Part II. Conservation in small business: an exploratory study. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hammond, P Y

    1979-08-01

    Project Monitor examined the energy conservation attitude and behavior of small samples of small business owners/operators in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, focusing on manufacturing concerns and retailers. Section I reports the findings on the energy conserving behavior of 92 smaller manufacturers and Section II identifies the factors which affect decision making concerning energy consuming activities by the owners/operators of 94 small retail establishments. In each, the impact of Project Pacesetter and of the coal strike and the general energy situation is considered. (MCW)

  9. Using "EC-Assess" to Assess a Small Biofuels Project in Honduras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngassa, Franklin Chamda

    2010-01-01

    Biofuels may contribute to both rural economic development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Gota Verde Project in Yoro, Honduras, attempts to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of small-scale biofuel production for local use by implementing a distinctive approach to feedstock production that encourages small farm…

  10. Cosmic Visions Dark Energy: Small Projects Portfolio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dawson, Kyle; Frieman, Josh; Heitmann, Katrin; Jain, Bhuvnesh; Kahn, Steve; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Perlmutter, Saul; Slosar, Anže

    2018-02-20

    Understanding cosmic acceleration is one of the key science drivers for astrophysics and high-energy physics in the coming decade (2014 P5 Report). With the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and other new facilities beginning operations soon, we are entering an exciting phase during which we expect an order of magnitude improvement in constraints on dark energy and the physics of the accelerating Universe. This is a key moment for a matching Small Projects portfolio that can (1) greatly enhance the science reach of these flagship projects, (2) have immediate scientific impact, and (3) lay the groundwork for the next stages of the Cosmic Frontier Dark Energy program. In this White Paper, we outline a balanced portfolio that can accomplish these goals through a combination of observational, experimental, and theory and simulation efforts.

  11. Small-scale bioenergy projects in rural China: Lessons to be learnt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han Jingyi; Mol, Arthur P.J.; Lu Yonglong; Zhang Lei

    2008-01-01

    Large amounts of small-scale bioenergy projects were carried out in China's rural areas in light of its national renewable energy policies. These projects applied pyrolysis gasification as the main technology, which turns biomass waste at low costs into biogas. This paper selects seven bioenergy projects in Shandong Province as a case and assesses these projects in terms of economy, technological performance and effectiveness. Results show that these projects have not achieved a satisfying performance after 10 years experience. Many projects have been discontinued. This failure is attributed to a complex of shortcomings in institutional structure, technical level, financial support and social factors. For a more successful future development of bioenergy in rural areas, China should reform its institutional structure, establish a renewable energy market and enhance the technological level of bioenergy projects

  12. Performance Studies of Micromegas Chambers for the New Small Wheel Upgrade Project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leontsinis S.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The ATLAS collaboration has chosen the Micromegas technology along with the small-strip Thin Gap Chambers for the upgrade of the inner muon station in the high-rapidity region, the so called New Small Wheel upgrade project. It will employ eight layers of Micromegas and eight layers of small-strip Thin Gap Chambers per wheel. The New Small Wheel project requires fully efficient Micromegas chambers, able to cope with the maximum expected rate of 15 kHz/cm2 featuring single plane spatial resolution better than 100 μm. The Micromegas detectors will cover a total active area of ~ 1200 m2 and will be operated in a moderate magnetic field (≤ 0.3 T. Moreover, together with their precise tracking capability the New Small Wheel Micromegas chambers will contribute to the ATLAS Level-1 trigger system. Several studies have been performed on small (10 × 10 cm2 and medium (1 × 0.5 m2 size prototypes using medium (1 − 5 GeV/c and high momentum (120 – 150 GeV/c hadron beams at CERN. A brief overview of the results obtained is presented.

  13. Opportunities for Small Geothermal Projects: Rural Power for Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vimmerstedt, L.

    1998-11-30

    The objective of this report is to provide information on small geothermal project (less than 5 MW) opportunities in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. This overview of issues facing small geothermal projects is intended especially for those who are not already familiar with small geothermal opportunities. This is a summary of issues and opportunities and serves as a starting point in determining next steps to develop this market.

  14. Opportunities for Small Geothermal Projects: Rural Power for Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vimmerstedt, L.

    1998-01-01

    The objective of this report is to provide information on small geothermal project (less than 5 MW) opportunities in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. This overview of issues facing small geothermal projects is intended especially for those who are not already familiar with small geothermal opportunities. This is a summary of issues and opportunities and serves as a starting point in determining next steps to develop this market

  15. 75 FR 27808 - Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program-Demonstration Project of Small Area Fair Market Rents in...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-18

    ... Voucher Program--Demonstration Project of Small Area Fair Market Rents in Certain Metropolitan Areas for.... ACTION: Notice of Demonstration Project of Small Area Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in Selected Metropolitan... topics related to small area FMRs, including how these small areas should be defined. Small area FMRs...

  16. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Projects at Glenn Research Center for 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2016-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Glenn Research Center Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR)/(STTR) technologies into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) programs and projects. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this useful. Introduction Incorporating Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-developed technology into NASA projects is important, especially given the Agency's limited resources for technology development. The SBIR program's original intention was for technologies that had completed Phase II to be ready for integration into NASA programs, however, in many cases there is a gap between Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 5 and 6 that needs to be closed. After SBIR Phase II projects are completed, the technology is evaluated against various parameters and a TRL rating is assigned. Most programs tend to adopt more mature technologies-at least TRL 6 to reduce the risk to the mission rather than adopt TRLs between 3 and 5 because those technologies are perceived as too risky. The gap between TRLs 5 and 6 is often called the "Valley of Death" (Figure 1), and historically it has been difficult to close because of a lack of funding support from programs. Several papers have already suggested remedies on how to close the gap (Refs. 1 to 4).

  17. Small scale renewable solar energy and the best result project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bilbao, J.; Miguel, A.H.; Perez-Burgos, A.M. [Valladolid Univ. (Spain)

    2008-07-01

    The European Community has established programmes with different Projects in relation with the develop of an energy system according to de Kyoto objectives, improving energy efficiency, maintaining security supply and doubling the share of renewable energy use. The Best Result Project (Building and Energy Systems and Technology in Renewable Energy Sources Update and Linked Training), is financed by the European Commission, Intelligent Energy Agency (EIE) and the project objectives are to develop training and diffusion activities in the field of Renewable Energy Technology. The project aims to raise the renewable energy knowledge among suppliers and general public. The project activities are: basis and specialized training events, workshops, meetings, visits and e-learning common platform. The final objective is to extend the market of small scale RES applications in the building and energy sector through common and local activities addressing RES suppliers and consumers. (orig.)

  18. PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM: STUDY IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES OF INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Eduardo Mondin

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to analyze the structuring stage and use of information systems in project management in small and medium-sized companies in the business of providing services in industrial automation. Information systems applied to project management - SIGPs can contribute to decision-making on projects, assisting in the management of reliable information in real time, making it a natural choice for most companies looking to increase performance management of their projects. The research method used was multiple case study, in line with the explanatory nature of the study, when to investigate and perform analytical comparisons on how small and medium-sized enterprises of the studied branch structure and use the SIGPs, considering the contemporary character theme and the possibility of direct observation of the object of study, in addition to conducting interviews. The main results were identified the main gaps in project management in companies and research as the management characteristics of these SMEs have influence in how their projects are managed. It was observed that there is a predominance of features involving scope, time and resources on projects, whereas aspects related to costs, risks, quality, procurement and communications have unimpressive results in relation to structuring.

  19. 76 FR 50813 - Major Capital Investment Projects; Guidance on News Starts/Small Starts Policies and Procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Transit Administration Major Capital Investment Projects; Guidance on News Starts/Small Starts Policies and Procedures AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA... Administration (FTA) to publish policy guidance on the New and Small Starts capital project review and evaluation...

  20. Why Its Projects Should Be Small, Local And Private

    OpenAIRE

    Weissenberger, Stein

    1998-01-01

    In this paper, the author contends that in order to produce and capture useful knowledge, early Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) projects should be local, small, and focused on realistic goals. The importance of cooperative networks that support knowledge acquisition and diffusion is stressed. Additionally, the author promotes the usage of private industry, especially to perform tasks for which they are best qualified.

  1. NASA Small Business Innovation Research Program. Composite List of Projects, 1983 to 1989

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-01

    The NASA SBIR Composite List of Projects, 1983 to 1989, includes all projects that have been selected for support by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program of NASA. The list describes 1232 Phase 1 and 510 Phase 2 contracts that had been awarded or were in negotiation for award in August 1990. The main body is organized alphabetically by name of the small businesses. Four indexes cross-reference the list. The objective of this listing is to provide information about the SBIR program to anyone concerned with NASA research and development activities.

  2. 75 FR 33893 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-15

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  3. 75 FR 55405 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-10

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  4. 75 FR 18957 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-13

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  5. 75 FR 47348 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-05

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  6. 75 FR 62630 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-12

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  7. 75 FR 7539 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-19

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  8. 75 FR 11999 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-12

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  9. 75 FR 39331 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-08

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  10. 75 FR 4140 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-26

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

  11. Clean development mechanism and off-grid small-scale hydropower projects: Evaluation of additionality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanwar, Nitin

    2007-01-01

    The global climate change mitigation policies and their stress on sustainable development have made electrification of rural mountainous villages, using small hydro, an attractive destination for potential clean development mechanism (CDM) projects. This invariably involves judging the additionality of such projects. The paper suggests a new approach to judge the additionality of such stand-alone small hydropower projects. This has been done by breaking up additionality into two components: external and local. The external additionality is project developer dependent. For determining the local additionality, the paper takes into account the probability of a village getting electrified over a period of time, which is kept equal to the possible crediting period. This is done by defining an electrification factor (EF) whose value depends on the degree of isolation, financial constraints and institutional constraints encountered while electrifying a mountainous village. Using this EF, the additionality of a CDM project can be judged in a much easier and accurate way. The paper is based on the data and inputs gathered during site visits to many isolated villages located in the eastern Indian Himalayas

  12. Projective embeddings of homogeneous spaces with small boundary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arzhantsev, Ivan V

    2009-01-01

    We study open equivariant projective embeddings of homogeneous spaces such that the complement of the open orbit has codimension at least 2. We establish a criterion for the existence of such an embedding, prove that the set of isomorphism classes of such embeddings is finite, and give a construction of the embeddings in terms of Geometric Invariant Theory. A generalization of Cox's construction and the theory of bunched rings enable us to describe in combinatorial terms the basic geometric properties of embeddings with small boundary

  13. Benchmarking U.S. Small Wind Costs with the Distributed Wind Taxonomy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orrell, Alice C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Poehlman, Eric A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2017-10-04

    The objective of this report is to benchmark costs for small wind projects installed in the United States using a distributed wind taxonomy. Consequently, this report is a starting point to help expand the U.S. distributed wind market by informing potential areas for small wind cost-reduction opportunities and providing a benchmark to track future small wind cost-reduction progress.

  14. Developing Employment Interview and Interviewing Skills in Small-group Project Work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, Paul

    2000-01-01

    Discusses the value of communications skills in geographical education. Describes the use of realistic interviews that were a part of small-group project work. Explains that students wrote job specifications, a curriculum vitae, a cover letter, and conducted interview panels. (CMK)

  15. Oregon department of transportation small business group twice-monthly payments pilot project : summary report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-07-01

    Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently completed a pilot study on small business payment practices. In the study, three pilot projects were tested where payments to small business contractors were changed from a monthly payment to twice-...

  16. Small Wind Research Turbine: Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corbus, D.; Meadors, M.

    2005-10-01

    The Small Wind Research Turbine (SWRT) project was initiated to provide reliable test data for model validation of furling wind turbines and to help understand small wind turbine loads. This report will familiarize the user with the scope of the SWRT test and support the use of these data. In addition to describing all the testing details and results, the report presents an analysis of the test data and compares the SWRT test data to simulation results from the FAST aeroelastic simulation model.

  17. ANALYSIS OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT MATURITY: THE CASE OF A SMALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karoline Doro Alves Carneiro

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the implementation of project portfolio management in the organizational context. The objective is to analyze the methodology of project portfolio management adopted by an organization based in the project portfolio management maturity model proposed by Rad and Levin (2006. We developed an exploratory case study in a small financial institution that experienced problems with the implementation of its methodology in project portfolio management. As a result of study, we found that the organization has maturity level 2 in portfolio project management, and that some methodology aspects are not appropriate at this level.

  18. The Teacher-Scholar Project: how to help faculty groups develop scholarly skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinrich, Kathleen T; Hurst, Helen; Leigh, Gwen; Oberleitner, Melinda Granger; Poirrier, Gail P

    2009-01-01

    Nursing education's challenge in the new millennium is to prepare all nurses as scholars. With many nurse educators feeling like impostors when it comes to scholarship, this is no small task. Turning the millenial challenge into an opportunity, this article describes how a collaborative faculty development initiative is turning a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence school's "scholar-impostors" into teacher-scholars. This Teacher-Scholar Project will interest those in teaching intensive schools of nursing or in teaching tracks in research-intensive institutions.

  19. How do we help students as newcomers to create and develop better communities of practice for learning in a Project based learning environment?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Peter

    2007-01-01

    The question for debate in this paper, is how to help students creating and developing good communities of practice for learning in a Project based learning environment? At Aalborg University it has proven very helpful for students to have both a course addressing communication, collaboration......, learning and project management (CLP) and a reflection on these issues in a written process analysis....

  20. Big concerns with small projects: Evaluating the socio-ecological impacts of small hydropower projects in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jumani, Suman; Rao, Shishir; Machado, Siddarth; Prakash, Anup

    2017-05-01

    Although Small Hydropower Projects (SHPs) are encouraged as sources of clean and green energy, there is a paucity of research examining their socio-ecological impacts. We assessed the perceived socio-ecological impacts of 4 SHPs within the Western Ghats in India by conducting semi-structured interviews with local respondents. Primary interview data were sequentially validated with secondary data, and respondent perceptions were subsequently compared against the expected baseline of assured impacts. We evaluated the level of awareness about SHPs, their perceived socio-economic impacts, influence on resource access and impacts on human-elephant interactions. The general level of awareness about SHPs was low, and assurances of local electricity and employment generation remained largely unfulfilled. Additionally most respondents faced numerous unanticipated adverse impacts. We found a strong relationship between SHP construction and increasing levels of human-elephant conflict. Based on the disparity between assured and actual social impacts, we suggest that policies regarding SHPs be suitably revised.

  1. Neural network CT image reconstruction method for small amount of projection data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, X.F.; Fukuhara, M.; Takeda, T.

    2000-01-01

    This paper presents a new method for two-dimensional image reconstruction by using a multi-layer neural network. Though a conventionally used object function of such a neural network is composed of a sum of squared errors of the output data, we define an object function composed of a sum of squared residuals of an integral equation. By employing an appropriate numerical line integral for this integral equation, we can construct a neural network which can be used for CT image reconstruction for cases with small amount of projection data. We applied this method to some model problems and obtained satisfactory results. This method is especially useful for analyses of laboratory experiments or field observations where only a small amount of projection data is available in comparison with the well-developed medical applications

  2. Neural network CT image reconstruction method for small amount of projection data

    CERN Document Server

    Ma, X F; Takeda, T

    2000-01-01

    This paper presents a new method for two-dimensional image reconstruction by using a multi-layer neural network. Though a conventionally used object function of such a neural network is composed of a sum of squared errors of the output data, we define an object function composed of a sum of squared residuals of an integral equation. By employing an appropriate numerical line integral for this integral equation, we can construct a neural network which can be used for CT image reconstruction for cases with small amount of projection data. We applied this method to some model problems and obtained satisfactory results. This method is especially useful for analyses of laboratory experiments or field observations where only a small amount of projection data is available in comparison with the well-developed medical applications.

  3. A Project Team Analysis Using Tuckman's Model of Small-Group Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natvig, Deborah; Stark, Nancy L

    2016-12-01

    Concerns about equitable workloads for nursing faculty have been well documented, yet a standardized system for workload management does not exist. A project team was challenged to establish an academic workload management system when two dissimilar universities were consolidated. Tuckman's model of small-group development was used as the framework for the analysis of processes and effectiveness of a workload project team. Agendas, notes, and meeting minutes were used as the primary sources of information. Analysis revealed the challenges the team encountered. Utilization of a team charter was an effective tool in guiding the team to become a highly productive group. Lessons learned from the analysis are discussed. Guiding a diverse group into a highly productive team is complex. The use of Tuckman's model of small-group development provided a systematic mechanism to review and understand group processes and tasks. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):675-681.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

  4. Gendered small-business assistance : lessons from a Swedish project

    OpenAIRE

    Tillmar, Malin

    2007-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to deal with the design of small-business training programs and focuses on women business owners, their real needs and the supply of adequate training. How and to what extent are client selection and support needs influenced by the gender system? Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth study of an ambitious Swedish project is reported. Interviews with the participating business-owners and advisors, combined with observations during lectures and coachin...

  5. Problem Drug Use, Marijuana, and European Projects: How Epidemiology Helped Czech Policy Reformers

    OpenAIRE

    Jan Morávek

    2008-01-01

    I examine the transfer of the Problem Drug Use (PDU) concept into Czech scientific discourse through European institutions’ projects, and view PDU’s utilization by Czech researchers in relation to marijuana decriminalization efforts.PDU is defined as intravenous and/or long-term and regular use of opiates, cocaine, or amphetamines. Out of a vast array of illicit drug use patterns, this concept isolates a relatively small population with the riskiest use patterns to become the focus of public ...

  6. Project approach helps technology transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walcher, M.W.

    1982-01-01

    The placing of the contract by the National Power Corporation with Westinghouse for the Philippines nuclear power plant (PNPP-1) is described. Maximised use of Philippine contractors under Westinghouse supervision was provided for. Technology transfer is an important benefit of the contract arrangements, since National Power Corporation project management acquires considerable nuclear plant experience during plant construction through consultation with technical personnel. (U.K.)

  7. Photovoltaic power supply for appliances and small systems. Final report; Photovoltaik fuer Geraete und Kleinsysteme. Schlussbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roth, W.; Anton, L.; Benz, J.; Kaiser, R.; Kuhmann, J.; Puls, H.G.; Pfanner, N.; Schmidt, H.; Schulz, W.; Steinhueser, A.

    2002-06-01

    The economic prospects of PV power supply to appliances and small systems were investigated. The research project was aimed at improving the conditions for efficient development of appliances and small systems with photovoltaic power supply and autonomous systems not connected to the grid. Innovative products were developed and tested in cooperation with industrial organizations. The project is to help small and medium-sized organizations with a technological orientation and enhance technology transfer between science and industry.

  8. Fouling in small hydro projects; Verschmutzung von Kleinwasserkraftwerken - Schlussbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abgottspon, A.; Staubli, T.

    2010-03-15

    This comprehensive final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at fouling problems encountered in small hydro installations. The report is based on ten interviews made with operators of small hydro power stations in Switzerland. A parallel project carried out in Germany is mentioned. A large variation in the degree of fouling in the various hydro power stations is noted. Sources such as leaves in autumn and algae are discussed, as are the various rinsing procedures used to clear the turbines of fouling. Power losses are discussed and measures that can be taken to prevent fouling are described. Measurements made at an installation in Freienstein, Switzerland, are presented and discussed. The report is completed with an appendix containing calculations, details on the Freienstein power plant and the results of interviews made with the ten hydro power installations examined.

  9. Project plans for transuranic waste at small quantity sites in the Department of Energy comples-10522

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mctaggart, Jerri Lynne; Lott, Sheila; Gadbury, Casey

    2009-01-01

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Carlsbad Office (LANL-CO), has been tasked to write Project Plans for all of the Small Quantity Sites (SQS) with defense related Transuranic (TRU) waste in the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. Transuranic Work-Off Plans were precursors to the Project Plans. LANL-CO prepared a Work-Off Plan for each small quantity site. The Work-Off Plan that identified issues, drivers, schedules, and inventory. Eight sites have been chosen to deinventory their legacy TRU waste; Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, General Electric-Vallecitos Nuclear Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-Area 300, Nevada Test Site, Nuclear Radiation Development, Sandia National Laboratory, and the Separations Process Research Unit. Each plan was written for contact and/or remote handled waste if present at the site. These project plans will assist the small quantity sites to ship legacy TRU waste offsite and de-inventory the site of legacy TRU waste. The DOE is working very diligently to reduce the nuclear foot print in the United States. Each of the eight SQSs will be de-inventoried of legacy TRU waste during a campaign that ends September 2011. The small quantity sites have a fraction of the waste that large quantity sites possess. During this campaign, the small quantity sites will package all of the legacy TRU waste and ship to Idaho or directly to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The sites will then be removed from the Transuranic Waste Inventory if they are de-inventoried of all waste. Each Project Plan includes the respective site inventory report, schedules, resources, drivers and any issues. These project plans have been written by the difficult waste team and will be approved by each site. Team members have been assigned to each site to write site specific project plans. Once the project plans have been written, the difficult team members will visit the sites to ensure nothing has

  10. Economic Evaluation Methodology Review on KAERI's Recent Projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Jin Sam; Kim, Jee Young [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-05-15

    In technology utilization, economics evaluation is helpful to R and D program managers by giving them economic information needed to improve the usefulness of their projects. Moreover it can help them to communicate to others participants keeping all of them value-oriented minded through the whole development process. In this context, KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has been performed economic evaluation on recent some projects. So, in this study, it has been made brief reviews on KAERI's economic evaluation methodology to its recent some projects of which evaluation we engage in, especially PEFP(Proton Engineering frontier Project) and SMART(Small Medium advanced ReacTor): Methodology comparison and their pros and cons

  11. The Small angle TIle Calorimeter project in DELPHI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvsvaag, S.J.; Maeland, O.A.; Klovning, A.

    1995-01-01

    The new Small Angle TIle Calorimeter (STIC) covers the forward regions in DELPHI. The main motivation for its construction was to achieve a systematic error of 0.1% on the luminosity determination. This detector consists of a ''shashlik'' type calorimeter, equipped with two planes of silicon pad detectors placed respectively after 4 and 7.4 radiation lengths. A veto counter, composed of two scintillator planes, covers the front of the calorimeter to allow e-γ separation and to provide a neutral energy trigger.The physics motivations for this project, results from extensive testbeam measurements and the performance during the 1994 LEP run are reported here. (orig.)

  12. A cluster randomized trial of alcohol prevention in small businesses: a cascade model of help seeking and risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, G Shawn; Bennett, Joel B

    2015-01-01

    The current study adapted two workplace substance abuse prevention programs and tested a conceptual model of workplace training effects on help seeking and alcohol consumption. Questionnaires were collected 1 month before, 1 month after, and 6 months within a cluster randomized field experiment. Texas small businesses in construction, transportation, and service industries. A total of 1510 employees from 45 businesses were randomly assigned to receive no training or one of the interventions. The interventions were 4-hour on-the-job classroom trainings that encouraged healthy lifestyles and seeking professional help (e.g., from the Employee Assistance Program [EAP]). The Team Awareness Program focused on peer referral and team building. The Choices in Health Promotion Program delivered various health topics based on a needs assessment. Questionnaires measured help-seeking attitudes and behavior, frequency of drinking alcohol, and job-related incidents. Mixed-model repeated-measures analyses of covariance were computed. Relative to the control group, training was associated with significantly greater reductions in drinking frequency, willingness to seek help, and seeking help from the EAP. After including help-seeking attitudes as a covariate, the correlation between training and help seeking becomes nonsignificant. Help-seeking behavior was not correlated with drinking frequency. Training improved help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and decreased alcohol risks. The reductions in drinking alcohol were directly correlated with training and independent from help seeking.

  13. Small power reactor projects in the United States of America and Canada. Information gathered as a result of invitations from Member States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1962-01-01

    As part of its activities in connection with the development of nuclear power, and in response to the resolutions adopted by the General Conference, the Agency has been undertaking a continuing study of the technology and economics of small and medium sized power reactors, particularly with reference to the needs of the less-developed countries. This report summarizes the information gathered on the small power reactor projects in the United States of America and Canada, as a result of the opportunity afforded by these Member States to the Agency. It may be recalled that, at the third regular session of the General Conference, the United States Government offered to provide the Agency with relevant technical and economic data on several small power reactor projects of its Atomic Energy Commission. The Agency accepted the offer and since June 1960 it has sent one or two staff members at approximately six-monthly intervals to follow the development of nine power reactor projects in the United States which represent six different reactor systems. Last year, the Agency issued a report summarizing the information obtained through their visits and study of available published literature. The present document, which should be read in conjunction with that document, brings the information up to date and provides additional information on certain phases of the projects already discussed in the last report. Three more power reactor projects are also dealt with, namely the experimental gas-cooled reactor (EGCR), the high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) and the Hallam nuclear power facility (HNPF). Early in 1962, the Canadian Government expressed its willingness to make available to the Agency relevant information on the NPD and CANDU projects. The coverage of the NPD reactor is based upon the published information supplied by AECL of Canada and the visit by one of the staff members to the NPD site. The Agency wishes to acknowledge with thanks the co-operation extended

  14. The Nothuesli small hydro project; Wasserkraftwerk Nothuesli, Gonzenbaechli - Vorprojekt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Balachandran, S.; Jorde, K.

    2008-07-01

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) discusses the project for a small 16-kilowatt hydro plant on the Gonzenbaechli stream in eastern Switzerland. The site, which was used even before 1860 for obtaining power from the stream is briefly described, as are the present remains of earlier installations. An old Francis turbine has been retrieved and could possibly be reused. Water-flow figures and fall-heights are noted. Design flows and residual water quantities required by legislation are noted and discussed, as are the geology and topology of the catchment area. The proposals for a new hydro-power plant are described, including the apparatus proposed with a power of 20 kVA. Environmental aspects are also discussed, as are the investment costs and the economic viability of the project. The paper is completed with a comprehensive appendix, including detailed cost estimates.

  15. Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-01-01

    Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered.

  16. Cinemeducation: A pilot student project using movies to help students learn medical professionalism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lumlertgul, Nuttha; Kijpaisalratana, Naruchorn; Pityaratstian, Nuttorn; Wangsaturaka, Danai

    2009-07-01

    Using movies has been accepted worldwide as a tool to help students learn medical professionalism. In the second year, a group of medical students conducted the "Cinemeducation" project to promote professionalism in the "Medical Ethics and Critical Thinking" course. Five movies with professionalism issues were screened with 20-30 students attending each session. After the show, participants then were asked to reflect on what they had learned in terms of professionalism. Two students led group discussion emphasizing questioning and argumentation for 60 min. Additional learning issues emerging from each session were also explored in more depth and arranged into a report. In the Cinemeducation Project, medical students have learned five main ethical issues in each film, which were the doctor-patient relationship, informed consent and clinical trials in patients, management of genetic disorders, patient management, and brain death and organ transplantation. In addition to issues of professionalism, they also developed critical thinking and moral reasoning skills. Using a case-based scenario in movies has proven to be an effective and entertaining method of facilitating students with learning on professionalism.

  17. Application of finance project for leverage of small size hydroelectric enterprising; Aplicacao do project finance para alavancagem de empreendimentos hidreletricos de pequeno porte

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, Silvana dos

    2003-07-01

    In the same way that the majority of the countries, project financing of substructure in Brazil, in project finance modality, depend on a skillful structure of guaranties and contracts to become possible. In the case of projects of centrals of generation of electrical energy, that financial engineering becomes still more complicated. In Brazil, due to particularities of the sectors of electricity, the arrangements of guaranties requested but creditors pass to present levels of complexity and exigency well elevated. The contractual appliances that give support to the project finance, originally projected to developed countries, request an extreme adaptation to these particularities. The development of Brazil is directly related to its capacity in expanding the offer of electric energy in the just measure of the national necessity. In this context, the small central hydroelectric (PCH's) represent, actually, an efficient and fast form to complete the offer of energy in such a way to supply the crescent demand the national market. For its characteristics, that type of undertaking can be developed by small manager, from among which are the owners of the areas in which on can find these hydraulic potentials which, however they do not dispose of capital to integral raising. These undertakings are tasks, normally, of low global cost, at the rate of US$ 1.000,00/k W, and of a smaller ambient impact, compared to the return that they give to the enterprise and to the Brazilian electric system as a whole, by having to receive special attention in the planned politics to the sector and to merit a series of incentives to become business still more attractive. By thinking in the found difficulty by small enterprises in rising undertakings of generation of electric energy of small port through the convectional mechanisms of financing is being proposed in that work a well-founded methodology in the concepts of the modality of financing project finance. (author)

  18. Application of finance project for leverage of small size hydroelectric enterprising; Aplicacao do project finance para alavancagem de empreendimentos hidreletricos de pequeno porte

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, Silvana dos

    2003-07-01

    In the same way that the majority of the countries, project financing of substructure in Brazil, in project finance modality, depend on a skillful structure of guaranties and contracts to become possible. In the case of projects of centrals of generation of electrical energy, that financial engineering becomes still more complicated. In Brazil, due to particularities of the sectors of electricity, the arrangements of guaranties requested but creditors pass to present levels of complexity and exigency well elevated. The contractual appliances that give support to the project finance, originally projected to developed countries, request an extreme adaptation to these particularities. The development of Brazil is directly related to its capacity in expanding the offer of electric energy in the just measure of the national necessity. In this context, the small central hydroelectric (PCH's) represent, actually, an efficient and fast form to complete the offer of energy in such a way to supply the crescent demand the national market. For its characteristics, that type of undertaking can be developed by small manager, from among which are the owners of the areas in which on can find these hydraulic potentials which, however they do not dispose of capital to integral raising. These undertakings are tasks, normally, of low global cost, at the rate of US$ 1.000,00/k W, and of a smaller ambient impact, compared to the return that they give to the enterprise and to the Brazilian electric system as a whole, by having to receive special attention in the planned politics to the sector and to merit a series of incentives to become business still more attractive. By thinking in the found difficulty by small enterprises in rising undertakings of generation of electric energy of small port through the convectional mechanisms of financing is being proposed in that work a well-founded methodology in the concepts of the modality of financing project finance. (author)

  19. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology into NASA Programs Associated with the Science Mission Directorate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies that have gone through Phase II of the SBIR program into NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) programs. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this information useful.

  20. Simple steps help minimize costs, risks in project contracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Camps, J.A.

    1996-01-01

    Contrary to prevailing opinion, risks and project financing costs can be higher for lump sum (LS) project contracts than under reimbursable-type contracts. An element-by-element analysis of the risks and costs associated with a project enables investors to develop variations of reimbursable contracts. Project managers can use this three-step procedure, along with other recommendations, to measure the hidden project costs and risks associated with LS contracts. The author bases his conclusions on case studies of recent projects in the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries. The findings, however, are general enough to be applicable in other industrial sectors

  1. Shake Warning: Helping People Stay Safe With Lots of Small Boxes in the Ground to Warn Them About Strong Shaking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reusch, M.

    2017-12-01

    A group of people at schools are joining with the group of people in control of making pictures of the state of rocks on the ground and water in our land. They are working on a plan to help all people be safe in the case of very big ground shaking (when ground breaks in sight or under ground). They will put many small boxes all over the states in the direction of where the sun sets to look for the first shake that might be a sign of an even bigger shake to come. They tell a big computer (with much power) in several large cities in those states. These computers will decide if the first shake is a sign of a very large and close ground shake, a far-away ground shake, a small but close ground shake, or even just a sign of a shake that people wanted to make. If it is a sign of a close and really big shake, then the computers will tell the phones and computers of many people to help them take safe steps before the big shaking arrives where they are. This warning might be several seconds or maybe a couple of minutes. People will be able to hide, take cover, and hold on under tables and desks in case things fall from walls and places up high in their home and work. Doctors will be able to pause hard work and boxes that move people up and down in homes, businesses, and stores will be able to stop on the next floor and open their doors to let people out and not get stuck. It will help slow down trains to be safe and not fly off of the track as well as it will help to shut off water and air that warms homes and is used for when you make food hot. To make this plan become real, people who work for these groups are putting more small boxes in areas where there are not enough and that there are many people. They are also putting small boxes in places where there are no boxes but the big shake might come from that direction. There are problems to get past such as needing many more small boxes, more people to help with this plan, and getting all people who live in these areas to

  2. Does Technology Transfer Help Small and Medium Companies? Empirical Evidence from Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dae-Hwan Kim

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available We challenge the view that technology transfer from big companies to small and medium (SM size companies helps SM companies to prosper. With a large dataset of SM companies in Korea, we utilize the stochastic production frontier (SPF model to examine the productivity of inputs and the generalized linear model (GLM to compare business performance between two groups of SM companies: SM companies that receive technology transfer and those that do not receive technology transfer from big companies. The empirical results demonstrate that the transfer of technology from big companies to SM companies help SM companies to enjoy productivity of capital. Nonetheless, SM companies receiving technology transfer were found to underperform in terms of labor productivity and profit margin compared to their counterparts. We further investigate the reasons why SM companies receiving technology transfer from big companies underperform relative to their counterparts, and our findings shows that the former do not export much of their product and face more difficulties such as lower price for their products imposed by big companies than the latter. By identifying the negative rather than the conventionally assumed positive effect of technology transfer, this paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between technology transfer and SM companies’ prosperity in the case of Korea. Our findings have important implications for how SM companies should strategize and rethink about the clauses embedded in the transfer of technology that they receive from big companies because technology transfer plays as a barrier to their prosperity.

  3. How to Start Your Own Business. [Women Entrepreneurs Project.] Instructor's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, Patricia P.

    This guide was developed to help instructors teach the course for women entrepreneurs as presented in the text, "How to Start Your Own Business." (This small business management course, a product of the California Women Entrepreneurs Project, and the final project report are contained in two related documents--CE 017 320 and 322.) The…

  4. Field Verification Project for Small Wind Turbines Quarterly Report; July-September 2001, 3rd Quarter, Issue#6

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2003-04-01

    This newsletter provides a brief overview of the Field Verification Project for Small Wind Turbines conducted at the NWTC and a description of current activities. The newsletter also contains case studies of current projects.

  5. Performance Studies of Micromegas Chambers for the New Small Wheel Upgrade Project

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00349891; The ATLAS collaboration; Leontsinis, Stefanos

    2015-01-01

    Micromegas, an abbreviation for Micro MEsh Gaseous Structure (MM), is a robust detector with excellent spatial resolution and high rate capability. An $R\\&D$ activity, called Muon ATLAS MicroMegas Activity (MAMMA), was initiated in 2007 in order to explore the potential of the MM technology for use in the ATLAS experiment. After several years of prototyping and testing, the ATLAS collaboration has chosen the MM technology along with the small-strip Thin Gap Chambers (sTGC) for the upgrade of the inner muon station in the high-rapidity region, the so called New Small Wheel (NSW) upgrade project. It will employ eight layers of MM and eight layers of sTGC detectors per wheel. The NSW project requires fully efficient MM chambers, able to cope with the maximum expected rate of $15\\,\\mathrm{kHz/cm^2}$ featuring single plane spatial resolution better than $100\\,\\mu\\mathrm{m}$. The MM detectors will cover a total active area of $\\sim1200\\,\\mathrm{m^2}$ and will be operated in a moderate magnetic field with intens...

  6. A Very High Spatial Resolution Detector for Small Animal PET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanai Shah, M.S.

    2007-01-01

    Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is an in vivo analog of autoradiography and has the potential to become a powerful new tool in imaging biological processes in small laboratory animals. PET imaging of small animals can provide unique information that can help in advancement of human disease models as well as drug development. Clinical PET scanners used for human imaging are bulky, expensive and do not have adequate spatial resolution for small animal studies. Hence, dedicated, low cost instruments are required for conducting small animal studies with higher spatial resolution than what is currently achieved with clinical as well as dedicated small animal PET scanners. The goal of the proposed project is to investigate a new all solid-state detector design for small animal PET imaging. Exceptionally high spatial resolution, good timing resolution, and excellent energy resolution are expected from the proposed detector design. The Phase I project was aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of producing high performance solid-state detectors that provide high sensitivity, spatial resolution, and timing characteristics. Energy resolution characteristics of the new detector were also investigated. The goal of the Phase II project is to advance the promising solid-state detector technology for small animal PET and determine its full potential. Detectors modules will be built and characterized and finally, a bench-top small animal PET system will be assembled and evaluated

  7. The quality of Portuguese Environmental Impact Studies: The case of small hydropower projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinho, Paulo; Maia, Rodrigo; Monterroso, Ana

    2007-01-01

    In most Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems environmental authorities can stop an EIA process by refusing the respective EIA Report, on the grounds of technical or methodological insufficiencies identified in the review procedure. However, often times, it cannot be taken for granted that, once an EIA Report is formally accepted, as part of an EIA process, its quality standard is, consistently, of a satisfactory level. This paper summarises the results of a one-year research project aimed at assessing the quality of EIA studies carried out for small hydropower plants in Portugal. An extensive survey was carried out to analyse all EIA Reports that were the basis of successful EIA processes involving this kind of small scale projects, under the old and the new national EIA legislation, that is, over the last two decades. Often times unnoticeable to the general public and the media, located in isolated areas upstream secondary rivers, these projects are likely to generate some significant environmental impacts, in particular on the aesthetics value and character of local landscapes and on pristine ecological habitats. And yet, they are usually regarded as environmental friendly projects designed to produce emission free energy. The design of the evaluation criteria benefited from the literature review on similar research projects carried out in other EU countries. The evaluation exercise revealed a number of technical and methodological weaknesses in a significant percentage of cases. A set of simple and clear cut recommendations is proposed twofold: to improve the current standard of EIA practice and to strengthen the role of the so called EIA Commissions, at the crucial review stage of the EIA process

  8. The project “understAID” – a platform that helps informal caregivers to understand and aid their demented relatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skorupska, Elżbieta; Mojs, Ewa; Samborski, Włodzimierz

    2014-01-01

    “UnderstAID” is a platform that helps informal caregivers to understand and aid their demented relatives. It is an international project initiated by Denmark, Poland and Spain. The aim of the project is to design, and implement the multimedia platform “understAID” to support informal caregivers...... of dementia patients. The project was launched in April 2013 and is expected to end 36 months later. The project is divided into fi ve tasks concerning the fi nal aim. The aim of task 1 is the management of the project, as well as the exploitation and dissemination of gathered information. Task 2 is meant...... to defi ne the contents and solutions of the CarePlatform based on the knowledge gained from real-case studies. Demented elderlies from each country (n = 40) suffering from different degrees of dementia were evaluated by formal caregivers and dementia professionals. The aim of task 3 is the development...

  9. INTEGRATED DESIGN AND ENGINEERING USING BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING: A PILOT PROJECT OF SMALL-SCALE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rizal Sebastian

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available During the design phase, decisions are made that affect, on average, 70% of the life-cycle cost of a building. Therefore, collaborative design relying on multidisciplinary knowledge of the building life cycle is essential. Building information modelling (BIM makes it possible to integrate knowledge from various project participants that traditionally work in different phases of the building process. BIM has been applied in a number of large-scale projects in the industrial real estate and infrastructure sectors in different countries, including The Netherlands. The projects in the housing sector, however, are predominantly small scale and carried out by small and medium enterprises (SMEs. These SMEs are looking for practical and affordable BIM solutions for housing projects. This article reports a pilot project of small-scale housing development using BIM in the province of Zeeland, The Netherlands. The conceptual knowledge derived from European and national research projects is disseminated to the SMEs through a series of experimental working sessions. Action learning protocols within a pilot project are developed to ensure direct impacts in terms of cost reduction and quality improvement. The project shows that BIM can be applied without radical changes to the SMEs' information and communication technology systems or to their business organizations. DOI: 10.3763/aedm.2010.0116 Source: Architectural Engineering and Design Management, Volume 6, Number 2, 2010 , pp. 103-110(8

  10. 76 FR 33333 - Use of Small Area Fair Market Rents for Project Base Vouchers in the Dallas TX Metropolitan Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5525-N-01] Use of Small Area Fair Market Rents for Project Base Vouchers in the Dallas TX Metropolitan Area AGENCY: Office of the Assistant... Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) for Project-Based Vouchers (PBVs) located in the Dallas, TX...

  11. Project appraisal for small and medium size wind energy installation: The Italian wind energy policy effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fera, M.; Iannone, R.; Macchiaroli, R.; Miranda, S.; Schiraldi, M.M.

    2014-01-01

    In the last few years, the distributed energy production from small wind turbines (i.e.<200 kWp) has developed into a relevant business opportunity for different investors in Italy. The market, especially in Italy, has rapidly grown, achieving 9 MWp only in 2011, with an increase from 1.5 MW in 2009 to 13.3 MW at the end of 2011. This paper reports the results of a case study on the installation of several small wind turbines. It aims to provide an analysis of the conditions in Italy that make it possible to install these machines and offer a reliable reference for designing, planning, and controlling small wind turbine projects while focusing on the strategic variables of time, cost, and quality used by typical enterprises in the investment projects. The results are relevant to investors as well as engineering, procurement, and construction companies involved in this new sector, which must understand Italy’s renewable energy policy and its effects in practice. Moreover, certain national energy policy conclusions are reported and discussed in this paper. To properly study the sector, the data on time, cost and quality are analysed using typical project management tools. - Highlights: • Focus on the Italian wind energy sector. • Analysis of Italian policy effects. • Focus on small/medium size wind energy machines

  12. Evolution of project-based learning in small groups in environmental engineering courses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús M. Requies

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This work presents the assessment of the development and evolution of an active methodology (Project-Based Learning –PBL- implemented on the course “Unit Operations in Environmental Engineering”, within the bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering, with the purpose of decreasing the dropout rate in this course. After the initial design and implementation of this methodology during the first academic year (12/13, different modifications were adopted in the following ones (13-14, 14-15 & 15-16 in order to optimize the student’s and professor’s work load as well as correct some malfunctions observed in the initial design of the PBL. This active methodology seeks to make students the main architects of their own learning processes. Accordingly, they have to identify their learning needs, which is a highly motivating approach both for their curricular development and for attaining the required learning outcomes in this field of knowledge. The results obtained show that working in small teams (cooperative work enhances each group member’s self–learning capabilities. Moreover, academic marks improve when compared to traditional learning methodologies. Nevertheless, the implementation of more active methodologies, such as project-based learning, in small groups has certain specific characteristics. In this case it has been implemented simultaneously in two different groups of 10 students each one. Such small groups are more heterogeneoussince the presence of two highly motivated students or not can vary or affect the whole group’s attitude and academic results.

  13. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into NASA Programs Associated With the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies that have gone through Phase II of the SBIR program into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) programs. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this information useful.

  14. NASA Ames DEVELOP Interns: Helping the Western United States Manage Natural Resources One Project at a Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Justice, Erin; Newcomer, Michelle

    2010-01-01

    The western half of the United States is made up of a number of diverse ecosystems ranging from arid desert to coastal wetlands and rugged forests. Every summer for the past 7 years students ranging from high school to graduate level gather at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) as part of the DEVELOP Internship Program. Under the guidance of Jay Skiles [Ames Research Center (ARC) - Ames DEVELOP Manager] and Cindy Schmidt [ARC/San Jose State University Ames DEVELOP Coordinator] they work as a team on projects exploring topics including: invasive species, carbon flux, wetland restoration, air quality monitoring, storm visualizations, and forest fires. The study areas for these projects have been in Washington, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and California. Interns combine data from NASA and partner satellites with models and in situ measurements to complete prototype projects demonstrating how NASA data and resources can help communities tackle their Earth Science related problems.

  15. Field Verification Project for Small Wind Turbines, Quarterly Report: April - June 2001; 2nd Quarter, Issue No.5

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2002-04-01

    This newsletter provides a brief overview of the Field Verification Project for Small Wind Turbines conducted out of the NWTC and a description of current activities. The newsletter also contains case studies of current projects.

  16. Cooperation and communication challenges in small-scale eHealth development projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Lone Stub; Bertelsen, Pernille; Bjørnes, Charlotte

    2013-12-01

    In eHealth development there is an increasing focus on user participation inspired by the information systems field of practice and research. There are, however, many other challenges in developing information systems that fit healthcare practices. One of these is the challenge of cooperation and communication in development projects that are initiated and managed by clinicians e.g. cooperating with IT professionals in 'bottom up' health informatics projects that have been initiated and are managed by healthcare professional project managers. The analysis and results are drawn from a qualitative case study on a systems development project that was managed by a local, non-technical, healthcare professional and the complex blend and interactions with the IT professionals in the phases of ideas, design, development, implementation, maintenance and distribution. We analyze the challenges of cooperation and communication using perspectives from information systems research and the concepts of 'language-games' and 'shared design spaces', and thereby exploring the boundaries between the different communication, practice and culture of the IT professionals and the healthcare professionals. There is a need to (a) develop a better understanding of the development process from the point of view of the 'user' and (b) tools for making technical knowledge explicit in the development process. Cooperative and communicative methods are needed that support and develop the shared design spaces between IT professionals and the clinical context in order to strengthen small-scale health information systems projects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Lumber recovery from small-diameter ponderosa pine from Flagstaff, Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eini C. Lowell; David W. Green

    2001-01-01

    Thousands of acres of densely stocked ponderosa pine forests surround Flagstaff, AZ. These stands are at high risk of fire, insect, and disease outbreak. Stand density management activity can be expensive, but product recovery from the thinned material could help defray removal costs. This project evaluated the yield and economic return of lumber recovered from small-...

  18. Species’ traits help predict small mammal responses to habitat homogenization by an invasive grass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceradini, Joseph P.; Chalfoun, Anna D.

    2017-01-01

    Invasive plants can negatively affect native species, however, the strength, direction, and shape of responses may vary depending on the type of habitat alteration and the natural history of native species. To prioritize conservation of vulnerable species, it is therefore critical to effectively predict species’ responses to invasive plants, which may be facilitated by a framework based on species’ traits. We studied the population and community responses of small mammals and changes in habitat heterogeneity across a gradient of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) cover, a widespread invasive plant in North America. We live-trapped small mammals over two summers and assessed the effect of cheatgrass on native small mammal abundance, richness, and species-specific and trait-based occupancy, while accounting for detection probability and other key habitat elements. Abundance was only estimated for the most common species, deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). All species were pooled for the trait-based occupancy analysis to quantify the ability of small mammal traits (habitat association, mode of locomotion, and diet) to predict responses to cheatgrass invasion. Habitat heterogeneity decreased with cheatgrass cover. Deer mouse abundance increased marginally with cheatgrass. Species richness did not vary with cheatgrass, however, pocket mouse (Perognathus spp.) and harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys spp.) occupancy tended to decrease and increase, respectively, with cheatgrass cover, suggesting a shift in community composition. Cheatgrass had little effect on occupancy for deer mice, 13-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), and Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii). Species’ responses to cheatgrass primarily corresponded with our a priori predictions based on species’ traits. The probability of occupancy varied significantly with a species’ habitat association but not with diet or mode of locomotion. When considered within the context of a rapid

  19. Exploring College Students' Online Help-Seeking Behavior in a Flipped Classroom with a Web-Based Help-Seeking Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Er, Erkan; Kopcha, Theodore J.; Orey, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Today's generation often seeks help from each other in online environments; however, only a few investigated the role of Internet technologies and the nature of online help-seeking behavior in collaborative learning environments. This paper presents an educational design research project that examines college students' online help-seeking…

  20. Final report of 2002 small business innovation research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Kyu Seok; Sim, Cheul Muu; Lim, Chang Hwan

    2003-07-01

    The purpose of the small business innovation research is to help and support small business for the development of the advanced technologies. In Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, sixteen companies are joined in this consortium for thirteen projects in year 2002. As a result of the investigation, application of the Gamma-ray for food products, real-time imaging system, micro laser, laser rangefinder, compact VOC analyzer, functional food, nano-sized metal powder, micorwave humidity sensor, supersonic impactor, etc have been developed. Several patents as well as research papers are produced and variety of prototype systems are developed

  1. NEOShield-2 Project: Final Results on Compositional Characterization of small NEOs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barucci, Maria Antonieta; Perna, Davide; Fornasier, Sonia; Doressoundiram, Alain; Lantz, Cateline; Popescu, Marcel; Merlin, Frederic; Fulchignoni, Marcello

    2017-10-01

    NEOShield-2 project was selected in the framework of the European Commission H2020 program in answer to the call for “Access technologies and characterisation for Near Earth Objects (NEOs)”. NEOShield-2 project (2015-2017) is a follow-up of the first NEOShield (2012-2015) and includes 11 European Institutions and Industries. The main objectives of NEOShield-2 project are: i) technological development on techniques and instruments needed for GNC for possible asteroid missions and ii) characterization of NEOs of small sizes.Our team at LESIA is the leader of the entire observational program which involved complementary techniques to provide physical and compositional characterization of NEOs. Priority has been given to potential space-mission targets, optimized for mitigation or exploration missions. In this framework an agreement with the European Southern Observatory was signed to obtain Guaranteed Time Observations at the 3.6-meter NTT with an allocation of 30 nights to characterize by spectroscopy the composition of the smaller asteroids. The objects with an absolute magnitude larger than 20 were selected, with a priority for the very small newly discovered objects.We obtained more than 170 new spectra of NEOs. The observations were performed with EFOSC2 instrument. We covered the wavelength interval 0.4-0.92 microns, with a resolution of R=~200. The observed asteroids include 29 asteroids with diameters smaller than 100 meters and 71 with diameters between 100 and 300 m.The taxonomic type has been assigned for 137 individual objects. Our results on NEO mineralogical compositions provide a body of reference data directly applicable to the design and development of mitigation-relevant space missions. Within our survey, we found eight D-types with ΔV funding by European Commission Horizon 2020 program (contract No. PROTEC-2-2014-640351).

  2. Hoopa Valley Small Scale Hydroelectric Feasibility Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Curtis Miller

    2009-03-22

    This study considered assessing the feasibility of developing small scale hydro-electric power from seven major tributaries within the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation of Northern California (http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov/). This study pursued the assessment of seven major tributaries of the Reservation that flow into the Trinity River. The feasibility of hydropower on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation has real potential for development and many alternative options for project locations, designs, operations and financing. In order to realize this opportunity further will require at least 2-3 years of intense data collection focusing on stream flow measurements at multiple locations in order to quantify real power potential. This also includes on the ground stream gradient surveys, road access planning and grid connectivity to PG&E for sale of electricity. Imperative to this effort is the need for negotiations between the Hoopa Tribal Council and PG&E to take place in order to finalize the power rate the Tribe will receive through any wholesale agreement that utilizes the alternative energy generated on the Reservation.

  3. Impacts of the Implementation of a Project Management Information System – a Case Study of a Small R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borštnar Mirjana Kljajić

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: The problems of resources management (human, financial, time in multi-project companies are inherently complex and need to be addressed systematically, in both small and large organizations. Furthermore, there is a need for transparent communication and collaboration within the organization as well as with partnering organizations. There are many methodologies and tools supporting project management, which are themselves complex and are therefore not widely adopted, especially among small companies. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to analyse impact of the implementation of a flexible cloud-based project management information system (PMIS from the human resources, financial management, and collaboration points of view. Method: We have conducted a case study in a small Slovenian research and development company, that has implemented the 4PM PMIS. Results: The findings imply the importance of keeping the balance of the creative processes that are unstructured, rule free and even chaotic, with structured processes monitor and control. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that the use of “4PM” in support of multi-project management improves human resources and financial management in a collaborative and transparent way when implemented in an open and highly motivated environment

  4. Small mammal community succession on the beach of Dongting Lake, China after the Three Gorges Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Meiwen; Wang, Yong; Li, Bo; Guo, Cong; Huang, Guoxian; Shen, Guo; Zhou, Xunjun

    2014-06-01

    Although the Three Gorges Project (TGP) may have affected the population structure and distribution of plant and animal communities, few studies have analyzed the effect of this project on small mammal communities. Therefore, the present paper compares the small mammal communities inhabiting the beaches of Dongting Lake using field investigations spanning a 20-year period, both before and after the TGP was implemented. Snap traps were used throughout the census. The results indicate that the TGP caused major changes to the structure of the small mammal community at a lake downstream of the dam. First, species abundance on the beaches increased after the project commenced. The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) and the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), which rarely inhabited the beach before the TGP, became abundant (with marked population growth) once water was impounded by the Three Gorges Reservoir. Second, dominant species concentration indices exhibited a stepwise decline, indicating that the community structure changed from a single dominant species to a more diverse species mix after TGP implementation. Third, the regulation of water discharge release by the TGP might have caused an increase in the species diversity of the animal community on the beaches. A significant difference in diversity indices was obtained before and after the TGP operation. Similarity indices also indicate a gradual increase in species numbers. Hence, a long-term project should be established to monitor the population fluctuations of the Yangtze vole (Microtus fortis), the striped field mouse and the Norway rat to safeguard against population outbreaks (similar to the Yangtze vole outbreak in 2007), which could cause crop damage to adjacent farmland, in addition to documenting the succession process of the small mammal community inhabiting the beaches of Dongting Lake. © 2013 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley

  5. Waste minimization and pollution prevention technology transfer : the Airlie House Projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gatrone, R.; McHenry, J.; Myron, H.; Thout, J. R.

    1998-01-01

    The Airlie House Pollution Prevention Technology Transfer Projects were a series of pilot projects developed for the US Department of Energy with the intention of transferring pollution prevention technology to the private sector. The concept was to develop small technology transfer initiatives in partnership with the private sector. Argonne National Laboratory developed three projects: the microscale chemistry in education project, the microscale cost benefit study project, and the Bethel New Life recycling trainee project. The two microscale chemistry projects focused on introducing microscale chemistry technologies to secondary and college education. These programs were inexpensive to develop and received excellent evaluations from participants and regulators. The Bethel New Life recycling trainee project provided training for two participants who helped identify recycling and source reduction opportunities in Argonne National Laboratory's solid waste stream. The pilot projects demonstrated that technology transfer initiatives can be developed and implemented with a small budget and within a short period of time. The essential components of the pilot projects were identifying target technologies that were already available, identifying target audiences, and focusing on achieving a limited but defined objective

  6. Healthy End of Life Project (HELP): a progress report on implementing community guidance on public health palliative care initiatives in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grindrod, Andrea; Rumbold, Bruce

    2018-04-01

    Contemporary end of life care policies propose increasing community capacity by developing sustainable skills, policies, structures, and resources to support members of a community in caring for each other at the end of life. Public health approaches to palliative care provide strategies to bring this about. Practical implementation can however be ineffective, principally due to failures to grasp the systemic nature of public health interventions, or to ensure that programs are managed and owned by community members, not the professionals who may have introduced them. This article outlines a comprehensive community development project that identifies local end of life needs and meets them through the efficient use of community resources. The project is the product of a three-phase enquiry. The first phase, carried out in a local community, examined carers' experiences of home-based dying, the networks that supported them during care, and broader community networks with the potential to extend care. Data were collected through in-depth research interviews, focus groups and consultation with a community research reference group. Findings were key issues to be targeted by a local community development strategy. In the second phase, these local findings were compared with other practice accounts to identify themes common to many contexts. A public health palliative care framework was then used to produce an evidence-informed community development model for end of life care. The third phase involves implementing and evaluating this model in different Australian contexts. A major theme emerging in phase one of the enquiry was the reluctance of carers to ask for, or even accept, offers of help from family, friends and community networks despite their evident need for support while providing end of life care at home. Others' willingness to provide support was thus hindered by uncertainty about what to offer, and concern about infringing on people's privacy. To develop

  7. Estimation of small-scale hydroelectric power plant costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Afonso Henriques Moreira; Silva, Benedito Claudio da; Magalhaes, Ricardo Nogueira

    2010-01-01

    Changes in Brazilian energy scenario through last years such as increase of demand and search for clean and economically feasible renewable energy sources, has stimulated investors to small hydro power plants (SHP) sector. Such characteristics together with several economic incentives, legal and regulatory mechanisms also, have helped and stimulated building of new plants of this kind and have attracted a great number of investors to this sector. Study of costs analysis and feasibility of investments is a study which has been used since long time in SHP business market as several preliminary studies previous to civil project have significant costs which lead us to count with a feasibility analysis from the very beginning of studies, exactly what is suggested in the present methodology. Such feasibility analysis, in the common patterns where basic unit costs of each input remain outstanding, would be very complex due to great difficulty in obtaining information at initial phase of project. In this direction this study brings a contribution for investors as well as for designers of small hydro power plants since it outlines a link between physical and energetic characteristics of small hydro power plant in its total cost. Such link is based in available physical characteristics in initial phase of the project, making possible a previous comparison between arrangements of a central or even the comparison of return of investment between different plants. The resulting benefit being the possibility of choosing centrals with greater economic feasibility disregarding bad undertakings or arrangements with more expressive cost. Final result gives a better delay in return of investment, helps in power, arrangements more optimized and in saving time as well, reducing costs of undertakings. Due to large number of SHP arrangements, we chose for this study the most common in Brazil, plant of medium and large fall, shunting line balance chimney and low pressure conduit. (author)

  8. Interview with Muhammad Affan Othman on Small Changes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vahid Nimehchisalem

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Small Changes, a community organization in Malaysia (www.smallchangesmy.org, was founded in 2011 to raise funds and provide support for underprivileged individuals in the community. With an interesting tagline of Cultivating Volunteerism, Empowering Generations this community organizations has raised hundreds of thousands and has attracted tens of Malaysian students from local and overseas universities. The team consists of an enthusiastic group of young Malaysians who believe that it is possible to create big differences in the community with small changes. I had the pleasure of meeting the team in one of their social event in Kuala Lumpur. What you are going to read is the responses provided by the Vice President of Strategic Planning Unit, Mr. Muhammad Affan Othman, who kindly consented to an E-mail interview. The interview VN[1]: Perhaps we could start with a short introduction of Small Changes. Could you please tell our readers about your organization and its objective? MAO[2]: Small Changes started from an idea coined by our founders in which they aspire to create social awareness by making one small change at a time. For example, they started helping flood victims in flood prone locations in Malaysia such as in Kelantan and reaching out orphanage by offering them some help in terms of financial aid. As the organization grows, they started diving into more projects that have diverse aims such as tackling education inequality, which is translated into our Seeds of Deeds initiative, which has been done annually since 2014. However, since 2016, Small Changes has decided to shift gears and start to focus on becoming an organization that offers a platform for volunteering for youths and at the same time empowering both its volunteers and its beneficiaries. These will be made possible through our projects that allow Malaysian youths to participate and become empowered as they are actively participating in a nation building effort. Through these

  9. Locale-Specific Categorization of IT Projects for Proper Project Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Nasir

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we aim to show that not only are the project management techniques important for small-scale projects, but following proper project management techniques is one of the most important requirements. However, there come slight variations in implementing project management techniques in small projects as compared with larger projects. Therefore, proper categorization of projects holds the key to success in many situations. Our paper will show that categorization of a project as small-scale or large-scale should always be locale specific. In this regards, we develop a criteria and evaluate how the projects are categorized as small-scale and large-scale in different parts of the world with focus on IT projects. This research concludes that some methods cannot be used for projects of different scales.

  10. Scientific projects as a way to provide dynamism in small French remote colleges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boer, Michel; Strajnic, Jean

    Scientific projects as a way to provide dynamism in small French remote colleges. Though 77% of the French population lives in towns, they are still quite a lot of people in rural areas. The educational model has favored the proximity colleges instead of forcing the students to make long journeys to get to the school, or to be in boarding schools. This means that grade 6-9 students can be in colleges as small as 100-150 children, specifically in remote areas, e.g. in the Alpes de Haute-Provence. Though small structures have many advantages in terms of discipline and proximity of the educational team with both the students and their parents, some "conservatism" may arise from the low turnover of the population. Children stay for long in the same village, and their access to culture, activities, knowledge of the outside can be restricted, inducing a loss of dynamism. In order to fight this tendency the Observatoire de Haute-Provence has started a program together with the regional educational authorities and the teacher teams proposing to work on scientific projects in astronomy, and soon in environmental sciences. Though the children and their teachers visit OHP, and scientists the college, the idea is that the teachers and the classmates become autonomous, the link being maintained via videoconferencing and electronic blackboard. This is based also on the presence of a prominent scientific institute in a rural district.

  11. Differential representation of sunflower ESTs in enriched organ-specific cDNA libraries in a small scale sequencing project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heinz Ruth A

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Subtractive hybridization methods are valuable tools for identifying differentially regulated genes in a given tissue avoiding redundant sequencing of clones representing the same expressed genes, maximizing detection of low abundant transcripts and thus, affecting the efficiency and cost effectiveness of small scale cDNA sequencing projects aimed to the specific identification of useful genes for breeding purposes. The objective of this work is to evaluate alternative strategies to high-throughput sequencing projects for the identification of novel genes differentially expressed in sunflower as a source of organ-specific genetic markers that can be functionally associated to important traits. Results Differential organ-specific ESTs were generated from leaf, stem, root and flower bud at two developmental stages (R1 and R4. The use of different sources of RNA as tester and driver cDNA for the construction of differential libraries was evaluated as a tool for detection of rare or low abundant transcripts. Organ-specificity ranged from 75 to 100% of non-redundant sequences in the different cDNA libraries. Sequence redundancy varied according to the target and driver cDNA used in each case. The R4 flower cDNA library was the less redundant library with 62% of unique sequences. Out of a total of 919 sequences that were edited and annotated, 318 were non-redundant sequences. Comparison against sequences in public databases showed that 60% of non-redundant sequences showed significant similarity to known sequences. The number of predicted novel genes varied among the different cDNA libraries, ranging from 56% in the R4 flower to 16 % in the R1 flower bud library. Comparison with sunflower ESTs on public databases showed that 197 of non-redundant sequences (60% did not exhibit significant similarity to previously reported sunflower ESTs. This approach helped to successfully isolate a significant number of new reported sequences

  12. Role of community acceptance in sustainable bioenergy projects in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eswarlal, Vimal Kumar; Vasudevan, Geoffrey; Dey, Prasanta Kumar; Vasudevan, Padma

    2014-01-01

    Community acceptance has been identified as one of the key requirements for a sustainable bioenergy project. However less attention has been paid to this aspect from developing nations and small projects perspective. Therefore this research examines the role of community acceptance for sustainable small scale bioenergy projects in India. While addressing the aim, this work identifies influence of community over bioenergy projects, major concerns of communities regarding bioenergy projects and factors influencing perceptions of communities about bioenergy projects. The empirical research was carried out on four bioenergy companies in India as case studies. It has been identified that communities have significant influence over bioenergy projects in India. Local air pollution, inappropriate storage of by-products and credibility of developer are identified as some of the important concerns. Local energy needs, benefits to community from bioenergy companies, level of trust on company and relationship between company and the community are some of the prime factors which influence community's perception on bioenergy projects. This research sheds light on important aspects related to community acceptance of bioenergy projects, and this information would help practitioners in understanding the community perceptions and take appropriate actions to satisfy them

  13. Preparing the Production of a New Product in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises by Using the Method of Projects Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bijańska, Jolanta; Wodarski, Krzysztof; Wójcik, Janusz

    2016-06-01

    Efficient and effective preparation the production of new products is important requirement for a functioning and development of small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the methods, which support the fulfilment of this condition is project management. This publication presents the results of considerations, which are aimed at developing a project management model of preparation the production of a new product, adopted to specificity of small and medium-sized enterprises.

  14. Small Hydropower Research and Development Technology Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blackmore, Mo [Near Space Systems, Inc.

    2013-12-06

    The objective of this work was to investigate, develop, and validate the next generation of small hydroturbine generator designs that maximize the energy transfer from flowing water to electrical power generation. What resulted from this effort was the design of a new technology hydroturbine that Near Space Systems (NSS) has named the Star*Stream© Hydroturbine. Using a design that eliminates nearly all of the shortfalls of conventional hydroturbines, the Star*Stream© Hydroturbine employs a new mechanical-to-electrical energy transfer hydro design that operates without lubrication of any kind, and does not introduce foreign chemicals or particulate matter from oil or drive shaft seal degradation into the hydro ecology. In its unique configuration, the Star*Stream© Hydroturbine is nearly environmentally inert, without the negative aspects caused by interrupting the ecological continuity, i.e., disruptions to sedimentation, water quality, habitat changes, human displacement, fish migration, etc., - while it ensures dramatically reduced timeframes to project completion. While a remarkable reduction in LCOE resulting from application of the Star*Stream© Hydroturbine technology has been the core achievement of the this effort, there have been numerous technological breakthroughs from the development effort.

  15. An empirical study on the critical success factors of small to medium sized projects in a South African mining company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Du Randt, Francois Jean

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Projects that fail, for whatever reason, can impact negatively on society, organisations, and other stakeholders. A number of researchers have identified various critical success factors (CSFs that can influence the outcome and success of a project. This research therefore aims to determine the CSFs that influence various success measures of small- to medium-sized projects at a South African mining company, Exxaro Resources’ Grootegeluk Coal Mine. Other objectives of this research include determining the extent of the impacts of these CSFs on the different success measures of a project. The investigation suggests that there are correlations among CSFs, and that certain factors impact the outcome of projects far more than others. This research finds that the single most important CSF for small- to medium-sized projects is the selection of a competent project manager. The competent project manager is characterised by a group of interrelated CSF factors: good leadership, commitment, and learning from past experiences. Based on the research results, other CSFs are discussed and explored in order for recommendations to be made on how this mining company, and possibly other organisations, can achieve greater project success.

  16. A project optimization for small watercourses restoration in the northern part of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain by the geoinformation and hydrodynamic modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voronin, Alexander; Vasilchenko, Ann; Khoperskov, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    The project of small watercourses restoration in the northern part of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain is considered together with the aim of increasing the watering of the territory during small and medium floods. The topography irregularity, the complex structure of the floodplain valley consisting of large number of small watercourses, the presence of urbanized and agricultural areas require careful preliminary analysis of the hydrological safety and efficiency of geographically distributed project activities. Using the digital terrain and watercourses structure models of the floodplain, the hydrodynamic flood model, the analysis of the hydrological safety and efficiency of several project implementation strategies has been conducted. The objective function values have been obtained from the hydrodynamic calculations of the floodplain territory flooding for virtual digital terrain models simulating alternatives for the geographically distributed project activities. The comparative efficiency of several empirical strategies for the geographically distributed project activities, as well as a two-stage exact solution method for the optimization problem has been studied.

  17. Using Service-Learning Projects to Jump Start Research at Small Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ongley, L. K.; Spigel, K.; Olin, J.

    2010-12-01

    Geoscientists at small institutions must frequently be very creative about funding and conducting research. High teaching loads, tuition-driven budgets, and a dearth of geosciences colleagues all contribute challenges to an intellectual life that includes research as a scholarship endeavor. Fortunately, service-learning can be used as a multi-purpose pedagogical technique. Unity College is a very small environmentally-focused undergraduate institution in rural Maine with a student population of less than 600 students. Our students really appreciate learning in the field and through participation in projects that impact the communities in which they live and study. Our Environmental Science (geosciences) and Environmental Analysis (chemistry) majors have been showing increasing interest in pursuing graduate school and independent projects in greater and greater depth. In the past 5 years we have had a complete turn-over in geoscience and chemistry faculty (2 persons), a shift that has brought new ideas to campus and a different idea about importance of research. Unity College has always been a big proponent of community-based projects so the extension to service learning as a pedagogical technique has been smooth. A wide variety of towns, schools, land trusts, pond associations and other groups approach Unity College with project ideas. We are best equipped to handle suggestions that relate to environmental chemistry and to lake sedimentation owing to the research interests of our geoscience faculty. We present two examples of ways to sequence student work that ultimately end in student/faculty research projects. Sophomores in the Unity College Environmental Stewardship Core curriculum may choose to take a course that introduces lake sedimentation as a tool to study environmental change. Students in the course take several sediment cores to analyze proxies of environmental change to reconstruct past environments. The final results are reported to the community

  18. Toolbox for Research, or how to facilitate a central data management in small-scale research projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bialke, Martin; Rau, Henriette; Thamm, Oliver C; Schuldt, Ronny; Penndorf, Peter; Blumentritt, Arne; Gött, Robert; Piegsa, Jens; Bahls, Thomas; Hoffmann, Wolfgang

    2018-01-25

    In most research projects budget, staff and IT infrastructures are limiting resources. Especially for small-scale registries and cohort studies professional IT support and commercial electronic data capture systems are too expensive. Consequently, these projects use simple local approaches (e.g. Excel) for data capture instead of a central data management including web-based data capture and proper research databases. This leads to manual processes to merge, analyze and, if possible, pseudonymize research data of different study sites. To support multi-site data capture, storage and analyses in small-scall research projects, corresponding requirements were analyzed within the MOSAIC project. Based on the identified requirements, the Toolbox for Research was developed as a flexible software solution for various research scenarios. Additionally, the Toolbox facilitates data integration of research data as well as metadata by performing necessary procedures automatically. Also, Toolbox modules allow the integration of device data. Moreover, separation of personally identifiable information and medical data by using only pseudonyms for storing medical data ensures the compliance to data protection regulations. This pseudonymized data can then be exported in SPSS format in order to enable scientists to prepare reports and analyses. The Toolbox for Research was successfully piloted in the German Burn Registry in 2016 facilitating the documentation of 4350 burn cases at 54 study sites. The Toolbox for Research can be downloaded free of charge from the project website and automatically installed due to the use of Docker technology.

  19. Project of Carbon Capture in Small and Medium Farms in the Brunca Region, Costa Rica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilmar Navarrete

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM of the Kyoto Protocol, allows the non Annex 1 countries to receive projects that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable development in developing countries. The CDM, since its inception, has issued credits equivalent to 1.434.737.562 tons of CO2, distributed across 7.450 projects around the world, from 15 different sectors. Sectors 14 that allow forestry projects (such as reforestation and afforestation have registered 53 projects to date; 19 of which are in Latin America. Nevertheless, the contribution of this sector currently represents less than 1% of CDM Certificates of Emissions Reduction (CERs issued. In September 2013, through their National Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO, Costa Rica registered their first CDM project with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, after having complied with all the project cycle processes. The project, known as "Carbon Sequestration in Small and Medium Farms, Brunca Region, Costa Rica" was a project executed by FONAFIFO under their Environmental Services Payment Program. This project was developed in Pérez Zeledón, San José, Costa Rica in partnership with the Cooperative Corporation CoopeAgri RL. The total goal of the project is to reduce the greenhouse gas emission by 176,050 ton of CO2-e, in a period of 20 years and commercialize the CERs in the regulated carbon market.

  20. Determine small and medium enterprise social media activities: A community engagement project in the Tshwane community

    OpenAIRE

    Louise van Scheers; Jacques van Scheers

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to determine small and medium enterprise (SME) social media activities and promote CE scholarship engagement. It is a community engagement project conducted in the Tshwane community. Community engagement (CE) as a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people in the community to address issues affecting their well-being. The CE project SME skills transfer workshops are aimed at expanding involvement with the community. The benef...

  1. Optimisation of small-scale hydropower using quality assurance methods - Preliminary project; Vorprojekt: Optimierung von Kleinwasserkraftwerken durch Qualitaetssicherung. Programm Kleinwasserkraftwerke

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hofer, S.; Staubli, T.

    2006-11-15

    This comprehensive final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a preliminary project that examined how quality assurance methods can be used in the optimisation of small-scale hydropower projects. The aim of the project, to use existing know-how, experience and synergies, is examined. Discrepancies in quality and their effects on production prices were determined in interviews. The paper describes best-practice guidelines for the quality assurance of small-scale hydro schemes. A flow chart describes the various steps that have to be taken in the project and realisation work. Information collected from planners and from interviews made with them are presented along with further information obtained from literature. The results of interviews concerning planning work, putting to tender and the construction stages of these hydro schemes are presented and commented on. Similarly, the operational phase of such power plant is also examined, including questions on operation and guarantees. The aims of the follow-up main project - the definition of a tool and guidelines for ensuring quality - are briefly reviewed.

  2. Crowdfunding Campaigns Help Researchers Launch Projects and Generate Outreach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahlhausen, Katherine; Krebs, Bethany L; Watters, Jason V; Ganz, Holly H

    2016-03-01

    Organizers of participatory research (citizen science) projects can generate funds and outreach through crowdfunding. Here we provide insights from three successful science crowdfunding campaigns recently completed on Indiegogo, Experiment, and Kickstarter. Choosing a crowdfunding platform that fits the project is just the beginning; a successful campaign reflects its content, management, and marketing, and some researchers may need to acquire new skills. In addition, the growing trend of crowdfunding for science reinforces the importance of academic engagement with social media.

  3. From project management to project leadership

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Braun, F.; Avital, M.

    2010-01-01

    It is virtually a truism that good leadership practices can help project managers with attaining the desired project outcome. However, a better understanding of which leadership practices enable project managers to be more effective warrants further investigation. Subsequently, in this study, we

  4. Small Farmers and Social Capital in Development Projects: Lessons from Failures in Argentina's Rural Periphery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michelini, Juan Jose

    2013-01-01

    The importance of social capital as a resource for rural development, especially in the context of projects involving joint participation of state and civil society, is widely recognized today. This paper analyzes the obstacles confronted by local players--small farmers and government organizations--in the development of an irrigation area through…

  5. Crowdfunding Campaigns Help Researchers Launch Projects and Generate Outreach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katherine Dahlhausen

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Organizers of participatory research (citizen science projects can generate funds and outreach through crowdfunding. Here we provide insights from three successful science crowdfunding campaigns recently completed on Indiegogo, Experiment, and Kickstarter. Choosing a crowdfunding platform that fits the project is just the beginning; a successful campaign reflects its content, management, and marketing, and some researchers may need to acquire new skills. In addition, the growing trend of crowdfunding for science reinforces the importance of academic engagement with social media.

  6. How Do Artifact Models Help Direct SPI Projects?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuhrmann, Marco; Richardson, Ita

    2015-01-01

    To overcome shortcomings associated with software process improvement (SPI), we previously recommended that process engineers focus on the artifacts to be developed in SPI projects. These artifacts should define desired outcomes, rather than specific methods. During this prior research, we develo...

  7. How to Start Your Own Business. Women Entrepreneurs Project. Instructional Materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaslin, Barbara S.; McNamara, Patricia P.

    This text consisting of eight learning activities packages (LAP's) was developed during the California Women Entrepreneurs Project for use in a course designed to help women entrepreneurs learn how to start their own small business. The LAP's included here are self-paced, student-centered modules which take the learner step by step through the…

  8. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology into NASA Programs Associated with the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies that have gone through Phase II of the SBIR program into NASA Aeronautics and Mission Directorate (ARMD) programs. Other Government and commercial program managers can also find this information useful.

  9. RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECTS EVALUATION OF INNOVATION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-HIGH TECHNOLOGY USING THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRISM METHODOLOGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taciana de Barros Jerônimo

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the failures of the activity of project management in small and medium-sized high-tech firms, using the tool PRISM. This postmortem methodology, proposed by Gary Pan, Shan L. and Ray Hackney Pan, analyzes the interactions between the components of the project during the exchange relationship between the project organization, information system and the users. Thus, the contribution of this work is to allow a formal analysis of the relationship between the sequence of events development projects into an innovative view, that provide insights into the potential success or failure of the project on medium-sized high-tech firms (whose the acronym is PMET.

  10. LEX Project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damkilde, Lars; Larsen, Torben J.; Walbjørn, Jacob

    This document is aimed at helping all parties involved in the LEX project to get a common understanding of words, process, levels and the overall concept.......This document is aimed at helping all parties involved in the LEX project to get a common understanding of words, process, levels and the overall concept....

  11. Geothermal Money Book [Geothermal Outreach and Project Financing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elizabeth Battocletti

    2004-02-01

    Small business lending is big business and growing. Loans under $1 million totaled $460 billion in June 2001, up $23 billion from 2000. The number of loans under $100,000 continued to grow at a rapid rate, growing by 10.1%. The dollar value of loans under $100,000 increased 4.4%; those of $100,000-$250,000 by 4.1%; and those between $250,000 and $1 million by 6.4%. But getting a loan can be difficult if a business owner does not know how to find small business-friendly lenders, how to best approach them, and the specific criteria they use to evaluate a loan application. This is where the Geothermal Money Book comes in. Once a business and financing plan and financial proposal are written, the Geothermal Money Book takes the next step, helping small geothermal businesses locate and obtain financing. The Geothermal Money Book will: Explain the specific criteria potential financing sources use to evaluate a proposal for debt financing; Describe the Small Business Administration's (SBA) programs to promote lending to small businesses; List specific small-business friendly lenders for small geothermal businesses, including those which participate in SBA programs; Identify federal and state incentives which are relevant to direct use and small-scale (< 1 megawatt) power generation geothermal projects; and Provide an extensive state directory of financing sources and state financial incentives for the 19 states involved in the GeoPowering the West (GPW). GPW is a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored activity to dramatically increase the use of geothermal energy in the western United States by promoting environmentally compatible heat and power, along with industrial growth and economic development. The Geothermal Money Book will not: Substitute for financial advice; Overcome the high exploration, development, and financing costs associated with smaller geothermal projects; Remedy the lack of financing for the exploration stage of a geothermal project; or Solve

  12. Forty project management strategies for the medical practice staff.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hills, Laura Sachs

    2010-01-01

    Most every medical practice will embark at one time or another on a large and complex new project. The practice may, for instance, undertake a project in office construction or renovation, practice expansion, new technology, or a new large-scale event. The medical practice staff may find itself creating the project plan, overseeing its execution, and working through the plan day to day until its completion. In short, the staff may find itself responsible for project management. This article contains 40 specific, easy-to-implement project management strategies medical practice employees can use to manage both the large and small projects they undertake on behalf of the practice. It suggests effective project management strategies the staff can use before the onset of a new project as well as strategies to help define the project, to deliver the project, and to close and review the project. This article also describes five reasons medical practices often fail at project management and suggests more effective approaches that will ensure that the projects the medical practice undertakes are completed well, on time, and within budget.

  13. Experiences of project developers around CDM projects in South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thurner, Thomas W.; Varughese, Arun

    2013-01-01

    Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process of evaluating and registering their CDM projects. In addition to other obstacles, we find that South African big businesses are rather reluctant to engage in any new business activities such as CDM projects and municipalities often lack the necessary flexibility. This offers opportunities for small-scale project developers who spot the opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome these difficulties. - Highlights: • First paper analysing the experience of small project developers in South Africa. • Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process. • South African big businesses are reluctant to engage in CDM projects. • Small-scale project developers spot opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome difficulties. • Also, we saw learning processes of South African administration in support of CDM projects

  14. Technology for helping people

    CERN Multimedia

    Rosaria Marraffino

    2014-01-01

    The first THE Port hackathon problem-solving workshop was held at CERN from 31 October to 2 November in the framework of the 60th anniversary celebrations. The aim of the event was to develop technological projects that can help to solve the day-to-day needs of people living in areas of the planet that experience conflicts or natural disasters.   Collage of shots from THE Port hackathon. Credit: THE Port association The event was dedicated to humanitarian and social topics inspired by members of non-governmental organisations‬. “There is plenty of room for technology to help in humanitarian fields. That’s why we came up with the idea of bringing people together to work on these topics,” explains Ines Knäpper, Project Manager of THE Port hackathon. “We started six months ago setting up THE Port association.* The success of the event was only possible because of the joint effort of a team of roughly twenty people. They were inspired by the aim...

  15. Investment timing under uncertain renewable energy policy: An empirical study of small hydropower projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Linnerud, Kristin; Andersson, Ane Marte; Fleten, Stein-Erik

    2014-01-01

    Policy uncertainty can be a powerful deterrent to immediate investments. Based on panel data of 214 licenses to construct small run-of-the-river hydropower plants, we examine whether the prospect of a common Swedish–Norwegian market for green certificates (i.e., a renewable portfolio standard scheme) affected the timing of investments. Our results show that traditional utilities and other professional investors in the energy market acted in accordance with a real options investment rule, and the prospect of possible future subsidies delayed their investment decision. On the other hand, our results do not show that farmers and other non-professional investors incorporated timing considerations in their investment decisions. Rather, our results indicate that these investors behaved as if their investment opportunity is now-or-never, investing if the project is profitable according to a net present value investment rule, ignoring the opportunity to create additional value by waiting. The observed difference in behavior between professional and non-professional investors is interesting given the distributed nature of many renewable energy technologies, and can help planners and policymakers better understand the forces shaping the future market for electricity. - Highlights: • We examine whether the prospect of introducing subsidies delayed investments in hydropower. • We find that professional and non-professional investors behaved differently. • Professional investors explored the opportunity to create additional value by waiting. • Farmers behaved as if their investment opportunity was now-or-never. • These observations are interesting given the distributed nature of renewable energy technologies

  16. Formal home help services and institutionalization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yamada, Yukari; Siersma, Volkert; Avlund, Kirsten

    2012-01-01

    The effect of home help services has been inconsistent. Raising the hypothesis that receiving small amounts of home help may postpone or prevent institutionalization, the aim of the present study is to analyze how light and heavy use of home help services was related to the risk...... for institutionalization. The study was a secondary analysis of a Danish intervention study on preventive home visits in 34 municipalities from 1999 to 2003, including 2642 home-dwelling older people who were nondisabled and did not receive public home help services at baseline in 1999 and who lived at home 18 months...... after baseline. Cox regression analysis showed that those who received home help services during the first 18 months after baseline were at higher risk of being institutionalized during the subsequent three years than those who did not receive such services. However, receiving home help for less than 1h...

  17. ENSURING OF SUSTAINABILITY OF SMALL ENTERPRISES OF CONSTRUCTION SPHERE ON THE BASIS OF SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silka Dmitriy Nikolaevich

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Economic sustainability of any organization, including small organizations of investment and construction sector, has a complex and ambiguous concept. Sustainable development of organization is a continuous process of permanent dynamic changes in which there is a close consistency between such integral elements as: efficient use of resources, scientific and technical development of organization, implementation of various innovations in production process, improving of staff competence, and institutional changes. They all are aimed at optimization of existing and future potential of organization, satisfaction of needs and achievement of set strategic objectives. Under conditions of instability of market economy, the achievement of effective sustainable development of enterprise and its integration into the existing organization management becomes one of the most important tasks. The article offers to perform a comparative analysis within the framework of projections, with the purpose of identifying of “threats” by external factors and “advantages” by internal factors. This will help to identify the most serious “threats” as well as the most powerful “advantages” for further development of strategy for improving of sustainability of small enterprises of the investment and construction industry. It is also assumed that there is a possibility of use of small business advantages with the aim of reducing of negative effect of “threats” by external factors by way of targeting of these advantages. Analysis of “threats” by external factors and “advantages” by internal factors demonstrated that each aggregate of “threats” can be opposed to the aggregate of “advantages” within the corresponding projection. If the growth of small enterprise characteristics is smooth enough it can be said of sustainable development of this enterprise.

  18. Small wind turbine energy policies for residential and small business usage in Ontario, Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heagle, A.L.B.; Naterer, G.F.; Pope, K.

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the social barriers, policies, and incentive programs for residential and small business small wind (RBSW) projects, particularly in Ontario, Canada, as well as comparisons with California, US, and the United Kingdom. The alignment between socio-political and community acceptance is considered for its impact on market acceptance of the technology. Barriers inhibiting social acceptance of RBSW projects include adequate capacity factor, cost effectiveness, wind variability, audio-esthetics impact, health and safety, procedural fairness, and transparency. A review of the policies for implementation of small wind projects in each location is presented. Strategies to overcome barriers to social acceptance are examined, along with recommendations for the increased implementation of RBSW projects worldwide. Recommendations to increase social acceptance and subsequent implementation of RBSW projects include the collaboration of government agencies, industry and community members, during RBSW implementation processes, and the provision of consistent, long-term, supportive policies and incentive programs for project owners. - Highlights: → This paper examines the social barriers, policies, and incentive programs for residential and small business small wind (RBSW) projects, particularly in Ontario, Canada, as well as comparisons with California, US, and the United Kingdom. → Barriers inhibiting social acceptance of RBSW projects include adequate capacity factor, cost effectiveness, wind variability, audio-esthetics impact, health and safety, procedural fairness, and transparency. → Recommendations to increase social acceptance and subsequent implementation of RBSW projects include the collaboration of government agencies, industry and community members, during RBSW implementation processes, and the provision of consistent, long-term, supportive policies and incentive programs for project owners.

  19. 小微企业项目融资途径研究%Research on Financing Way of Small Micro Enterprise Project

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    崔英伟

    2013-01-01

    Small micro enterprise is an important part of the market economy, which accounts for more than 90 percent of all small micro enterprises. It is an important force of promoting the economic growth and the main carrier of job enlargement. However, small micro enterprise is the vulnerable groups, and it has difficulties in project financing and development. Based on the analysis of the present situation of small micro enterprise project financing, this paper elaborates on the definition of small micro enterprise, analyzes the causes, putting reference for small micro enterprise project financing.%小微企业是市场经济的重要组成部分,小微企业数量占我国企业总数的百分之九十以上,已成为拉动经济增长的重要力量,成为吸纳社会就业的主要载体.然而小微企业作为企业中的弱势群体,存在着项目融资难、发展难的问题.本文在分析小微企业项目融资现状的基础上,阐述了小微企业的定义,分析小微企业项目融资难的成因,有针对性的为小微企业项目融资提出借鉴和参考.

  20. An Inverse MOOC Model: Small Virtual Field Geology Classes with Many Teachers (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Paor, D. G.; Whitmeyer, S. J.; Bentley, C.

    2013-12-01

    In the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) mode of instruction, one or a small group of collaborating instructors lecture online to a large (often extremely large) number of students. We are experimenting with an inverse concept: an online classroom in which a small group of collaborating students are taught by dozens of collaborating instructors. This experiment is part of a new NSF TUES Type 3 project titled 'Google Earth for Onsite and Distance Education (GEODE).' Among the goals of the project are the development of an online course called the 'Grand Tour.' We are inviting dozens of colleagues to record virtual field trips (VFTs) and upload them to Google Earth. Students enrolled in the course will be assigned to a small group and tasked with a research project--for example to write a report on foreland thrust belts. They will select a small subset of available VFTs to follow and will be scaffolded by virtual specimens, emergent cross sections, analytical simulations (virtual tricorders), and a game style environment. Instant feedback based on auto-logging will enable adaptive learning. The design is suited to both onsite and distance education and will facilitate access to iconic geologic sites around the world to persons with mobility constraints. We invite input from the community to help guide the design phase of this project. Prototypes of the above-listed learning resources have already been developed and are freely available at http://www.DigitalPlanet.org.

  1. Planning of a small hydroelectric installation project - orientation aids; Vom Plan zum Werk - Orientierungshilfen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hutarew, A. [Dr. Hutarew und Partner, Pforzheim (Germany)

    1997-12-31

    The article informs in concise form on essential elements of the plannning of a small hydro power project. Understanding and considerateness are demanded from all parties concerned when such a joint project is envisaged. Not one-sided interests should be followed; rather, everyone should contribute towards facilitating renewable energy generation. Some negative examples are cited. (orig.) [Deutsch] In der Kuerze der gebotenen Zeit wurde versucht, wesentliche Eckpfeiler in der Entstehung einer Wasserkraftanlage zu skizzieren. Ziel meiner Ausfuehrungen ist es, von allen Beteiligten Verstaendnis abzuverlangen und Ruecksichtnahme zu praktizieren, geht es doch darum, ein gemeinsames Werk entstehen zu lassen. Wir stehen nicht in der Not, einseitige Interessen zu verfechten, sondern gemeinsam an einem Baustein regenerativer Energieerzeugung zu arbeiten. Es sei mir verziehen, wenn durch die Schilderung von Negativ-Beispielen ein eher unueblicher Weg beschritten wurde. (orig.)

  2. Automated Demand Response Technology Demonstration Project for Small and Medium Commercial Buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Page, Janie; Kiliccote, Sila; Dudley, Junqiao Han; Piette, Mary Ann; Chiu, Albert K.; Kellow, Bashar; Koch, Ed; Lipkin, Paul

    2011-07-01

    Small and medium commercial customers in California make up about 20-25% of electric peak load in California. With the roll out of smart meters to this customer group, which enable granular measurement of electricity consumption, the investor-owned utilities will offer dynamic prices as default tariffs by the end of 2011. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which successfully deployed Automated Demand Response (AutoDR) Programs to its large commercial and industrial customers, started investigating the same infrastructures application to the small and medium commercial customers. This project aims to identify available technologies suitable for automating demand response for small-medium commercial buildings; to validate the extent to which that technology does what it claims to be able to do; and determine the extent to which customers find the technology useful for DR purpose. Ten sites, enabled by eight vendors, participated in at least four test AutoDR events per site in the summer of 2010. The results showed that while existing technology can reliably receive OpenADR signals and translate them into pre-programmed response strategies, it is likely that better levels of load sheds could be obtained than what is reported here if better understanding of the building systems were developed and the DR response strategies had been carefully designed and optimized for each site.

  3. On the monitoring and prediction of flash floods in small and medium-sized catchments - the EXTRUSO project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiemann, Stefan; Eltner, Anette; Sardemann, Hannes; Spieler, Diana; Singer, Thomas; Thanh Luong, Thi; Janabi, Firas Al; Schütze, Niels; Bernard, Lars; Bernhofer, Christian; Maas, Hans-Gerd

    2017-04-01

    Flash floods regularly cause severe socio-economic damage worldwide. In parallel, climate change is very likely to increase the number of such events, due to an increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events (EASAC 2013). Whereas recent work primarily addresses the resilience of large catchment areas, the major impact of hydro-meteorological extremes caused by heavy precipitation is on small areas. Those are very difficult to observe and predict, due to sparse monitoring networks and only few means for hydro-meteorological modelling, especially in small catchment areas. The objective of the EXTRUSO project is to identify and implement appropriate means to close this gap by an interdisciplinary approach, combining comprehensive research expertise from meteorology, hydrology, photogrammetry and geoinformatics. The project targets innovative techniques for achieving spatio-temporal densified monitoring and simulations for the analysis, prediction and warning of local hydro-meteorological extreme events. The following four aspects are of particular interest: 1. The monitoring, analysis and combination of relevant hydro-meteorological parameters from various sources, including existing monitoring networks, ground radar, specific low-cost sensors and crowdsourcing. 2. The determination of relevant hydro-morphological parameters from different photogrammetric sensors (e.g. camera, laser scanner) and sensor platforms (e.g. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and UWV (unmanned water vehicle)). 3. The continuous hydro-meteorological modelling of precipitation, soil moisture and water flows by means of conceptual and data-driven modelling. 4. The development of a collaborative, web-based service infrastructure as an information and communication point, especially in the case of an extreme event. There are three major applications for the planned information system: First, the warning of local extreme events for the population in potentially affected areas, second, the support

  4. Standardization of electric projects of small hydroelectric power plants; Padronizacao de projetos eletricos de pequenas centrais hidreletricas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lima, Roberth dos Santos

    2002-07-01

    This work presents a standardizing proposal for Electrical Projects of small hydroelectric central and it has as objective to optimize some solutions for the most cases, considering the great diversity of options. The development of the dissertation is the result of several real cases of projects of hydroelectric centrals. Besides the projects, several bibliographies about the case which is being studied were researched, taking into consideration the entire proposal presented to the respective authors and, finally, as synthesis to all observations made in that study, the presentation of an optimized solution for the job of the electrical components and a proposal for the estimate of costs of those components. The conclusions of this work present a favorable result because they offer an initial proposal for the standardizing of information considered extremely important for the carrying out of a project of hydroelectric central. (author)

  5. Mathematic anxiety, help seeking behavior and cooperative learning

    OpenAIRE

    Masoud Gholamali Lavasani; Farah Khandan

    2011-01-01

    Present project assess the effectiveness of cooperative learning over the mathematic anxiety and review the behavior of help seeking in first grade high school girl students. The experimental research procedure was in the form of pre-post tests after a period of 8 sessions of teaching. To measure the variables, the questionnaire of mathematic anxiety (Shokrani, 2002) and the questionnaire of help seeking technique (Ghadampour, 1998) were practiced (accepting or avoiding help seeking).To perfo...

  6. JPL's Approach for Helping Flight Project Managers Meet Today's Management Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leising, Charles J.

    2004-01-01

    All across NASA project managers are facing tough new challenges. NASA has imposed increased oversight and the number of projects at Centers such as JPL has exploded from a handful of large projects to a much greater number of smaller ones. Experienced personnel are retiring at increasing rates and younger, less experienced managers are being rapidly promoted up the ladder. Budgets are capped, competition among NASA Centers and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) has increased significantly and there is no longer any tolerance to cost overruns. On top of all this, implementation schedules have been reduced by 25 to 50% to reduce run-out costs, making it even more difficult to define requirements, validate heritage assumptions and make accurate cost estimates during the early phases of the life-cycle.JPL's executive management, under the leadership of the Associate Director for Flight Projects and Mission Success, have attempted to meet these challenges by improving operations in five areas: (1) increased standardization, where it is judged to have significant benefit; (2) better balance and more effective partnering between projects and the line management; (3) increased infrastructure support; (4) improved management training; and (5) more effective review and oversight.

  7. Enhancing social media competitiveness of small businesses: insights from small pizzerias

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Wu; Wang, Feng-Kwei; Zha, Shenghua

    2014-07-01

    Social media provide an online platform for enterprises to engage existing customers and attract new customers. Although social media can be easily set up at no cost, however, due to limited human and financial resources, many small businesses find it challenging to compete against large enterprises in social media use. While more and more small businesses have jumped on the bandwagon of social media in recent years, few studies investigated the social media strategies that can help small businesses to survive and even thrive against large competitors in the social media arena. Therefore, we studied 32 small pizzerias in a mid-size U.S. city in terms of their social media use for business. Our study found that small pizzerias emphasizing social media use on community relations and social responsibility tend to be more successful in attracting and engaging local customers. This study also sheds light on both effective strategies and successful practices of social media use by small pizzerias. The insights and recommendations identified from this study can help small businesses to enhance their social media competitiveness against large enterprises.

  8. SLUDGE TREATMENT PROJECT COST COMPARISON BETWEEN HYDRAULIC LOADING AND SMALL CANISTER LOADING CONCEPTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    GEUTHER J; CONRAD EA; RHOADARMER D

    2009-08-24

    The Sludge Treatment Project (STP) is considering two different concepts for the retrieval, loading, transport and interim storage of the K Basin sludge. The two design concepts under consideration are: (1) Hydraulic Loading Concept - In the hydraulic loading concept, the sludge is retrieved from the Engineered Containers directly into the Sludge Transport and Storage Container (STSC) while located in the STS cask in the modified KW Basin Annex. The sludge is loaded via a series of transfer, settle, decant, and filtration return steps until the STSC sludge transportation limits are met. The STSC is then transported to T Plant and placed in storage arrays in the T Plant canyon cells for interim storage. (2) Small Canister Concept - In the small canister concept, the sludge is transferred from the Engineered Containers (ECs) into a settling vessel. After settling and decanting, the sludge is loaded underwater into small canisters. The small canisters are then transferred to the existing Fuel Transport System (FTS) where they are loaded underwater into the FTS Shielded Transfer Cask (STC). The STC is raised from the basin and placed into the Cask Transfer Overpack (CTO), loaded onto the trailer in the KW Basin Annex for transport to T Plant. At T Plant, the CTO is removed from the transport trailer and placed on the canyon deck. The CTO and STC are opened and the small canisters are removed using the canyon crane and placed into an STSC. The STSC is closed, and placed in storage arrays in the T Plant canyon cells for interim storage. The purpose of the cost estimate is to provide a comparison of the two concepts described.

  9. SLUDGE TREATMENT PROJECT COST COMPARISON BETWEEN HYDRAULIC LOADING AND SMALL CANISTER LOADING CONCEPTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geuther, J.; Conrad, E.A.; Rhoadarmer, D.

    2009-01-01

    The Sludge Treatment Project (STP) is considering two different concepts for the retrieval, loading, transport and interim storage of the K Basin sludge. The two design concepts under consideration are: (1) Hydraulic Loading Concept - In the hydraulic loading concept, the sludge is retrieved from the Engineered Containers directly into the Sludge Transport and Storage Container (STSC) while located in the STS cask in the modified KW Basin Annex. The sludge is loaded via a series of transfer, settle, decant, and filtration return steps until the STSC sludge transportation limits are met. The STSC is then transported to T Plant and placed in storage arrays in the T Plant canyon cells for interim storage. (2) Small Canister Concept - In the small canister concept, the sludge is transferred from the Engineered Containers (ECs) into a settling vessel. After settling and decanting, the sludge is loaded underwater into small canisters. The small canisters are then transferred to the existing Fuel Transport System (FTS) where they are loaded underwater into the FTS Shielded Transfer Cask (STC). The STC is raised from the basin and placed into the Cask Transfer Overpack (CTO), loaded onto the trailer in the KW Basin Annex for transport to T Plant. At T Plant, the CTO is removed from the transport trailer and placed on the canyon deck. The CTO and STC are opened and the small canisters are removed using the canyon crane and placed into an STSC. The STSC is closed, and placed in storage arrays in the T Plant canyon cells for interim storage. The purpose of the cost estimate is to provide a comparison of the two concepts described

  10. Cost/CYP: a bottom line that helps keep CSM projects cost-efficient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-01-01

    In contraceptive social marketing (CSM), the objective is social good, but project managers also need to run a tight ship, trimming costs, allocating scarce funds, and monitoring their program's progress. 1 way CSM managers remain cost-conscious is through the concept of couple-years-of-protection (CYP). Devised 2 decades ago as an administrative tool to compare the effects of different contraceptive methods, CYP's uses have multiplied to include assessing program output and cost effectiveness. Some of the factors affecting cost/CYP are a project's age, sales volume, management efficiency, and product prices and line. These factors are interconnected. The cost/CYP figures given here do not include outlays for commodities. While the Agency for International Development's commodity costs alter slightly with each new purchase contrast, the agency reports that a condom costs about 4 cents (US), an oral contraceptive (OC) cycle about 12 cents, and a spermicidal tablet about 7 cents. CSM projects have relatively high start-up costs. Within a project's first 2 years, expenses must cover such marketing activities as research, packaging, warehousing, and heavy promotion. As a project ages, sales should grow, producing revenues that gradually amortize these initial costs. The Nepal CSM project provides an example of how cost/CYP can improve as a program ages. In 1978, the year sales began, the project's cost/CYP was about $84. For some time the project struggled to get its products to its target market and gradually overcome several major hurdles. The acquisition of jeeps eased distribution and, by adding another condom brand, sales were increased still more, bringing the cost/CYP down to $8.30 in 1981. With further sales increases and resulting revenues, the cost/CYP dropped to just over $7 in 1983. When the sales volume becomes large enough, CSM projects can achieve economies of scale, which greatly improves cost-efficiency. Fixed costs shrink as a proportion of total

  11. The role of insurance and risk management in new power plant projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryan, R.

    1988-01-01

    Insurance, and other risk management techniques, can be used to facilitate the financing and construction of power plant projects. This paper describes certain techniques, then it concentrates on insurance based solutions. The objective of this paper is to point out how the insurance industry can help small power producers. First, the standard insurance coverages will be reviewed. Then coverages that have been specifically designed for the alternative energy, cogeneration and small power producing industries will be explained. Some real life examples will be discussed to show how the coverages really work

  12. How Configuration Management (CM) Can Help Project Teams To Innovate and Communicate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cioletti, Louis

    2009-01-01

    Traditionally, CM is relegated to a support role in project management activities. CM s traditional functions of identification, change control, status accounting, and audits/verification are still necessary and play a vital role. However, this presentation proposes CM s role in a new and innovative manner that will significantly improve communication throughout the organization and, in turn, augment the project s success. CM s new role is elevated to the project management level, above the engineering or sub-project level in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), where it can more effectively accommodate changes, reduce corrective actions, and ensure that requirements are clear, concise, and valid, and that results conform to the requirements. By elevating CM s role in project management and orchestrating new measures, a new communication will emerge that will improve information integrity, structured baselines, interchangeability/traceability, metrics, conformance to standards, and standardize the best practices in the organization. Overall project performance (schedule, quality, and cost) can be no better than the ability to communicate requirements which, in turn, is no better than the CM process to communicate project decisions and the correct requirements.

  13. SmallSats, Iodine Propulsion Technology, Applications to Low-Cost Lunar Missions, and the Iodine Satellite (iSAT) Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dankanich, John W.

    2014-01-01

    Closing Remarks: ?(1) SmallSats hold significant potential for future low cost high value missions; (2) Propulsion remains a key limiting capability for SmallSats that Iodine can address: High ISP * Density for volume constrained spacecraft; Indefinite quiescence, unpressurized and non-hazardous as a secondary payload; (3) Iodine enables MicroSat and SmallSat maneuverability: Enables transfer into high value orbits, constellation deployment and deorbit; (4) Iodine may enable a new class of planetary and exploration class missions: Enables GTO launched secondary spacecraft to transit to the moon, asteroids, and other interplanetary destinations for approximately 150 million dollars full life cycle cost including the launch; (5) ESPA based OTVs are also volume constrained and a shift from xenon to iodine can significantly increase the transfer vehicle change in volume capability including transfers from GTO to a range of Lunar Orbits; (6) The iSAT project is a fast pace high value iodine Hall technology demonstration mission: Partnership with NASA GRC and NASA MSFC with industry partner - Busek; (7) The iSAT mission is an approved project with PDR in November of 2014 and is targeting a flight opportunity in FY17.

  14. Small Hydropower - The comeback of small hydropower stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niederhaeusern, A.

    2008-01-01

    This issue of the 'Erneuerbare Energien' (renewable energies) magazine published by the Swiss Solar Energy Society takes a look at small hydropower projects in Switzerland. In a number of interviews and articles, various topics concerning small hydropower are dealt with. First of all, an interview with Bruno Guggisberg, previously responsible for small hydro at the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, examines the potential of small hydro and the various political, technical and economic influences on such projects. Further articles provide an overview of the various types of small hydro schemes, including power generation using height differences in drinking-water and wastewater installations. As far as the components of small hydro schemes are concerned, various types of turbines and further system components that are needed are examined. A further article takes a look at the small hydro market and the market players involved. Ecological aspects and research activities are discussed in further articles. In a second interview with Martin Boelli, presently responsible for small hydropower at the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the unused potential for the use of hydropower in Switzerland is discussed. Examples of small-scale hydro schemes are examined and the support offered by the Small Hydropower Program is discussed. Finally the question is asked, if the small hydro market in Switzerland is overheated as a result of promotion schemes such as cost-covering remuneration for electricity from renewable energy sources.

  15. Proper project planning helps minimize overruns and delays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donnelly, G.; Cooney, D.J.

    1994-01-01

    This paper describes planning methods to help minimize cost overruns during the construction of oil and gas pipelines. These steps include background data collection methods, field surveys, determining preliminary pipeline routes, regulatory agency pre-application meetings, and preliminary engineering. Methods for planning also include preliminary aerial mapping, biological assessments, cultural resources investigations, wetlands delineation, geotechnical investigations, and environmental audits. Identification of potential problems can allow for rerouting of the pipeline or remediation processes before they are raised during the permitting process. By coordinating these events from the very beginning, significant cost savings will result that prevent having to rebudget for them after the permitting process starts

  16. Tailoring Small IT Projects in the Project Planning Phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulhearn, Michael F.

    2011-01-01

    Project management (PM) and systems engineering (SE) are essential skills in information technology (IT). There is an abundance of information available detailing the comprehensive bodies of knowledge, standards, and best practices. Despite the volume of information, there is surprisingly little information about how to tailor PM and SE tasks for…

  17. The 150 ns detector project: progress with small detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Warburton, W.K.; Russell, S.R.; Kleinfelder, Stuart A.; Segal, Julie

    1994-01-01

    This project's long term goal is to develop a pixel area detector capable of 6 MHz frame rates (150 ns/frame). Our milestones toward this goal are: a single pixel, 1x256 1D and 8x8 2D detectors, 256x256 2D detectors and, finally, 1024x1024 2D detectors. The design strategy is to supply a complete electronics chain (resetting preamp, selectable gain amplifier, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and memory) for each pixel. In the final detectors these will all be custom integrated circuits. The front end preamplifiers are being integrated first, since their design and performance are both the most unusual and also critical to the project's success. Similarly, our early work is also concentrating on devising and perfecting detector structures which are thick enough (1 mm) to absorb over 99% of the incident X-rays in the energy range of interest. In this paper we discuss our progress toward the 1x256 1D and 8x8 2D detectors. We have fabricated sample detectors at Stanford's Center for Integrated Systems and are preparing both to test them individually and to wirebond them to the preamplifier samples to produce our first working small 1D and 2D detectors. We will describe our solutions to the design problems associated with collecting charge in less than 30 ns from 1 mm thick pixels in high resistivity silicon. We have constructed and tested the front end of our preamplifier design using a commercial 1.2 μm CMOS technology and are moving on to produce a few channels of the complete preamplifier, including a switchable gain stage and output stage. We will discuss both the preamplifier design and our initial test results. ((orig.))

  18. The 150 ns detector project: progress with small detectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Warburton, W.K. (X-ray Instrumentation Associates, 2513 Charleston Rd, Ste 207, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)); Russell, S.R. (X-ray Instrumentation Associates, 2513 Charleston Rd, Ste 207, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)); Kleinfelder, Stuart A. (VLSI Physics, 19 Drury Lane, Berkeley, CA 94705 (United States)); Segal, Julie (Integrated Ckts Lab., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States))

    1994-09-01

    This project's long term goal is to develop a pixel area detector capable of 6 MHz frame rates (150 ns/frame). Our milestones toward this goal are: a single pixel, 1x256 1D and 8x8 2D detectors, 256x256 2D detectors and, finally, 1024x1024 2D detectors. The design strategy is to supply a complete electronics chain (resetting preamp, selectable gain amplifier, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and memory) for each pixel. In the final detectors these will all be custom integrated circuits. The front end preamplifiers are being integrated first, since their design and performance are both the most unusual and also critical to the project's success. Similarly, our early work is also concentrating on devising and perfecting detector structures which are thick enough (1 mm) to absorb over 99% of the incident X-rays in the energy range of interest. In this paper we discuss our progress toward the 1x256 1D and 8x8 2D detectors. We have fabricated sample detectors at Stanford's Center for Integrated Systems and are preparing both to test them individually and to wirebond them to the preamplifier samples to produce our first working small 1D and 2D detectors. We will describe our solutions to the design problems associated with collecting charge in less than 30 ns from 1 mm thick pixels in high resistivity silicon. We have constructed and tested the front end of our preamplifier design using a commercial 1.2 [mu]m CMOS technology and are moving on to produce a few channels of the complete preamplifier, including a switchable gain stage and output stage. We will discuss both the preamplifier design and our initial test results. ((orig.))

  19. Key factors of project success in family small and medium-sized companies: the theoretical review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinisa Arsic

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposes a systematization of the key success factors of projects, through the theoretical review of family-owned companies operating in the EU market. It is the small and medium companies that in their own way contribute to the overall success of the national economy in terms of economic activity, increased employment, development activities and defining better business environment. The theoretical review observed numerous studies of family businesses, and the contribution of this work is in the systematization of the results of previous research – over three horizons, i.e., over the role of managers in the creation of successful projects (or owner if it is a family enterprise, institutional support for companies in Serbia and the EU, specific industries and the parent (regional markets where a family company operates. Project management, as a general representation of the concept of implementation of strategic and operational endeavors, contains many specifics in terms of critical success factors of projects depending on the environment in which they are implemented. The goal of the paper is reflected in the identification and presentation of critical success factors of projects implemented in family companies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research results in relation to the existing, similar research studies, as well as with the announcement of future research, which will examine the conclusions drawn on a real sample.

  20. Projects financing in the hydrocarbons sector: a necessary help in some cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musset, O.; Salles, E.

    2003-01-01

    French banks are in the forefront of the financing of international projects of the petroleum industry. Among these banks, the most active one is certainly Societe Generale, which ranks second at the world scale and first in the Middle-East area for 2002. With a significant presence in the hydrocarbons sector, it participates also to the development of projects as huge as the BTC pipeline between Bakou and Ceyhan and the ELNG gas liquefaction project in Egypt in association with Gaz de France company. This paper reprints an interview of O. Musset, director of project and sectorial finance of Societe Generale. (J.S.)

  1. Estimation of small-scale hydroelectric power plant costs; Estimacao de custos de PCH

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, Afonso Henriques Moreira [MS Consultoria Ltda, Itajuba, MG (Brazil); Universidade Federal de Itajuba (UNIFEI), MG (Brazil); Silva, Benedito Claudio da [IX Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda, Itajuba, MG (Brazil); Universidade Federal de Itajuba (UNIFEI), MG (Brazil); Magalhaes, Ricardo Nogueira [IX Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda, Itajuba, MG (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    Changes in Brazilian energy scenario through last years such as increase of demand and search for clean and economically feasible renewable energy sources, has stimulated investors to small hydro power plants (SHP) sector. Such characteristics together with several economic incentives, legal and regulatory mechanisms also, have helped and stimulated building of new plants of this kind and have attracted a great number of investors to this sector. Study of costs analysis and feasibility of investments is a study which has been used since long time in SHP business market as several preliminary studies previous to civil project have significant costs which lead us to count with a feasibility analysis from the very beginning of studies, exactly what is suggested in the present methodology. Such feasibility analysis, in the common patterns where basic unit costs of each input remain outstanding, would be very complex due to great difficulty in obtaining information at initial phase of project. In this direction this study brings a contribution for investors as well as for designers of small hydro power plants since it outlines a link between physical and energetic characteristics of small hydro power plant in its total cost. Such link is based in available physical characteristics in initial phase of the project, making possible a previous comparison between arrangements of a central or even the comparison of return of investment between different plants. The resulting benefit being the possibility of choosing centrals with greater economic feasibility disregarding bad undertakings or arrangements with more expressive cost. Final result gives a better delay in return of investment, helps in power, arrangements more optimized and in saving time as well, reducing costs of undertakings. Due to large number of SHP arrangements, we chose for this study the most common in Brazil, plant of medium and large fall, shunting line balance chimney and low pressure conduit. (author)

  2. Projected Demand and Potential Impacts to the National Airspace System of Autonomous, Electric, On-Demand Small Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Jeremy C.; Viken, Jeffrey K.; Guerreiro, Nelson M.; Dollyhigh, Samuel M.; Fenbert, James W.; Hartman, Christopher L.; Kwa, Teck-Seng; Moore, Mark D.

    2012-01-01

    Electric propulsion and autonomy are technology frontiers that offer tremendous potential to achieve low operating costs for small-aircraft. Such technologies enable simple and safe to operate vehicles that could dramatically improve regional transportation accessibility and speed through point-to-point operations. This analysis develops an understanding of the potential traffic volume and National Airspace System (NAS) capacity for small on-demand aircraft operations. Future demand projections use the Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM), a tool suite developed by NASA and the Transportation Laboratory of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Demand projections from TSAM contain the mode of travel, number of trips and geographic distribution of trips. For this study, the mode of travel can be commercial aircraft, automobile and on-demand aircraft. NASA's Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) is used to assess NAS impact. This simulation takes a schedule that includes all flights: commercial passenger and cargo; conventional General Aviation and on-demand small aircraft, and operates them in the simulated NAS. The results of this analysis projects very large trip numbers for an on-demand air transportation system competitive with automobiles in cost per passenger mile. The significance is this type of air transportation can enhance mobility for communities that currently lack access to commercial air transportation. Another significant finding is that the large numbers of operations can have an impact on the current NAS infrastructure used by commercial airlines and cargo operators, even if on-demand traffic does not use the 28 airports in the Continental U.S. designated as large hubs by the FAA. Some smaller airports will experience greater demand than their current capacity allows and will require upgrading. In addition, in future years as demand grows and vehicle performance improves other non-conventional facilities such as short runways incorporated into

  3. A Mindfulness Experiential Small Group to Help Students Tolerate Ambiguity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohecker, Lynn; Vereen, Linwood G.; Wells, Pamela C.; Wathen, Cristen C.

    2016-01-01

    This study explored the lived experiences of 20 counselors-in-training (CITs) in a mindfulness experiential small group. Using grounded theory, the authors described a 5-dimensional model for navigating ambiguity. Findings suggest mindfulness training provides CITs self-reflection skills and a greater ability to manage cognitive complexity.

  4. Utilization of a Network of Small Magnetic Confinement Fusion Devices for Mainstream Fusion Research. Report of a Coordinated Research Project 2011–2016

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-12-01

    The IAEA actively promotes the development of controlled fusion as a source of energy. Through its coordinated research activities, the IAEA helps Member States to exchange and establish scientific and technical knowledge required for the design, construction and operation of a fusion reactor. Due to their compactness, flexibility and low operation costs, small fusion devices are a great resource for supporting and accelerating the development of mainstream fusion research on large fusion devices such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. They play an important role in investigating the physics of controlled fusion, developing innovative technologies and diagnostics, testing new materials, training highly qualified personnel for larger fusion facilities, and supporting educational programmes for young scientists. This publication reports on the research work accomplished within the framework of the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Utilization of the Network of Small Magnetic Confinement Fusion Devices for Mainstream Fusion Research, organized and conducted by the IAEA in 2011–2016. The CRP has contributed to the coordination of a network of research institutions, thereby enhancing international collaboration through scientific visits, joint experiments and the exchange of information and equipment. A total of 16 institutions and 14 devices from 13 Member States participated in this CRP (Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Kingdom).

  5. Successful project management

    CERN Document Server

    Young, Trevor L

    2016-01-01

    Successful Project Management, 5th edition, is an essential guide for anyone who wants to improve the success rate of their projects. It will help managers to maintain a balance between the demands of the customer, the project, the team and the organization. Covering the more technical aspects of a project from start to completion it contains practised and tested techniques, covering project conception and start-up, how to manage stake holders, effective risk management, project planning and launch and execution. Also including a brand new glossary of key terms, it provides help with evaluating your project as well as practical checklists and templates to ensure success for any ambitious project manager. With over one million copies sold, the hugely popular Creating Success series covers a wide variety of topic, with the latest editions including new chapters such as Tough Conversations and Treating People Right. This indispensable business skills collection is suited to a variety of roles, from someone look...

  6. The Citizen Science Project 'Mueckenatlas' Helps Monitor the Distribution and Spread of Invasive Mosquito Species in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walther, Doreen; Kampen, Helge

    2017-11-07

    The citizen science project 'Mueckenatlas' (mosquito atlas) was implemented in early 2012 to improve mosquito surveillance in Germany. Citizens are asked to support the spatiotemporal mapping of culicids by submitting mosquito specimens collected in their private surroundings. The Mueckenatlas has developed into an efficient tool for data collection with close to 30,000 mosquitoes submitted by the end of 2015. While the vast majority of submissions included native mosquito species, a small percentage represented invasive species. The discovery of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes koreicus (Edwards) (Diptera: Culicidae) specimens via the Mueckenatlas project prompted targeted monitoring activities in the field which produced additional information on the distribution of these species in Germany. Among others, Mueckenatlas submissions led to the detection of three populations of Ae. j. japonicus in West, North and Southeast Germany in 2012, 2013, and 2015, respectively. As demonstrated by on-site monitoring, the origins of Ae. j. japonicus specimens submitted to the Mueckenatlas mirror the distribution areas of the four presently known German populations as found by active field sampling (the fourth population already reported prior to the launch of the Mueckenatlas). The data suggest that a citizen science project such as the Mueckenatlas may aid in detecting changes in the mosquito fauna and can therefore be used to guide the design of more targeted field surveillance activities. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

  7. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES OF CORPORATE CHANGE INITIATIVES IN SINGAPORE'S SMALL BUSINESS SECTOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Menkhoff

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the change propensity of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs and associated challenges in the Republic of Singapore. Based on both qualitative interviews and quantitative survey research amongst Singapore's SME owners and change advocates, it identifies several critical issues with regard to the successful management of organizational transitions in small firms: "the need to change", "the mindset of small entrepreneurs", "change management know how" and "the value of external consultancy inputs". The data suggest that awareness building measures and educational efforts are necessary to enable more owners of local SMEs to benefit from change management tools and concepts as well as respective external expertise. Change management training and exposure to "best" (sectoral change management practices and successful projects facilitated by external change agents might help more small entrepreneurs to manage both intra-organizationally and externally induced organizational changes more effectively.

  8. Regenesys utility scale energy storage. Project summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    This report summarises the work to date, the current situation and the future direction of a project carried out by Regenesys Technology Ltd. (RGN) to investigate the benefits of electrochemical energy storage for power generators using renewable energy sources focussing on wind energy. The background to the study is traced covering the progress of the Regenesys energy storage technology, and the milestones achieved and lessons learnt. Details are given of the planned renewable-store-market interface to allow renewable generators optimise revenue under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) and help in the connection of the renewable energy to the electric grid system. The four integrated work programmes of the project are described and involve a system study examining market penetration of renewable generators, a technical study into connection of renewable generators and energy storage, a small scale demonstration, and a pilot scale energy storage plant at Little Barton in Cambridgeshire. Problems leading to the closure of the project are discussed

  9. Regenesys utility scale energy storage. Project summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-07-01

    This report summarises the work to date, the current situation and the future direction of a project carried out by Regenesys Technology Ltd. (RGN) to investigate the benefits of electrochemical energy storage for power generators using renewable energy sources focussing on wind energy. The background to the study is traced covering the progress of the Regenesys energy storage technology, and the milestones achieved and lessons learnt. Details are given of the planned renewable-store-market interface to allow renewable generators optimise revenue under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) and help in the connection of the renewable energy to the electric grid system. The four integrated work programmes of the project are described and involve a system study examining market penetration of renewable generators, a technical study into connection of renewable generators and energy storage, a small scale demonstration, and a pilot scale energy storage plant at Little Barton in Cambridgeshire. Problems leading to the closure of the project are discussed.

  10. The HOPE (Helping to Outline Paediatric Eating Disorders) Project: development and debut of a paediatric clinical eating disorder registry

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background The HOPE (Helping to Outline Paediatric Eating Disorders) Project is an ongoing registry study made up of a sequential cross-sectional sample prospectively recruited over 17 years, and is designed to answer empirical questions about paediatric eating disorders. This paper introduces the HOPE Project, describes the registry sample to-date, and discusses future directions and challenges and accomplishments. The project and clinical service were established in a tertiary academic hospital in Western Australia in 1996 with a service development grant. Research processes were inbuilt into the initial protocols and data collection was maintained in the following years. Recognisable progress with the research agenda accelerated only when dedicated research resources were obtained. The registry sample consists of consecutive children and adolescents assessed at the eating disorder program from 1996 onward. Standardised multidisciplinary data collected from family intake interview, parent and child clinical interviews, medical review, parent, child and teacher psychometric assessments, and inpatient admission records populate the HOPE Project database. Results The registry database to-date contains 941 assessments, of whom 685 met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder at admission. The majority of the sample were females (91%) from metropolitan Perth (83%). The cases with eating disorders consist of eating disorders not otherwise specified (68%), anorexia nervosa (25%) and bulimia nervosa (7%). Among those with eating disorders, a history of weight loss since illness onset was almost universal (96%) with fear of weight gain (71%) common, and the median duration of illness was 8 months. Conclusions Over the next five years and more, we expect that the HOPE Project will make a strong scientific contribution to paediatric eating disorders research and will have important real-world applications to clinical practice and policy as the research unfolds

  11. SpaceScience@Home: Authentic Research Projects that Use Citizen Scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Méndez, B. J. H.

    2008-06-01

    In recent years, several space science research projects have enlisted the help of large numbers of non-professional volunteers, ``citizen scientists'', to aid in performing tasks that are critical to a project, but require more person-time (or computing time) than a small professional research team can practically perform themselves. Examples of such projects include SETI@home, which uses time from volunteers computers to process radio-telescope observation looking for signals originating from extra-terrestrial intelligences; Clickworkers, which asks volunteers to review images of the surface of Mars to identify craters; Spacewatch, which used volunteers to review astronomical telescopic images of the sky to identify streaks made by possible Near Earth Asteroids; and Stardust@home, which asks volunteers to review ``focus movies'' taken of the Stardust interstellar dust aerogel collector to search for possible impacts from interstellar dust particles. We shall describe these and other similar projects and discuss lessons learned from carrying out such projects, including the educational opportunities they create.

  12. South Louisiana Enhanced Oil Recovery/Sequestration R&D Project Small Scale Field Tests of Geologic Reservoir Classes for Geologic Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hite, Roger [Blackhorse Energy LLC, Houston, TX (United States)

    2016-10-01

    The project site is located in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, approximately 26 miles due east of Baton Rouge. This project proposed to evaluate an early Eocene-aged Wilcox oil reservoir for permanent storage of CO2. Blackhorse Energy, LLC planned to conduct a parallel CO2 oil recovery project in the First Wilcox Sand. The primary focus of this project was to examine and prove the suitability of South Louisiana geologic formations for large-scale geologic sequestration of CO2 in association with enhanced oil recovery applications. This was to be accomplished through the focused demonstration of small-scale, permanent storage of CO2 in the First Wilcox Sand. The project was terminated at the request of Blackhorse Energy LLC on October 22, 2014.

  13. Electronic Business Helps Middle & Small Enterprises Develop International Trade

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    黎裕华

    2012-01-01

    Under the influence of the financial crisis, our international trade faces very serious challenge. During such a difficult period, electronic business brings us some new hope. Electronic business optimizes traditional process, saves large number of manpower and assets, decreases cost, breaks through the limit of time and space, makes deals more convenient and shortcut and strongly boosts efficiency. Our middle and small enterprises should make full use of such a tool of electronic business to hit out the international market actively, search more trading opportunities and living spaces and smoothly bridge such a difficult period due to the financial crisis.

  14. Small and medium power reactors: project initiation study, Phase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-07-01

    In conformity with the Agency's promotional role in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, IAEA has provided, over the past 20 years, assistance to Member States, particularly developing countries, in planning for the introduction of nuclear power plants in the Small and Medium range (SMPR). However these efforts did not produce any significant results in the market introduction of these reactors, due to various factors. In 1983 the Agency launched a new SMPR Project Initiation Study with the objective of surveying the available designs, examining the major factors influencing the decision-making processes in Developing Countries and thereby arriving at an estimate of the potential market. Two questionnaires were used to obtain information from possible suppliers and prospective buyers. The Nuclear Energy Agency of OECD assisted in making a study of the potential market in industrialized countries. The information gained during the study and discussed during a Technical Committee Meeting on SMPRs held in Vienna in March 1985, along with the contribution by OECD-NEA is embodied in the present report

  15. An approach to establishing cooperative R ampersand D projects with Russian Institutes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunter, T.; Albert, T.; Fryberger, T.; Romanovsky, V.

    1993-01-01

    An important part of technology exchange between the US and the former Soviet Union is the identification and implementation of cooperative projects that benefit both Russia and the US. The US Department of Energy and its laboratories have established an approach to identify potential technologies that can contribute to solving US environmental problems and to establish projects for enhancing technology development. This approach consists of screening technologies for US applications, conducting small-scale pilot projects with Russian scientists to evaluate the validity of mechanisms for larger projects, helping develop direct communication between US and Russian scientists who are developing these technologies, and implementing major projects in specific technology development areas. A recent example of this approach is the initiation of projects between the Khlopin Radium Institute and DOE through Sandia National Laboratories and SAIC. This effort has resulted in not only enhanced technology for the US but has also provided an example for future cooperative projects

  16. Optimum operation of a small power production facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Capehart, B.L.; Mahoney, J.F.; Sivazlian, B.D.

    1983-09-01

    To help reduce the U.S.A.'s dependence on imported oil for electrical power generation, the 1978 National Energy Act established regulations to promote construction and operation of cogeneration and small power production facilities. Many of these facilities are presently under construction, with a great number planned. This paper examines the operation of a small power production facility with on-site generation and storage, on-site use, and connection to an electric utility grid system for the purpose of both selling excess power and buying power. It is assumed that the buying and selling price of electricity varies frequently during the day and that the relevant price and demand data may be accurately projected into the near future. With this system description, a mathematical model is formulated and solved by linear programming to obtain a series of periodic buy and sell decisions so as to maximize the profit from operating the small power production facility. Results are presented to illustrate the methodology for determining potential profits.

  17. The therapeutic lamp: treating small-animal phobias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wrzesien, Maja; Alcañiz, Mariano; Botella, Cristina; Burkhardt, Jean-Marie; Bretón-López, Juana; Ortega, Mario; Brotons, Daniel Beneito

    2013-01-01

    We all have an irrational fear or two. Some of us get scared by an unexpected visit from a spider in our house; others get nervous when they look down from a high building. Fear is an evolutionary and adaptive function that can promote self-preservation and help us deal with the feared object or situation. However, when this state becomes excessive, it might develop into psychological disorders such as phobias, producing high anxiety and affecting everyday life. The Therapeutic Lamp is an interactive projection-based augmented-reality system for treating small-animal phobias. It aims to increase patient-therapist communication, promote more natural interaction, and improve the patient's engagement in the therapy.

  18. Proposal of a new model to improve the collection of small WEEE: a pilot project for the recovery and recycling of toys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solé, Miquel; Watson, Jenna; Puig, Rita; Fullana-i-Palmer, Pere

    2012-11-01

    A new collection model was designed and tested in Catalonia (Spain) to foster the separate collection and recycling of electrical and electronic toys, with the participation of selected primary and secondary schools, as well as waste collection points and municipalities. This project approach is very original and important because small household WEEE has low rates of collection (16-21% WEEE within the EU or 5-7% WEEE in Spain) and no research on new approaches to enhance the collection of small WEEE is found in the literature. The project was successful in achieving enhanced toys collection and recycling rates, which went up from the national Spanish average of 0.5% toys before the project to 1.9 and 6% toys during the two project years, respectively. The environmental benefits of the campaign were calculated through a life-cycle approach, accounting for the avoided impact afforded by the reuse of the toys and the recycling of the valuable materials contained therein (such as metals, batteries and circuit boards) and subtracting the additional environmental burdens associated with the establishment of the collection campaign.

  19. Small angle neutron scattering. Report of a coordinated research project 2000-2003

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-03-01

    Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a powerful technique for studying macro structures like polymers, precipitates in metallurgical specimens, biological molecules, micelles and magnetic systems like ferrofluids. Neutron scattering has an advantage over X ray scattering (XSAXS) due to selective absorption and scattering cross section of neutrons across the periodic table. It is possible to develop and use a SANS instrument even with a medium flux reactor. The present CRP was aimed at the development of components like collimators, monochromators, position sensitive detectors (PSD) etc. for improving the throughput of the instrument and foster the effective utilization of research reactors, as well as to provide a link between developing and developed facilities. The CRP was launched with the first research coordination meeting (RCM) in 2000 to refine the project proposals and define the action plans and partnerships. There were eight research contracts and four research agreements. Good partnerships were established between various participants with collaborations among participants from various countries including those from developing and developed countries. The progress of the individual projects and team work under the CRP was evaluated and discussed during the second RCM and the action plan for the final phase was formulated. The results of the work done under the CRP were then reviewed in the final RCM held in Vienna, December 2003. This publication presents the results of the work carried out by the participants under the CRP at their respective institutions. The information will be useful for the users and operators of research reactors in developing an instrument and building collaborations for capacity building. The development of collimators, detector assemblies, utilization of the SANS for microstructural characterization of advanced materials , development and design of a ultra small angle neutron scattering (USANS) and proposals for a new SANS

  20. Determine small and medium enterprise social media activities: A community engagement project in the Tshwane community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise van Scheers

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to determine small and medium enterprise (SME social media activities and promote CE scholarship engagement. It is a community engagement project conducted in the Tshwane community. Community engagement (CE as a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people in the community to address issues affecting their well-being. The CE project SME skills transfer workshops are aimed at expanding involvement with the community. The benefits of social media seem to be ignored by most SMEs however; challenges prevent SME owners from using the tool effectively. A survey study method of research design has been selected for the research. The sample for the study comprised 200 SME owners who currently manage small businesses in the Tshwane area. The conducted research recommends that social media can be cost effective if the SMEs make use of their social networks and use best practises that enable them to get their adverts or posts shared across social networks. The conducted research also recommends that SMEs with limited resources start with social media and YouTube as a marketing tool, as the learning curve is low and cost involved is almost nil.

  1. The small library manager's handbook

    CERN Document Server

    Graves, Alice

    2014-01-01

    The Small Library Manager's Handbook is for librarians working in all types of small libraries. It covers the everyday nuts-and-bolts operations that all librarians must perform. This handbook, written by experts who are small librarians themselves, will help all small librarians to do multiple jobs at the same time.

  2. Project time boxing and milestones as drivers for open design projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tollestrup, Christian H. T.

    2015-01-01

    is very positive and that the structure, strict enforcement and rolling project management responsibility in a group work setting really helps them drive the project forward with high motivation. The main challenge lies in the balance between loading the teams with too many challenges and just providing......The Curriculums and programs in Problem Based Learning (PBL) utilizes the project-format in a team based setting for rehearsing the competencies of applying the design-oriented skills and knowledge learned in courses and workshops. If the project period is self-organised, there is a tendency......, because of the facilitated format where ‘disturbances’ are eliminated. If successful the state of creative flow is achieved. So how can we create a sense of urgency in longer project periods, not just workshop format, that would help a team of design students to engage and drive the project from the start...

  3. How Computer Games Help Children Learn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, David Williamson

    2008-01-01

    This book looks at how particular video and computer games--such as "Digital Zoo", "The Pandora Project", "SodaConstructor", and more--can help teach children and students to think like doctors, lawyers, engineers, urban planners, journalists, and other professionals. In the process, new "smart games" will give them the knowledge and skills they…

  4. Advertising Citizen Science: A Trailer for the Citizen Sky Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyatt, Ryan; Price, A.

    2012-01-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star epsilon Aurigae. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component, introducing participants to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. As a means of generating interest in the project, the California Academy of Sciences produced a six-minute "trailer” formatted for both traditional and fulldome planetariums as well as HD and web applications. This talk will review the production process for the trailer as well as the methods of distribution via planetariums, social media, and other venues_along with an update on the Citizen Sky Project as a whole. We will show how to use a small, professionally-produced planetarium trailer to help spread word on a citizen science project. We will also show preliminary results on a study about how participation level/type in the project affects science learning.

  5. Small-scale hydro-power plant in Anzonico - Preliminary project; Progetto microcentrale idroelettrica, Anzonico. Programma Centrali idrauliche. Progetto di massima

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dotti, R. [Reali e Guscetti SA, Ambri (Switzerland); Rosselli, P. [Celio Engineering SA, Ambri (Switzerland)

    2009-01-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at a project for the realisation of a small hydro-power plant in the municipality of Anzonico, southern Switzerland. The water of a small alpine stream is to be used for power generation and vineyard irrigation as well as for the creation of an additional water resource for fire fighting in this sensitive region. The report is foreseen to support the request for a water usage concession to the authorities of the Canton of Ticino. It presents details on the hydrological data for the river and the dimensioning of the installation. The hydrological installations and the turbine foreseen are described and discussed, as is the removal of river sediment. The electricity production expected is discussed, as is the economic viability of the project. Synergies exist with the local electricity utility that will renew and improve its power distribution and telecommunication system when the penstock will be mounted in the underground.

  6. Structuring Requirements in a Multi-Project Environment in the Construction Industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wörösch, Michael

    2012-01-01

    Being in control of requirements in building projects is vital, since it helps securing the often small profit margins and the reputation of the responsible company. Hence this research aims to introduce requirements management to the construction industry. By means of case study and action...... in this industry, yet, success is here defined as an accomplished and accepted implementation of requirements management processes that are used by the relevant project members in their daily work and where the benefits of implementing requirements management outweighs the cost of invested resources. Furthermore...... it is argued that when running technology development, product development, product platform development, and a portfolio of building projects at the same time the use of requirements management is advantageous and an intelligent way of structuring requirements is needed. This article also demonstrates...

  7. Morocco - Small-Scale Fisheries

    Data.gov (United States)

    Millennium Challenge Corporation — The final performance evaluation roadmap for the Small-Scale Fisheries Project (PPA-MCC) is developed using a grid constructed around indicators relating to Project...

  8. HOW SOCIAL CAPITAL HELPS SMALL ENTERPRISE?: IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feray ERSELCAN

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Presenting findings from a sample survey carried among manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises in Kayseri Sub-Region (TR72 – Sivas, Kayseri and Yozgat, this study attempts to understand whether and how social capital has an impact on small firms’ performance. Besides, the study goes further to bring into question the effectiveness of different types of social capital, norms and networks and how social capital is created at local level. Social capital is measured at two different (potential and actual levels. Results of our analysis point to the fact that measuring social capital at its “actual” level might be more useful than measuring it as a “potential”. Our findings suggest that firms perform better, if they enjoy higher levels of collective action and can reduce their transaction costs through social relations.

  9. Technology choice and CDM projects in China: case study of a small steel company in Shandong Province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaneko, Shinji; Yonamine, Asaka; Jung, Tae Yong

    2006-01-01

    Corporate motives and strategies of both investing and hosting country affect the outcomes of a clean development mechanism (CDM) project-who introduces what technology to whom-and result in large differences in economic viability and the CO 2 emission reductions. This is particularly true for steel industry in which steel making consists of many detailed and complex processes, a given strategy could produce cumulative effects of the individual technologies used, leading to large energy savings overall. The objective of this study is to demonstrate some analytical methods that can be used to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of technology selection on the profit performance of CDM projects. Specifically, in this study we analyze a CDM project to introduce energy saving technology from Japan to a small steel manufacturer in China's Shandong Province, and conduct a simulation of the quantitative relationships between various technology options and profitability. Based on these results, we examine the environmental and economic significance of technology selection for CDM projects. To take this further, we then reconsider the profitability of a project as typical FDI activity (i.e., without the CDM), and by comparing this outcome with the CDM case, we clarify the significance and potential of the CDM

  10. Designing Project Management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heintz, John Linke; Lousberg, L.; Wamelink, J.W.F.; Saari, A.; Huovinen, P.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we introduce the concept of Designing Project Management. On the basis of our earlier work, we suggest that there is still a gap between what is known from recent project management literature and what project managers can structurally help in the effectiveness of their work. Assuming

  11. Renewable energy projects in small island countries funded under the United Nation trust found for new and renewable source of energy (NRSE)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gururaja, J.

    1999-01-01

    The NRSE trust fund established with financial support from the Italian Government has succeeded in catalyzing a number of energy projects in small island developing countries. These projects have elicited a great deal of interest by local communities and opened up prospects for further utilization of locally available energy resources. The projects have created a positive impact on the quality of life of people in dispersed locations in small island developing countries by focusing on provision of renewable energy based electricity services such as solar PV lighting for homes, schools, and hospitals; radio, TV, VCR as well as medicine refrigerators. Thus it has become evident that renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind systems can have an important role to play in improving the quality of life of people in these small island countries. Market potential for these technologies is indeed substantial. However constraints and barriers still exist. One of the principal barriers is still the high initial cost of solar devices. Innovative financing including microcredit facilities needs to be explored. Efforts are also needed to strengthen local capacity to undertake assembly of components and systems, and also in the installation, maintenance, and service of renewable energy devices. Entrepreneurial activities need to be fostered through further strengthening of skills in this area. (EHS)

  12. Renewable energy projects in small island countries funded under the United Nation trust found for new and renewable source of energy (NRSE)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gururaja, J. [Energy and Transport Branch, Division for Sustainabel Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, NY (United States)

    1999-11-01

    The NRSE trust fund established with financial support from the Italian Government has succeeded in catalyzing a number of energy projects in small island developing countries. These projects have elicited a great deal of interest by local communities and opened up prospects for further utilization of locally available energy resources. The projects have created a positive impact on the quality of life of people in dispersed locations in small island developing countries by focusing on provision of renewable energy based electricity services such as solar PV lighting for homes, schools, and hospitals; radio, TV, VCR as well as medicine refrigerators. Thus it has become evident that renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind systems can have an important role to play in improving the quality of life of people in these small island countries. Market potential for these technologies is indeed substantial. However constraints and barriers still exist. One of the principal barriers is still the high initial cost of solar devices. Innovative financing including microcredit facilities needs to be explored. Efforts are also needed to strengthen local capacity to undertake assembly of components and systems, and also in the installation, maintenance, and service of renewable energy devices. Entrepreneurial activities need to be fostered through further strengthening of skills in this area. (EHS)

  13. Optimising India's small hydro resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, A.

    1995-01-01

    A brief history is given of an initiation to develop small scale hydropower projects in the Himalayas. The experience of the Indian project managers in utilising international funds from the Global Environment Facility could serve as a model for other small remote communities in the rest of the world. Lessons learned are reported. (UK)

  14. SBA - Dynamic Small Business Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mobile View Print Exit Help DSBS Quick Market Search TM OnLine DSBS Welcome to the Dynamic Small Business relating to 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone or Small Disadvantaged Business status. The SBA strongly recommends that contracting officers diligently review a bidder's small business self-certification before

  15. Local stakeholder participation in CDM and new climate mitigation mechanisms – case study of a small scale hydropower project in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dong, Yan; Olsen, Karen Holm; Filzmoser, Eva

    2014-01-01

    and China’s stakeholder participation policies in environment impact assessment at project level, the PDD of this project and similar projects were analyzed providing an overall impression of the stakeholder participations process and results in such projects. Afterwards, we focused on a single case, where...... that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board should collect information on practices for local stakeholder consultation in collaboration with the Designated National Authorities (DNA) Forum and provide technical assistance for the development of guidelines for local stakeholder participation......, if a country requests assistance. Learning from a case study of how local stakeholder participation is practiced in CDM in a small scale hydropower project in China, this paper identifies the strengths and weaknesses of how the concept is applied in practice. To understand the execution of both CDM policies...

  16. Lessons learned from IDeAl - 33 recommendations from the IDeAl-net about design and analysis of small population clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilgers, Ralf-Dieter; Bogdan, Malgorzata; Burman, Carl-Fredrik; Dette, Holger; Karlsson, Mats; König, Franz; Male, Christoph; Mentré, France; Molenberghs, Geert; Senn, Stephen

    2018-05-11

    IDeAl (Integrated designs and analysis of small population clinical trials) is an EU funded project developing new statistical design and analysis methodologies for clinical trials in small population groups. Here we provide an overview of IDeAl findings and give recommendations to applied researchers. The description of the findings is broken down by the nine scientific IDeAl work packages and summarizes results from the project's more than 60 publications to date in peer reviewed journals. In addition, we applied text mining to evaluate the publications and the IDeAl work packages' output in relation to the design and analysis terms derived from in the IRDiRC task force report on small population clinical trials. The results are summarized, describing the developments from an applied viewpoint. The main result presented here are 33 practical recommendations drawn from the work, giving researchers a comprehensive guidance to the improved methodology. In particular, the findings will help design and analyse efficient clinical trials in rare diseases with limited number of patients available. We developed a network representation relating the hot topics developed by the IRDiRC task force on small population clinical trials to IDeAl's work as well as relating important methodologies by IDeAl's definition necessary to consider in design and analysis of small-population clinical trials. These network representation establish a new perspective on design and analysis of small-population clinical trials. IDeAl has provided a huge number of options to refine the statistical methodology for small-population clinical trials from various perspectives. A total of 33 recommendations developed and related to the work packages help the researcher to design small population clinical trial. The route to improvements is displayed in IDeAl-network representing important statistical methodological skills necessary to design and analysis of small-population clinical trials. The methods

  17. Lung cancer - non-small cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cancer - lung - non-small cell; Non-small cell lung cancer; NSCLC; Adenocarcinoma - lung; Squamous cell carcinoma - lung ... Research shows that smoking marijuana may help cancer cells grow. But there is no direct link between ...

  18. Project ethics

    CERN Document Server

    Jonasson, Haukur Ingi

    2013-01-01

    How relevant is ethics to project management? The book - which aims to demystify the field of ethics for project managers and managers in general - takes both a critical and a practical look at project management in terms of success criteria, and ethical opportunities and risks. The goal is to help the reader to use ethical theory to further identify opportunities and risks within their projects and thereby to advance more directly along the path of mature and sustainable managerial practice.

  19. Small-scale hydro-power plant in Quinto - Preliminary project; Progetto minicentrale idroelettrica, Ri Secco - Quinto. Programma piccole centrali idrauliche. Progetto di massima

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dotti, R. [Reali e Guscetti SA, Ambri (Switzerland); Rosselli, P. [Celio Engineering SA, Ambri (Switzerland)

    2009-06-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at a project for the realisation of a small hydro-power plant on the alpine stream 'Ri Secco' in the municipality of Quinto, southern Switzerland. The Ri Secco partly flows in a steep canyon. The elevation difference of 810 or 620 m (depending on the location of the water deviation from the stream) is favorable to the installation of a small-scale high-head power plant. The report presents details on the hydrological data and the dimensioning of the installation. Several variants are considered, which also include two possible penstock diameters for each weir location. The electricity production expected is discussed, as is the economic viability of the project.

  20. LARGE AND SMALL GROUP TYPEWRITING PROJECT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    JEFFS, GEORGE A.; AND OTHERS

    AN INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE IF GROUPS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS NUMERICALLY IN EXCESS OF 50 COULD BE AS EFFECTIVELY INSTRUCTED IN TYPEWRITING SKILLS AS GROUPS OF LESS THAN 30. STUDENTS ENROLLED IN 1ST-YEAR TYPEWRITING WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO TWO LARGE GROUPS AND THREE SMALL GROUPS TAUGHT BY THE SAME INSTRUCTOR. TEACHER-MADE,…

  1. Foundation helps refurbish buildings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Camenzind, B.

    2006-01-01

    This article looks at the activities of the Swiss 'Climate-Cent' foundation, which is helping support the energetic refurbishment of building envelopes. The conditions which have to be fulfilled to receive grants are explained. Work supported includes the replacement of windows and the insulation of roofs and attics as well as outside walls. Details on the financial support provided and examples of projects supported are given. The source of the finance needed to provide such support - a voluntary levy on petrol - and further support provided in certain Swiss cantons is commented on

  2. The C3PO project: a laser communication system concept for small satellites

    Science.gov (United States)

    d'Humières, Benoît; Esmiller, Bruno; Gouy, Yann; Steck, Emilie; Quintana, Crisanto; Faulkner, Graham; O'Brien, Dominic; Sproll, Fabian; Wagner, Paul; Hampf, Daniel; Riede, Wolfgang; Salter, Michael; Wang, Qin; Platt, Duncan; Jakonis, Darius; Piao, Xiaoyu; Karlsson, Mikael; Oberg, Olof; Petermann, Ingemar; Michalkiewicz, Aneta; Krezel, Jerzy; Debowska, Anna; Thueux, Yoann

    2017-02-01

    The satellite market is shifting towards smaller (micro and nanosatellites), lowered mass and increased performance platforms. Nanosatellites and picosatellites have been used for a number of new, innovative and unique payloads and missions. This trend requires new concepts for a reduced size, a better performance/weight ratio and a reduction of onboard power consumption. In this context, disruptive technologies, such as laser-optical communication systems, are opening new possibilities. This paper presents the C3PO1 system, "advanced Concept for laser uplink/ downlink CommuniCation with sPace Objects", and the first results of the development of its key technologies. This project targets the design of a communications system that uses a ground-based laser to illuminate a satellite, and a Modulating Retro-Reflector (MRR) to return a beam of light modulated by data to the ground. This enables a downlink, without a laser source on the satellite. This architecture suits well to small satellite applications so as high data rates are potentially provided with very low board mass. C3PO project aims to achieve data rates of 1Gbit/s between LEO satellites and Earth with a communication payload mass of less than 1kilogram. In this paper, results of the initial experiments and demonstration of the key technologies will be shown.

  3. Dr Math Rocks!: Using instant messaging to help pupils with mathematics homework

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Butgereit, LL

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Mathematics education in South Africa needs help. This paper describes a project where school aged pupils could get help with their mathematics homework using MXit, South Africa's most popular instant messaging system, on their cell phones...

  4. Can micro-volunteering help in Africa?

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Butgereit, L

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available is convenient to the micro-volunteer, and in small pieces of time (bitesized). This paper looks at a micro-volunteering project where participants can volunteer for five to ten minutes at a time using a smart phone and assist pupils with their mathematics....

  5. From concept to construction: a 15 MW small hydro project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stephens, S.; Neegan, K.

    1995-12-31

    An audio recording of an address by Chief Stanley Stephens and Deputy-Chief Ken Neegan of the Constance Lake First Nation, at the Renewable Energy Commercial Trade Show and Markets Conference was presented. The speech concerned development of a 15 MW hydro project on the reservation. Stephens recalled how initial opposition was overcome by addressing simple misconceptions about the project. The project was initiated by the Ontario Energy Corporation with a series of community discussions which addressed environmental impacts, and benefits that would result from the project. Neegan explained that after deliberation and negotiations, the Constance Lake First Nation was pleased with the project. This project was evidence that sound partnership could be formed between First Nations and hydro developers, while preserving respect for `Mother Earth` in the process. Trust between the community, the developers and government was considered to be the critical component of the project. Sound legal, technical, environmental and financial information was also indispensable in allowing the Constance Lake First Nation to make its decision to proceed with the project.

  6. From concept to construction: a 15 MW small hydro project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stephens, S.; Neegan, K.

    1995-01-01

    An audio recording of an address by Chief Stanley Stephens and Deputy-Chief Ken Neegan of the Constance Lake First Nation, at the Renewable Energy Commercial Trade Show and Markets Conference was presented. The speech concerned development of a 15 MW hydro project on the reservation. Stephens recalled how initial opposition was overcome by addressing simple misconceptions about the project. The project was initiated by the Ontario Energy Corporation with a series of community discussions which addressed environmental impacts, and benefits that would result from the project. Neegan explained that after deliberation and negotiations, the Constance Lake First Nation was pleased with the project. This project was evidence that sound partnership could be formed between First Nations and hydro developers, while preserving respect for 'Mother Earth' in the process. Trust between the community, the developers and government was considered to be the critical component of the project. Sound legal, technical, environmental and financial information was also indispensable in allowing the Constance Lake First Nation to make its decision to proceed with the project

  7. Integrating Project-Based Service-Learning into an Advanced Environmental Chemistry Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draper, Alison J.

    2004-02-01

    In an advanced environmental chemistry course, the inclusion of semester-long scientific service projects successfully integrated the research process with course content. Each project involved a unique community-based environmental analysis in which students assessed an aspect of environmental health. The projects were due in small pieces at even intervals, and students worked independently or in pairs. Initially, students wrote a project proposal in which they chose and justified a project. Following a literature review of their topic, they drafted sampling and analysis plans using methods in the literature. Samples were collected and analyzed, and all students assembled scientific posters describing the results of their study. In the last week of the semester, the class traveled to a regional professional meeting to present the posters. In all, students found the experience valuable. They learned to be professional environmental chemists and learned the value of the discipline to community health. Students not only learned about their own project in depth, but they were inspired to learn textbook material, not for an exam, but because it helped them understand their own project. Finally, having a community to answer to at the end of the project motivated students to do careful work.

  8. Compensatory help-seeking in young and older adults: does seeking help, help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alea, Nicole; Cunningham, Walter R

    2003-01-01

    Asking other people for help is a compensatory behavior that may be useful across the life span to enhance functioning. Seventy-two older and younger men and women were either allowed to ask for help or were not allowed to ask for help while solving reasoning problems. Although the older adults answered fewer problems correctly, they did not seek additional help to compensate for their lower levels of performance. Younger adults sought more help. There were no age differences, however, in the types of help sought: indirect help (e.g., hints) was sought more often than direct help (e.g., asking for the answer). Exploratory analyses revealed that one's ability level was a better indicator than age of the utility of help-seeking. Findings are interpreted in the context of social and task-related influences on the use of help-seeking as a compensatory behavior across the life span.

  9. Prototype and Evaluation of AutoHelp: A Case-based, Web-accessible Help Desk System for EOSDIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Christine M.; Thurman, David A.

    1999-01-01

    AutoHelp is a case-based, Web-accessible help desk for users of the EOSDIS. Its uses a combination of advanced computer and Web technologies, knowledge-based systems tools, and cognitive engineering to offload the current, person-intensive, help desk facilities at the DAACs. As a case-based system, AutoHelp starts with an organized database of previous help requests (questions and answers) indexed by a hierarchical category structure that facilitates recognition by persons seeking assistance. As an initial proof-of-concept demonstration, a month of email help requests to the Goddard DAAC were analyzed and partially organized into help request cases. These cases were then categorized to create a preliminary case indexing system, or category structure. This category structure allows potential users to identify or recognize categories of questions, responses, and sample cases similar to their needs. Year one of this research project focused on the development of a technology demonstration. User assistance 'cases' are stored in an Oracle database in a combination of tables linking prototypical questions with responses and detailed examples from the email help requests analyzed to date. When a potential user accesses the AutoHelp system, a Web server provides a Java applet that displays the category structure of the help case base organized by the needs of previous users. When the user identifies or requests a particular type of assistance, the applet uses Java database connectivity (JDBC) software to access the database and extract the relevant cases. The demonstration will include an on-line presentation of how AutoHelp is currently structured. We will show how a user might request assistance via the Web interface and how the AutoHelp case base provides assistance. The presentation will describe the DAAC data collection, case definition, and organization to date, as well as the AutoHelp architecture. It will conclude with the year 2 proposal to more fully develop the

  10. Projects for small hydro-power installations in the Canton of Uri, Switzerland; Kanton Uri. Projekte fuer Kleinwasserkraftwerke - Vorstudie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2009-11-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) on a preliminary study presents and discusses small-hydro projects at three locations in the Swiss Canton of Uri. Three of originally six potential locations were selected for further investigation. Factors such as the usable quantities of water available at the locations are discussed. The projects Brunnital, Gruonbach and Palanggenbach are discussed in detail. Water quantities and various components of the installations such as water intakes, de-sanding installations, pressure conduits, machine houses and tailrace channels are described, as is the electro-mechanical equipment proposed. Also, environmental aspects are dealt with. Annual electricity production and economic viability are further topics covered in the report.

  11. Can premium tariffs for micro-generation and small scale renewable heat help the fuel poor, and if so, how? Case studies of innovative finance for community energy schemes in the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saunders, R.W.; Gross, R.J.K.; Wade, J.

    2012-01-01

    In the UK, the introduction of micro-generation Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) and a proposed Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for domestic and small scale schemes have re-energised the market for investment in domestic scale renewable energy. These incentives may provide financial opportunities for those with capital to spend but for the record numbers with low incomes in ‘fuel poverty’, these benefits may seem out of reach. This paper shows that with appropriate financial intermediaries it is possible for renewable energy incentives to be used to alleviate fuel poverty. Simple financial analysis demonstrates the theoretical potential of FiTs to help those in fuel poverty. Two case studies of renewable energy projects in low income areas investigate how the incentives may be used in practice, what barriers exist and what success factors are evident. The analysis shows that local energy organisations (LEOs) are key if the poor are to access benefits from premium tariff schemes. Low interest finance mechanisms, good information sharing and community involvement are found as key success factors. - Highlights: ► This paper researches the potential for FiTs and RHIs to help those in fuel poverty. ► Simple financial modelling shows the potential benefit of FiTs to the fuel poor. ► Original case study research investigates how these benefits can be realised. ► The action of local energy organisations (LEOs) is important to optimise outcomes. ► Financing and dynamics between the community and LEOs are key to success.

  12. A Project to Help Child Development Students Recognize Piagetian Developmental Stages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husmann, Ann

    This practicum report was designed to help child development students differentiate between the preoperational and concrete operational stages of the Piagetian cognitive hierarchy. The 36 on-campus and 63 instructional television students used a Piagetian Game booklet, which is included in the appendix. Using this booklet, students were able to…

  13. Small hydro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, K.; Tung, T.

    1995-01-01

    A small hydro plant in Canada is defined as any project between 1 MW and 15 MW but the international standard is 10 MW. The global market for small hydro development was considered good. There are some 1000 to 2000 MW of generating capacity being added each year. In Canada, growth potential is considered small, primarily in remote areas, but significant growth is anticipated in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. Canada with its expertise in engineering, manufacturing and development is considered to have a good chance to take advantage of these growing markets

  14. Economic and Environmental Performances of Small-Scale Rural PV Solar Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism: The Case of Cambodia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ellen De Schepper

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The two core objectives of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM are cost-effective emission reduction and sustainable development. Despite the potential to contribute to both objectives, solar projects play a negligible role under the CDM. In this research, the greenhouse gas mitigation cost is used to evaluate the economic and environmental performances of small-scale rural photovoltaic solar projects. In particular, we compare the use of absolute and relative mitigation costs to evaluate the attractiveness of these projects under the CDM. We encourage the use of relative mitigation costs, implying consideration of baseline costs that render the projects profitable. Results of the mitigation cost analysis are dependent on the baseline chosen. To overcome this drawback, we complement the analysis with a multi-objective optimization approach, which allows quantifying the trade-off between economic and environmental performances of the optimal technologies without requiring a baseline.

  15. Self-Help for Depression via E-mail: A Randomised Controlled Trial of Effects on Depression and Self-Help Behaviour.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy J Morgan

    Full Text Available Self-help or self-management strategies are commonly used to deal with depression, but not all are thought to be helpful. A previous study found that sub-threshold depression symptoms were improved by an e-mail intervention that encouraged the use of evidence-based self-help strategies.To investigate whether these e-mails were effective for adults with a range of depression symptomatology including major depression.The study was a parallel-group randomised controlled trial. Adult participants with any level of depressive symptoms were recruited over the internet from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. Participants were randomised to receive a series of e-mails either promoting the use of evidence-based self-help strategies or containing depression information as a control. E-mails were sent automatically twice a week for six weeks. Depression symptoms were assessed with the self-rated Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9.1736 participants with a wide range of symptom severity were recruited and assigned to active (n = 862 and control (n = 874 groups. However, there was a significant attrition rate, with 66.9% lost to follow-up at post-intervention. Both groups showed large improvements in depression symptoms overall, with no significant difference in improvement at the end of the study (mean difference in improvement 0.35 points, 95% CI: -0.57 to 1.28, d = 0.11, 95% CI: -0.06 to 0.27, although there was a small effect at the study mid-point. Results were similar for the sub-group of participants with major depression. The active group showed small to moderate improvements in self-help behaviour (d = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.56.These results suggest that the e-mails were able to increase participants' use of evidence-based self-help, but that this did not improve depression more than an attention control.NCT01399502.

  16. Sustainable assessment of learning experiences based on projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio TRAVERSO RIBÓN

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In a project-based learning experience, the detailed monitoring of the activities in which team members participate can be useful to evaluate their work. Using learning-oriented assessment procedures, supervisors can assess the teamwork abilities with a formative purpose. Evaluation strategies such as self-assessment, peer assessment and co-assessment are often used to make evaluation formative and sustainable. Conducting an assessment strategy is not easy for team members, since they need before to have a reasonable understanding of the evaluation process and criteria. This paper describes a learning-oriented evaluation methodology and an open data framework that can be applied to collaborative project settings. An evaluation rubric and a series of indicators that provide evidences about the developed skills have been elaborated and applied in a small-scale project-based course. Projects were managed and developed with the help of an open source software forge that contains a ticketing tool for planning and tracking of tasks, a version control repository to save the software outcomes, and using a wiki to host text deliverables. The experience provides evidences in favor of using the assessment method and open data framework to make teamwork evaluation more sustainable.

  17. "XANSONS for COD": a new small BOINC project in crystallography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neverov, Vladislav S.; Khrapov, Nikolay P.

    2018-04-01

    "XANSONS for COD" (http://xansons4cod.com) is a new BOINC project aimed at creating the open-access database of simulated x-ray and neutron powder diffraction patterns for nanocrystalline phase of materials from the collection of the Crystallography Open Database (COD). The project uses original open-source software XaNSoNS to simulate diffraction patterns on CPU and GPU. This paper describes the scientific problem this project solves, the project's internal structure, its operation principles and organization of the final database.

  18. The Challenge of Implementing an ERP System in a Small and Medium Enterprise--A Teaching Case of ERP Project Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Hongjiang; Rondeau, Patrick J.; Mahenthiran, Sakthi

    2011-01-01

    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation projects are notoriously risky. While large-scale ERP cases continue to be developed, relatively few new ERP cases have been published that further ERP implementation education in small to medium size firms. This case details the implementation of a new ERP system in a medium sized…

  19. The TULIP Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gusack, Nancy, Ed.; And Others

    1995-01-01

    Contains 11 articles that describe different university access systems designed and built to provide access to journals via The University Licensing Program (TULIP), a science journal access project, involving Elsevier Science Publishing and major universities. The project produced insights to help with future electronic information delivery…

  20. Small hydro in Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Jonker Klunne, W

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available hydro, the author has started an online database of small hydropower projects in eastern and southern Africa. The main aim of the database is to catalogue the current situation and to make that accessible to policymakers, project developers, as well...

  1. Starting Small, Thinking Big - Continuum Magazine | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    , Thinking Big Stories NREL Helps Agencies Target New Federal Sustainability Goals Student Engagements Help solar power in the territory. Photo by Don Buchanan, VIEO Starting Small, Thinking Big NREL helps have used these actions to optimize that energy use.'" NREL's cross-organizational work supports

  2. Systems engineering and the licensing of Small Modular Reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kulesa, T., E-mail: tkulesa@us.ibm.com [IBM, Philidelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Soderholm, K., E-mail: Kristiina.Soderholm@fortum.com [Fortum Power (Finland); Fechtelkotter, P., E-mail: pfech@us.ibm.com [IBM, Boston, Massacheusets (United States)

    2014-07-01

    Both global warming and the need for dependable sources of energy continue to make nuclear power generation an appealing option. But a history of cost overruns, project delays, and environmental disaster has pushed the industry to innovate and design a more flexible, scalable, and safe source of nuclear energy - the small modular reactor. Innovation in generation technology creates disruption in already complex licensing and regulatory processes. This paper discusses how the application of systems engineering and requirements management can help combat confusion, rework, and efficiency problems across the engineering and compliance life cycle. The paper is based on the PhD Dissertation 'Licensing Model Development for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - Focusing on Finnish Regulatory Framework', approved in 2013. The result of the study gives recommendations and tools to develop and optimize the licensing process for SMRs. The most important SMR-specific feature, in terms of licensing, is the modularity of the design. Here the modularity indicates multi-module SMR designs, which creates new challenges in the licensing process. Another feature impacting licensing feasibility is the plan to build many standardized power plants in series and use factory-fabricated modules to optimize the construction costs. SMR licensing challenges are under discussion in many international forums, such as World Nuclear Association Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing Small Modular Reactor group (WNA CORDEL SMR) group and IAEA INPRO regulators' forum. This paper also presents an application of the new licensing process using Systems Engineering, Requirements Management, and Project Management practices and tools. (author)

  3. Systems engineering and the licensing of Small Modular Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kulesa, T.; Soderholm, K.; Fechtelkotter, P.

    2014-01-01

    Both global warming and the need for dependable sources of energy continue to make nuclear power generation an appealing option. But a history of cost overruns, project delays, and environmental disaster has pushed the industry to innovate and design a more flexible, scalable, and safe source of nuclear energy - the small modular reactor. Innovation in generation technology creates disruption in already complex licensing and regulatory processes. This paper discusses how the application of systems engineering and requirements management can help combat confusion, rework, and efficiency problems across the engineering and compliance life cycle. The paper is based on the PhD Dissertation 'Licensing Model Development for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - Focusing on Finnish Regulatory Framework', approved in 2013. The result of the study gives recommendations and tools to develop and optimize the licensing process for SMRs. The most important SMR-specific feature, in terms of licensing, is the modularity of the design. Here the modularity indicates multi-module SMR designs, which creates new challenges in the licensing process. Another feature impacting licensing feasibility is the plan to build many standardized power plants in series and use factory-fabricated modules to optimize the construction costs. SMR licensing challenges are under discussion in many international forums, such as World Nuclear Association Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing Small Modular Reactor group (WNA CORDEL SMR) group and IAEA INPRO regulators' forum. This paper also presents an application of the new licensing process using Systems Engineering, Requirements Management, and Project Management practices and tools. (author)

  4. Defining Project Purchasing Activities - Exemplified by the Purchasing Practices in Offshore Wind Farm Projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lutz, Salla

    and limited learning outcomes from one project to another. Furthermore, the study reveals the importance of a more holistic approach to project purchasing practices by focusing on the entire life cycle of a project. Managerially it helps selling companies to understand the peculiar buying phases...

  5. Strategic management of HLW repository projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartlett, J.W.

    1984-01-01

    This paper suggests an approach to strategic management of HLW repository projects based on the premise that a primary objective of project activities is resolution of issues. The approach would be implemented by establishing an issues management function with responsibility to define the issues agenda, develop and apply the tools for assessing progress toward issue resolution, and develop the issue resolution criteria. A principal merit of the approach is that it provides a defensible rationale for project plans and activities. It also helps avoid unnecessary costs and schedule delays, and it helps assure coordination between project functions that share responsibilities for issue resolution

  6. Project Finance for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Project financing is one of the best methods of seeking to acquire capitals Funds and other tools to finance a planned business activity which will yields profit in order to liquidate the procured fund. Financing project for SMES is carried out by Federal, States and some development Institutions. In Nigeria, project financing ...

  7. Cost benchmarking of railway projects in Europe – can it help to reduce costs?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Trabo, Inara; Landex, Alex; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    a certain overview of the range of costs in various budget disciplines. The Copenhagen-Ringsted project is shown to be right in the middle of the range in terms of total costs per kilometre, and its values in the discipline comparisons do not significantly differ from the values of the less expensive...... projects. Deeper analysis of project unit costs is still continuing, but the preliminary results show that the cost values for projects located in the same geographical zone are similar. For example, this can be explained by their use of the same construction companies. However, unit prices in southern...

  8. Using a "small wind" demonstration project to support public extension and education in renewable energy and STEM disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'brien-gayes, P. T.

    2012-12-01

    The City of North Myrtle Beach SC has erected three small-scale wind turbines for educational purposes. These turbines are tied directly into the local power grid. This allows for a unique study opportunity through which to teach renewable energy strategies. The study focuses on inter-site variability spread out over four miles of beach. Each location is subject to different wind fields responding to local structures. The study focuses on inter-site variability to cross reference energy production with the wind and weather conditions. Public and K-12 outreach is a primary objective of the program. Using demonstration turbines and by analyzing the wind, weather and site conditions outreach efforts are focused on highlighting renewable energy concepts. This also allows focus on STEM disciplines and critical thinking in analyzing data to compare the sites and different turbine production. Engaging in the STEM disciplines the projects crosses over science, technology, engineering, and mathematical boundaries creating an interdisciplinary scientific experience for students. In addition, this allows for introduction of techniques and developing technologies. It also allows students to consider challenges and possible solutions to issues of increased power production and cost efficiency. Through connecting the touchstone of experiential learning; a hands-on experience actively engages students in experimental application and problem solving. By looking locally at renewable energy in Horry County South Carolina students are engaged in seeing how projects impact science and economic development in the region. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress reports a considerable need expand and enhance the o preparation of students, teachers and practitioners in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "When compared to other nations, the math and science achievement of U.S. pupils and the rates of STEM degree attainment appear

  9. Renewable energy projects in the Dominican Republic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Viani, B.

    1997-12-01

    This paper describes a US/Dominican Republic program to develop renewable energy projects in the country. The objective is to demonstrate the commercial viability of renewable energy generation projects, primarily small-scale wind and hydropower. Preliminary studies are completed for three micro-hydro projects with a total capacity of 262 kWe, and two small wind power projects for water pumping. In addition wind resource assessment is ongoing, and professional training and technical assistance to potential investors is ongoing. Projects goals include not less than ten small firms actively involved in installation of such systems by September 1998.

  10. Project Decision Chain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rolstadås, Asbjørn; Pinto, Jeffrey K.; Falster, Peter

    2015-01-01

    To add value to project performance and help obtain project success, a new framework for decision making in projects is defined. It introduces the project decision chain inspired by the supply chain thinking in the manufacturing sector and uses three types of decisions: authorization, selection......, and plan decision. A primitive decision element is defined where all the three decision types can be accommodated. Each task in the primitive element can in itself contain subtasks that in turn will comprise new primitive elements. The primitive elements are nested together in a project decision chain....

  11. Stigma and demographic correlates of help-seeking intentions in returning service members.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blais, Rebecca K; Renshaw, Keith D

    2013-02-01

    Many U.S. Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans return from deployment with posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, but few veterans seek psychological help. Research on barriers to care is growing, but the link between stigma and help-seeking is understudied. The present study examined anticipated enacted stigma from military and nonmilitary sources, self-stigma, PTS, perceived likelihood of deploying again, marital status, and history of mental health care engagement as correlates of help-seeking intentions from a mental health professional or medical doctor/advance practice registered nurse (MD/APRN) in a sample of 165 combat veterans. Using structural equation modeling, results demonstrated that self-stigma was negatively associated with help-seeking intentions from a mental health professional and MD/APRN with small-to-medium effect sizes. Being married was positively associated with help-seeking intentions from a mental health professional and MD/APRN with small effect sizes. History of previous mental health care engagement was positively associated with help-seeking intentions from a mental health professional with a medium effect size, but unrelated to help-seeking intentions from a MD/APRN. Anticipated enacted stigma from any source, PTS, and greater perceived likelihood of deploying again were unrelated to help-seeking intentions from a mental health professional and MD/APRN. Implications for interventions aimed at decreasing self-stigma and increasing intention to seek help are discussed. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  12. Assessing Motivations and Use of Online Citizen Science Astronomy Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nona Bakerman, Maya; Buxner, Sanlyn; Bracey, Georgia; Gugliucci, Nicole

    2018-01-01

    The exponential proliferation of astronomy data has resulted in the need to develop new ways to analyze data. Recent efforts to engage the public in the discussion of the importance of science has led to projects that are aimed at letting them have hands-on experiences. Citizen science in astronomy, which has followed the model of citizen science in other scientific fields, has increased in the number and type of projects in the last few years and poses captivating ways to engage the public in science.The primary feature of this study was citizen science users’ motivations and activities related to engaging in astronomy citizen science projects. We report on participants’ interview responses related to their motivations, length and frequency of engagement, and reasons for leaving the project. From May to October 2014, 32 adults were interviewed to assess their motivations and experiences with citizen science. In particular, we looked at if and how motivations have changed for those who have engaged in the projects in order to develop support for and understandparticipants of citizen science. The predominant reasons participants took part in citizen science were: interest, helping, learning or teaching, and being part of science. Everyone interviewed demonstrated an intrinsic motivation to do citizen science projects.Participants’ reasons for ending their engagement on any given day were: having to do other things, physical effects of the computer, scheduled event that ended, attention span or tired, computer or program issues. A small fraction of the participants also indicated experiencing negative feedback. Out of the participants who no longer took part in citizen science projects, some indicated that receiving negative feedback was their primary reason and others reported the program to be frustrating.Our work is helping us to understand participants who engage in online citizen science projects so that researchers can better design projects to meet their

  13. Open Innovation Projects in SMEs as an Engine for Sustainable Growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byungun Yoon

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Most innovation activities that are inevitable for sustainable growth are coordinated via research and development (R&D projects, which can differ widely in terms of both project and open innovation characteristics, even when conducted within the same firm. Therefore, it is important to consider the peculiarities of R&D projects when evaluating the performance of open innovation strategies, as well as to explore how the benefits and costs of open innovation are shaped by cross-level interactions. This study identifies the differences between successful and unsuccessful open innovation projects, in both firm-level and project-level terms. We focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs, which usually lack the full set of internal resources and competences required to effectively develop, produce, and commercialize their innovations, and thus must adopt open innovation approaches more actively for sustainability. Adopting an empirical approach, we conducted a survey of 517 Korean SMEs and analyzed 241 successful and unsuccessful open innovation projects in depth. By combining measurements at the firm and project levels, this study provides new insight into the intra-organizational challenges of implementing open innovation projects, which are not only helpful to strategic decision-makers in SMEs, but also to those who make policies for them.

  14. User experience with HydroHelp programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verner, J.S. [Brookfield Power, Gatineau, PQ (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    Advances in the field of geographical information systems (GIS) have simplified the process of finding suitable sites for new hydroelectric projects. However, estimating the construction cost remains a challenge. The HydroHelp program is a cost evaluation program developed specifically to determine if a project will be economically feasible. The program is made up of 4 programs, depending on the type of turbine suitable for the site. Once a turbine selection is made, users can choose the program according to Kaplan, Impulse or Francis turbines. Users must rely on GIS, since the program requires a thorough understanding of the site geology and topography. Knowledge of hydroelectric plants is also necessary in order to obtain a credible construction cost. This paper demonstrated the capacity and flexibility of the software along with its different functions and available options. A detailed cost breakdown can be obtained along with an energy estimate and project specifications. In addition, the software can be used to optimize the project through different options by changing the facility's layout in terms of the type of dam, spillway, conduit length and diameter, turbine type and flood level. 17 figs.

  15. Help-Seeking by Young People with Depressive Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Michael G.; Sawyer, Alyssa C. P.; La Greca, Annette M.

    2012-01-01

    Depressive disorders commonly occur for the first time during adolescence and often become a recurring source of distress and impairment. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of adolescents with depressive disorders receive help from professional services, and there is evidence that adolescents with higher levels of depressive symptoms may be…

  16. The Impact of Project Manager on Project Success – The Case of ICT Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Blaskovics, Bálint

    2016-01-01

    The project management literature on project success is rich. Numerous papers focus on the evolution of the understanding of project success, identification of success criteria and critical success factors. Critical success factors increase the potential for achieving project success, while project success can be evaluated with the help of success criteria. Although the interrelationships between critical success factors and success criteria are rarely analyzed, yet there is a strong demand f...

  17. MuSAE: A European Project for the Diffusion of Energy and Environmental Planning in Small-Medium Sized Municipalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giorgio Baldinelli

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The basic idea of the EU LIFE+ 2011 project MuSAE (“Municipalities Subsidiarity for Actions on Energy”, code LIFE11 ENV/IT/000016 consists of transferring the skills and experience related to energy planning, acquired by the leading beneficiary, the Municipality of Perugia, to three small- or medium-sized Umbrian Municipalities (Marsciano, Umbertide and Lisciano Niccone. This transfer is aimed, among other objectives, at the drafting of the Municipal Energy and Environmental Plan (MEEP and the opening of an energy information office in each partner Municipality, in cooperation with CIRIAF and Umbria Region. The present paper provides a summary of MuSAE activities, analyzing the procedures and modalities of implementation of the various phases of the MEEPs, on the basis of the experience gained over the years through the collaboration with the Municipality of Perugia and adapted to smaller territories such as those represented by the other partner Municipalities. A summary of the dissemination activities and pilot projects is also presented, testifying the first concrete results of the planning activity developed by each administration within the project.

  18. Examination of the relationship between project management critical success factors and project success of oil and gas drilling projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alagba, Tonye J.

    and gas drilling projects could help oil companies improve the performance of future drilling projects. Theoretically, the study's findings may help to bridge a gap in the project management CSFs literature, and add to the general project management body of knowledge.

  19. Cost curves for implantation of small scale hydroelectric power plant project in function of the average annual energy production; Curvas de custo de implantacao de pequenos projetos hidreletricos em funcao da producao media anual de energia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veja, Fausto Alfredo Canales; Mendes, Carlos Andre Bulhoes; Beluco, Alexandre

    2008-10-15

    Because of its maturity, small hydropower generation is one of the main energy sources to be considered for electrification of areas far from the national grid. Once a site with hydropower potential is identified, technical and economical studies to assess its feasibility shall be done. Cost curves are helpful tools in the appraisal of the economical feasibility of this type of projects. This paper presents a method to determine initial cost curves as a function of the average energy production of the hydropower plant, by using a set of parametric cost curves and the flow duration curve at the analyzed location. The method is illustrated using information related to 18 pre-feasibility studies made in 2002, at the Central-Atlantic rural region of Nicaragua. (author)

  20. 50 WOMEN SELF HELP INITIATIVES: A PARADIGMATIC SHIFT IN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    of significant positive relationship between women self help projects and rural ... portable water, light, good health, basic education, clean environment as well as ... These concerned ... endowed with natural resources like: granite, gmelina, lime stone, rubber, .... conducted in Central Senatorial District of Cross River State.

  1. Going global - growing small businesses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, D.R.

    1994-01-01

    The Going Global Energy Steering Committee was established to help small and medium-sized Canadian enterprises to compete in the electrical power industry in the Asia-Pacific region primarily, but also in Eastern Europe and Latin America. The aim is to provide market intelligence, and help with forming consortia for financing. A small to medium-sized business can be defined as one with 50 to 500 employees. Big businesses no longer have the same competitive advantages that they once had, because automated systems can make short production runs just as cost-effective as long ones, and because computerization, automation and rising productivity mean that fewer workers are required than formerly

  2. Small Business and the Risk Management Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    This factsheet helps small businesses comply with the regulation requiring companies that use regulated substances, hazardous chemical such as ammonia and chlorine, to develop a risk management plan, to help prevent accidental toxic or flammable releases.

  3. Private Sector Investments from Small States in Emerging Markets: Can International Financial Institutions Help Handle the Risks?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilmar Þór Hilmarsson

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The private sector plays an important role in the economic reconstruction of emerging market economies, and international financial institutions (IFIs increasingly work in partnership with the private sector to increase economic growth and reduce poverty in those economies. IFIs, for example, offer: (i equity financing and/or loans for private sector projects, (ii investment guarantees against political risks (or non-commercial risks, (iii technical assistance, and (iv advisory services, etc. This article will briefly discuss the services that IFIs offer the private sector in emerging markets and cases in which these services could be useful for Icelandic companies. The institutions discussed are (i the World Bank Group, (ii the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD, (iii the Asian Development Bank (AsDB, (iv the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, and (v the African Development Bank (AfDB. A few Icelandic firms already have plans for relatively large projects in emerging market economies, especially in the energy sector, some of them in countries that could be classified as being risky. The ongoing economic crisis in Iceland will make project financing in emerging markets more problematic than before and therefore investments in partnership with international financial institutions could be an option that Icelandic firms will increasingly need to consider if they intend to invest abroad. However, increased private sector and IFI partnerships will not happen without government action. Iceland is a member of only two of the above-mentioned IFIs: the World Bank Group and the EBRD. The decision for Iceland to become member of the AsDB, IDB and AfDB rests solely with the government. Further government inaction in this area could become an impediment for foreign direct investment from Iceland to emerging markets and increase risks when the Icelandic private sector invests in those economies. Unnecessary risks might not only hurt

  4. Your Project Management Coach Best Practices for Managing Projects in the Real World

    CERN Document Server

    Biafore, Bonnie

    2012-01-01

    A pragmatic approach to project management Many projects fail to deliver on time or on budget, or even to deliver a workable product that satisfies the customer. While good project management goes a long way towards ensuring success, managers often fail to follow the plans they implement. This unique guide helps you understand and successfully handle project management, once and for all. Covering practical ways to solve problems you'll typically face when managing actual projects, this pragmatic book takes you through a full project management lifecycle. You'll find ample tips, tricks, and bes

  5. Project-Based Learning and Design-Focused Projects to Motivate Secondary Mathematics Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remijan, Kelly W.

    2017-01-01

    This article illustrates how mathematics teachers can develop design-focused projects, related to project-based learning, to motivate secondary mathematics students. With first-hand experience as a secondary mathematics teacher, I provide a series of steps related to the engineering design process, which are helpful to teachers in developing…

  6. Integrated management tool for controls software problems, requests and project tasking at SLAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogind, D.; Allen, W.; Colocho, W.; DeContreras, G.; Gordon, J.; Pandey, P.; Shoaee, H.

    2012-01-01

    The Accelerator Directorate (AD) Instrumentation and Controls (ICD) Software (SW) Department at SLAC, with its service center model, continuously receives engineering requests to design, build and support controls for accelerator systems lab-wide. Each customer request can vary in complexity from a small software engineering change to a major enhancement. SLAC's Accelerator Improvement Projects (AIPs), along with DOE Construction projects, also contribute heavily to the work load. The various customer requests and projects, paired with the ongoing operational maintenance and problem reports, place a demand on the department that consistently exceeds the capacity of available resources. A centralized repository - comprised of all requests, project tasks, and problems - available to physicists, operators, managers, and engineers alike, is essential to capture, communicate, prioritize, assign, schedule, track, and finally, commission all work components. The Software Department has recently integrated request / project tasking into SLAC's custom online problem tracking 'Comprehensive Accelerator Tool for Enhancing Reliability' (CATER) tool. This paper discusses the newly implemented software request management tool - the workload it helps to track, its structure, features, reports, work-flow and its many usages. (authors)

  7. Science serving people. IAEA-supported projects are helping countries apply the right tools to fight food, health, and water problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    A new booklet 'Science Serving People' features stories about how IAEA-supported projects are making a difference in many poorer countries. The stories describe applications of nuclear science and technology that are being used through technical cooperation channels to overcome challenges of water scarcity, food shortage, malnutrition, malaria, environmental degradation and many other problems. They also illustrate how the complementary development, safety, and security initiatives of the IAEA are fostering atoms for peace in the developing world. Extreme poverty and deprivation remain a problem of monumental proportions at the dawn of the 21st century, notes IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei in the booklet's Introduction. Through effective partnerships, collaborative research, and strategic direction, the IAEA is contributing to global efforts to help the poor. IAEA programmes have entered an important phase, he said, in which scientific contributions to Member States are yielding very sizeable human benefits. It's clear that science and technology must be better mobilized to meet the needs of the poor, emphasizes Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, USA, and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The UN agencies, such as the IAEA, have a great role to play, he says in the booklet's Foreword. This is especially so, he points out, if they act as a bridge between the activities of advanced- country and developing country scientific centres, and if they help to harness the advances of world science for the poor as well as the rich. The bottom line, he concludes, is that rich countries should expand support for those United Nations organizations that can help in solving the unique problems confronting the world's poorest peoples. The booklet features stories on managing water resources, promoting food security, focusing science on health problems, new tools for environmental management, and strengthening nuclear

  8. Project Reptile!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diffily, Deborah

    2001-01-01

    Integrating curriculum is important in helping children make connections within and among areas. Presents a class project for kindergarten children which came out of the students' interests and desire to build a reptile exhibit. (ASK)

  9. Pedagogy of stereographic projection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blenkinsop, Tom

    1999-05-01

    Three sorts of problem are encountered by students learning stereographic projection. Lack of familiarity with compass directions and with the specification of planar and linear orientations is the most fundamental problem. The second problem is one of poor visualisation which prohibits the correct understanding of the principles and practice of projection, although students can sometimes perform remarkably well on certain exercises without this understanding. A third problem is a lack of interest or appreciation of the usefulness of the technique. A solution to the first problem is to provide a thorough grounding in compass directions, and concepts of strike, dip, dip direction, plunge and plunge bearing immediately before teaching stereographic projection. Visual aids, such as a transparent hemisphere to represent half of the projection sphere, and a large stereonet, are helpful for visualisation. Estimation and sketching exercises help to develop an understanding of the geometry of projection. Computer-aided teaching and plotting is recommended after an introduction to manual techniques. Interest can be stimulated through the use of exercises based on real geological maps.

  10. Financial management for small companies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruce Hansen; Jeff Palmer; Jeff Palmer

    2000-01-01

    The wood-products industry is characterized by many small manufacturers that lack the staff to compile and analyze information on their operations and investments. Two computer programs, FRAN and JEFFI, have been developed by the USDA Forest Service at Princeton, West Virginia,to help small companies better analyze and monitor current performance, and better evaluate...

  11. Experiences with IAEA project: TC Regional Project on Quality Control and Quality Assurance for Nuclear Analytical Techniques (RER/2/004)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glavic-Cindro, Denis; Korun, Matjaz

    2002-01-01

    In the TC Regional Project on Quality Control and Quality Assurance for Nuclear Analytical Techniques RER/2/004, 12 laboratories from east and central European countries participated. Within this project 4 workshops, 2 audit inspections and 2 proficiency tests were organized. The aim of this project was to help these laboratories to implement quality assurance system based on the ISO 17025 standard and to help them on the way towards accreditation. (author)

  12. Small wind in Canada's energy future : fostering domestic manufacturers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhoads-Weaver, H.; Gluckman, M.; Weis, T.; Moorhouse, J.; Taylor, A.; Maissan, J.; Sherwood, L.; Whittaker, S.

    2008-01-01

    While large-scale wind power projects are sustaining a 30 per cent annual growth rate, residential-scale wind power is increasingly being adopted in Germany, Japan, and the United States. This presentation discussed the benefits associated with fostering strong domestic wind turbine markets in Canada. Small wind turbine markets typically consist of grid-connected, net-metered turbines of less than 1 kW, off-grid micro-turbines used for battery charging, and net-metered, grid-connected, mid-sized turbines larger than 10 kW used in farming and small business applications. Continued energy price hikes are expected to cause the rapid growth of distributed generation, and nearly half of the world's 10 to 300 kW wind turbine generator manufacturers are located in Canada. However, federal support for small-scale distributed wind systems is lacking, and financial incentives are needed to mature the technology in Canada and leverage private investment. The use of decentralized energy will help to prevent line losses and reduce peak demands on the electricity grid. Use of the technology offers farms and small businesses a revenue stream and can reduce energy costs and demands. It is also expected that small wind jobs in Canada will grow from 50 to 640 by 2025. It was concluded that in order to ensure small wind development, capital cost incentive levels must be coupled with good interconnection and permitting policies. In addition, minimum safety and performance standards must be developed, along with rebate policies and siting analysis methods. tabs., figs

  13. Project Management Accountability System (PMAS) - Project Information and Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The PMAS Dashboard provides a wide range of helpful data and information to assist you in project management and assessment. The drop down menu can be used to search...

  14. Mixing of Process Heels, Process Solutions and Recycle Streams: Small-Scale Simulant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaplan, D.I.

    2001-01-01

    The overall objective of this small-scale simulant mixing study was to identify the processes within the Hanford Site River Protection Project - Waste Treatment Plant (RPP-WTP) that may generate precipitates and to identify the types of precipitates formed. This information can be used to identify where mixtures of various solutions will cause precipitation of solids, potentially causing operational problems such as fouling equipment or increasing the amount of High Level Waste glass produced. Having this information will help guide protocols for flushing or draining tanks, mixing internal recycle streams, and mixing waste tank supernates. This report contains the discussion and thermodynamic chemical speciation modeling of the raw data

  15. Interest in smart metering project surprises utility, IBM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horne, D.

    2006-01-01

    This article provided an outline of Hydro Ottawa and IBM's smart metering pilot project, which has resulted in high approval ratings from the public. The project features 375 participants broken down into 3 separate groups to look for potential consumption differences between customers charged according to standard time-of-use pricing; time-of-use with critical peak pricing; and time-of-use with critical peak rebates. The Ontario Smart Price Pilot project will be run for 5 months, and is expected to provide detailed energy information about usage. Past projects have indicated that customers respond quickly to smart metering, as they are able to monitor their energy usage and more effectively manage their energy consumption. Ontario plans to have all homes and small businesses using smart meters by 2010, as high seasonal demand has indicated that conservation and balanced resource use are now top priorities for many utility companies. At least 10 states in the United States have conducted smart metering pilot projects. The California Public Utilities Commissions has recently approved a $1.7 billion statewide plan to replace old meters with smart meters. In Ontario, customers have ordered 10,000 electricity monitors that Hydro One is giving away. It was concluded that research results from an earlier Hydro One demonstration project with 500 Ontario homeowners showed that real time electricity monitors can help homeowners reduce their consumption of electricity by up to 15 per cent. 4 figs

  16. Could ultrasonic elastography help the diagnosis of small (≤2 cm) breast cancer with the usage of sonographic BI-RADS classification?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhi, Hui; Xiao, Xiao-yun; Ou, Bing; Zhong, Wen-jing; Zhao, Zi-zhuo; Zhao, Xin-bao; Yang, Hai-yun; Luo, Bao-ming

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: To evaluate the additive value of ultrasound strain elastography (USE) to BI-RADS for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast small lesions. Methods: Breast masses (≤2 cm) with histological diagnosis examined by ultrasonography and USE in our department from April 2004 to December 2009 were reviewed. Conventional B-mode ultrasound findings were classified according to the BI-RADS classification. USE findings were classified according to the 5-point scale. Histological diagnosis was used as the reference standard. Results: 401 (246 benign (61.3%), 155 malignant (38.7%)) from 370 consecutive patients were included in the study. Sensitivity and specificity were 90.3%, 68.3% for BI-RADS; 72.3%, 91.9% for USE. The sensitivity of BI-RADS was better than that of USE (P < 0.05), while the specificity of USE was better than that of BI-RADS (P < 0.05). A revised BI-RADS combined with USE results was proposed in this study. Sensitivity and specificity were 83.9% and 87.8% for revised BI-RADS. The diagnostic performance of revised BI-RADS was better than BI-RADS (P < 0.05). Conclusions: USE could give BI-RADS some help in the differentiation of benign and malignant breast small lesions. The addition of elastography to BI-RADS could improve the diagnostic performance in <2 cm lesions.

  17. Analysis of Project Finance | Energy Analysis | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Analysis of Project Finance Analysis of Project Finance NREL analysis helps potential renewable energy developers and investors gain insights into the complex world of project finance. Renewable energy project finance is complex, requiring knowledge of federal tax credits, state-level incentives, renewable

  18. Designing pilot projects as boundary objects a Brazilian case study in the promotion of sustainable design

    CERN Document Server

    Zurlo, Francesco

    2016-01-01

    This book describes a collaborative Design Pilot Project held in Brazil (called MODU.Lares) involving micro and small enterprises and other actors in the furniture sector. The experience was based on an action research method and evaluated by using a tool, in order to assess the value of pilot project as a boundary object capable of fostering innovation and sustainability. The impact of the Design Pilot Project in triggering change in a fragmented local system with a poor environmental and social record, as well as management and innovation issues, were assessed with the help of the same tool, taking into account environmental, technological, economic, sociocultural, and organizational indicators. The collaborative network established was chiefly based on four elements: prototypes, meetings, exhibitions and the Pilot Project (as an overall process). The results indeed demonstrate that a Design Pilot Project can be a valid instrument for establishing a collaborative environment that promotes sustainability an...

  19. Small Business Procurement Event

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-08-13

    Small Business Procurement Event 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK...NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Department of the Navy,Office of Small Business Programs,720 Kennon...distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES NDIA 27th Navy Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event, 12-13 Aug 2014, San Diego, CA. 14. ABSTRACT

  20. Managing Astronomy Research Data: Case Studies of Big and Small Research Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sands, Ashley E.

    2015-01-01

    Astronomy data management refers to all actions taken upon data over the course of the entire research process. It includes activities involving the collection, organization, analysis, release, storage, archiving, preservation, and curation of research data. Astronomers have cultivated data management tools, infrastructures, and local practices to ensure the use and future reuse of their data. However, new sky surveys will soon amass petabytes of data requiring new data management strategies.The goal of this dissertation, to be completed in 2015, is to identify and understand data management practices and the infrastructure and expertise required to support best practices. This will benefit the astronomy community in efforts toward an integrated scholarly communication framework.This dissertation employs qualitative, social science research methods (including interviews, observations, and document analysis) to conduct case studies of data management practices, covering the entire data lifecycle, amongst three populations: Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) collaboration team members; Individual and small-group users of SDSS data; and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) collaboration team members. I have been observing the collection, release, and archiving of data by the SDSS collaboration, the data practices of individuals and small groups using SDSS data in journal articles, and the LSST collaboration's planning and building of infrastructure to produce data.Preliminary results demonstrate that current data management practices in astronomy are complex, situational, and heterogeneous. Astronomers often have different management repertoires for working on sky surveys and for their own data collections, varying their data practices as they move between projects. The multitude of practices complicates coordinated efforts to maintain data.While astronomy expertise proves critical to managing astronomy data in the short, medium, and long term, the larger astronomy

  1. Relation of project managers' personality and project performance: An approach based on value stream mapping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurizio Bevilacqua

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: This work investigates the influence of project managers’ personality on the success of a project in a Multinational Corporation. The methodology proposed for analyzing the project managers’ personality is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.Design/methodology/approach: Forty projects carried out in 2012 by multinational corporation, concerning new product development (NPD, have been analyzed, comparing the profile of project managers with results obtained in terms of traditional performance indexes (time delay and over-budget of projects and performance indexes usually used in “Lean Production” sector (waste time and type of “wastes”. A detailed analysis of the most important “wastes” during the project development is carried out using the Value Stream Mapping (VSM technique.Findings and Originality/value: Relying on the Myers–Briggs personality instrument, results show that extroverted managers (as opposed to introverted managers carry out projects that show lower delay and lower waste time. Introverted managers often make “Over-processing” and “Defect” types of waste. Moreover, lower delay and over-budget have been shown by perceiving managers.Research limitations: Regarding the limitations of this work it is necessary to highlight that we collected data from project managers in a retrospective way. While we believe that several aspects of our data collection effort helped enhance the accuracy of the results, future research could conduct real-time case study research to get more detailed insights into the proposed relationships and avoid retrospective bias. Moreover we focused on a single respondent, the project manager. This helped us ensure that their interpretations played an important role in product development. But, we cannot examined the opinion of team members that could be different from project managers opinion regarding some questions.Originality/value: This research provides insight useful

  2. Wave Pressures and Loads on a Small Scale Model of the Svåheia SSG Pilot Project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buccino, Mariano; Vicinanza, Diego; Ciardulli, Francesco

    2011-01-01

    The paper reports on 2D small scale experiments conducted to investigate wave loadings acting on a pilot project of device for the conversion of wave energy into electricity. The conversion concept is based on the overtopping principle and the structure is worldwide known with the acronym SSG....... The hydraulic model tests have been carried out at the LInC laboratory of the University of Naples Federico II using random waves. Results indicate wave overtopping is able to cause a sudden inversion of vertical force under wave crest, so that it is alternatively upward and downward directed over a short time...

  3. Help Helps, but Only so Much: Research on Help Seeking with Intelligent Tutoring Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleven, Vincent; Roll, Ido; McLaren, Bruce M.; Koedinger, Kenneth R.

    2016-01-01

    Help seeking is an important process in self-regulated learning (SRL). It may influence learning with intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), because many ITSs provide help, often at the student's request. The Help Tutor was a tutor agent that gave in-context, real-time feedback on students' help-seeking behavior, as they were learning with an ITS.…

  4. Project Portfolio Management Applications Testing

    OpenAIRE

    Paul POCATILU

    2006-01-01

    Many IT companies are running project simultaneously. In order to achieve the best results, they have to group to the project in portfolios, and to use specific software that helps to manage them. Project portfolio management applications have a high degree of complexity and they are very important for the companies that are using it. This paper focuses on some characteristics of the testing process for project portfolio management applications

  5. Health education in self-help groups to promote healthy lifestyles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno López de la Vega

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available In this review we discuss the formation of self-help groups (GAM in order to help to counteract diseases, illnesses or conditions assertively, effective and above all positive, this in order to integrate health education in its multidisciplinary approach to create GAM that provide viable alternatives to modify unhealthy lifestyles or unhealthy. It is important the introduction of health education in the creation and sustenance of the same, as it provides a different perspective on the implementation of plans, programs and projects open to meet learning needs and changes in lifestyle with the help of support networks and psycho-emotional aspects intervention, which aims to achieve stability at individual and collective level.

  6. Small Reactors without On-site Refuelling: Neutronic Characteristics, Emergency Planning and Development Scenarios. Final Report of an IAEA Coordinated Research Project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-09-01

    Small reactors without on-site refuelling have a capability to operate without reloading or shuffling of fuel in their cores for reasonably long periods of time consistent with plant economy and considerations of energy security, with no fresh or spent fuel being stored at the site during reactor operation. In 2009, more than 25 design concepts of such reactors were analyzed or developed in IAEA Member States, representing both developed and developing countries. Small reactors without on-site refuelling are being developed for several reactor lines, including water cooled reactors, sodium cooled fast reactors, lead and lead bismuth cooled reactors, and also include some non-conventional concepts. Most of the concepts of small reactors without on-site refuelling reactors are at early design stages. To make such reactors viable, further research and development (R and D) is necessary, inter alia, to validate long-life core operation, define and validate new robust types of fuel, justify an option of plant location in the proximity to its users, and examine possible niches that such reactors could fill in future energy systems. To further research and development (R and D) in the areas mentioned above and several others, and to facilitate progress in Member States in design and technology development for small reactors without on-site refueling, the IAEA has conducted a dedicated Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled 'Small Reactors without On-site Refuelling' (CRPi25001). The project started late in 2004 and, after a review in 2008, was extended for one more year to be ended in 2009. The project has created a network of 18 research institutions from 10 Member States, representing both developed and developing countries. Over the CRP period, collaborative results were achieved for many of the abovementioned research areas. Some studies highlighted new directions of research to be furthered after the CRP completion. Some studies remained the efforts of

  7. Development of adaptive technologies in the project biogas support for Tanzania 'BiogaST'

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Becker, Philipp; Krause, Ariane [Engineers Without Boarders (Germany), Berlin (DE). MAVUNO Project (Tanzania)

    2011-07-01

    BiogaSTs goal lies in improving the rural populations living circumstances and in strengthening the economic growth of the Kagera Region in Tanzania by providing long term assistance for self-empowerment. This is to be reached by the construction of a decentralized energy supply through small, adapted biogas digesters for the use of fermentation gas as cooking energy and for further energetic applications. The sustainability of the project is ensured by accompanying training and education this environmentally friendly technology. The existing natural resources shall be used efficiently with the anaerobic fermentation of crop residues. Against the backdrop of climate protection, the project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also working against the proceeding deforestation in the region. It is being implemented as a cooperation between the registered association Engineers Without Borders Germany (EWB) and the Tanzanian non-governmental organization MAVUNO Project. (orig.)

  8. Fundamentals of Project Management

    CERN Document Server

    Heagney, Joseph

    2011-01-01

    With sales of more than 160,000 copies, Fundamentals of Project Management has helped generations of project managers navigate the ins and outs of every aspect of this complex discipline. Using a simple step-by-step approach, the book is the perfect introduction to project management tools, techniques, and concepts. Readers will learn how to: ò Develop a mission statement, vision, goals, and objectives ò Plan the project ò Create the work breakdown structure ò Produce a workable schedule ò Understand earned value analysis ò Manage a project team ò Control and evaluate progress at every stage.

  9. Revisiting a Meta-Analysis of Helpful Aspects of Therapy in a Community Counselling Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quick, Emma L; Dowd, Claire; Spong, Sheila

    2018-01-01

    This small scale mixed methods study examines helpful events in a community counselling setting, categorising impacts of events according to Timulak's [(2007). Identifying core categories of client-identified impact of helpful events in psychotherapy: A qualitative meta-analysis. "Psychotherapy Research," 17, 305-314] meta-synthesis of…

  10. The paradoxes of small Public Private Partnerships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koch, Christian; Jensen, Jesper Ole

    and to what extent these small projects are sound businesses and represent operable units for the clients and citizens. Cases are developed within education and healthcare. The analysis suggests that another type of economy apparently is in play. It is thus characteristic within education projects in UK...... profound and longitudinal examples to rule out this thesis of “cradle- conditions”. In the paper these results is discussed vis a vis the development of the European public sector. It is potentially very important for local small units in the public services if small PPP are feasible. It is thus promising...

  11. Notification: Audit of EPA Customer Service Help Desks, Hotlines, and Clearinghouses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Project #OA-FY12-0570, November 29, 2012. The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to begin the fieldwork phase of our audit of EPA’s customer service help desks, hotlines, and clearinghouses (customer service lines).

  12. Matrix of risk and premium for the developing of small hydropower projects; Matriz de risco e premio para o desenvolvimento de projetos de PCHs (Pequenas Centrais Hidroeletricas)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, Afonso Henriques Moreira; Garcia, Marco Aurelio R.A.; Cruz, Ricardo A. Passos da

    2008-07-01

    The aim of this paper is to propose a method for valuation of assets of small hydroelectric plants in different stages of maturation. To this end, we adopted the principle of risk premium, associated with a portion of the profitability of the project (internal rate of return-IRR) in every stage of development. In other words: the more mature the project, the lower your risk and consequently lower the corresponding premium, adopting as a total prize the IRR expected to the project.

  13. Project Portfolio Management Applications Testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul POCATILU

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Many IT companies are running project simultaneously. In order to achieve the best results, they have to group to the project in portfolios, and to use specific software that helps to manage them. Project portfolio management applications have a high degree of complexity and they are very important for the companies that are using it. This paper focuses on some characteristics of the testing process for project portfolio management applications

  14. Using Digital Storytelling to Help First-Grade Students' Adjustment to School

    OpenAIRE

    Fokides, Emanuel

    2015-01-01

    When coming to school for the first time, children might face a number of adjustment problems. The study presents the results of a project which used digital storytelling for helping first-grade primary school students during this transitional period. It was examined whether, through the development of the digital stories, students could understand how the school functions and whether this process helped them to change their attitudes and behaviors, thus achieving a smoother adaptation to the...

  15. Simulation techniques of medium or small sized coal mining; Sistema de simulacion de labores de minas subterraneas de carbon de tamano mediano o pequeno

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-01

    Usually an underground mining company designs new production systems in order to reach higher productivity levels, but there is always some uncertainty about reaching the planned figures. This research project, so called Project SimCAR, applies to medium or small sized coal mining companies and tries to become a powerful tool in helping technical staff to answer questions about how future systems will behave. The project`s paradigm is to use computer simulation techniques in order to diminish the implicit uncertainty associated to coal mining activities. As a result, this implies to obtain the best possible scenarios for real economic investments in mine planning. The final programs we have built help technical staff to: 1. Study existing systems in depth. The precision of the resulting model exclusively depends on the correctness of input data and a perfect understanding of the system`s logic processes. 2. Perform several changes on the input system variables over the simulated models in order to allow the technical staff to know the system will react under several conditions. 3. Introduce new strategies on the model construction in order to get a complete optimization under productive and economic viewpoints. (Author)

  16. SmallSat Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petropulos, Dolores; Bittner, David; Murawski, Robert; Golden, Bert

    2015-01-01

    The SmallSat has an unrealized potential in both the private industry and in the federal government. Currently over 70 companies, 50 universities and 17 governmental agencies are involved in SmallSat research and development. In 1994, the U.S. Army Missile and Defense mapped the moon using smallSat imagery. Since then Smart Phones have introduced this imagery to the people of the world as diverse industries watched this trend. The deployment cost of smallSats is also greatly reduced compared to traditional satellites due to the fact that multiple units can be deployed in a single mission. Imaging payloads have become more sophisticated, smaller and lighter. In addition, the growth of small technology obtained from private industries has led to the more widespread use of smallSats. This includes greater revisit rates in imagery, significantly lower costs, the ability to update technology more frequently and the ability to decrease vulnerability of enemy attacks. The popularity of smallSats show a changing mentality in this fast paced world of tomorrow. What impact has this created on the NASA communication networks now and in future years? In this project, we are developing the SmallSat Relational Database which can support a simulation of smallSats within the NASA SCaN Compatability Environment for Networks and Integrated Communications (SCENIC) Modeling and Simulation Lab. The NASA Space Communications and Networks (SCaN) Program can use this modeling to project required network support needs in the next 10 to 15 years. The SmallSat Rational Database could model smallSats just as the other SCaN databases model the more traditional larger satellites, with a few exceptions. One being that the smallSat Database is designed to be built-to-order. The SmallSat database holds various hardware configurations that can be used to model a smallSat. It will require significant effort to develop as the research material can only be populated by hand to obtain the unique data

  17. Pilot project for a commercial buildings Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Center (EADC) program. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Capehart, B.L.

    1996-02-01

    Commercial energy use costs businesses around $70 billion annually. Many of these businesses are small and medium sized organizations that do not have the resources to help themselves, or to pay for professional engineering services to help reduce their energy costs and improve their economic competitiveness. Energy cost reduction actions with payback times of around two years could save the commercial sector 15--20%, or $10--$15 billion per year. This project was initially intended to evaluate the feasibility of performing commercial energy audits as an adjunct to the industrial audit program run by the US Department of Energy Industrial Office. This program is housed in 30 universities throughout the United States. Formerly known as Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Centers (EADC`s), the university programs are now called Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC`s) to reflect their expansion from energy use analyses to include waste and productivity analyses. The success of the EADC/IAC program in helping the manufacturing sector provides an excellent model for a similar program in the commercial buildings sector. This project has investigated using the EADC/IAC approach to performing energy audits for the commercial sector, and has determined that such an approach is feasible and cost effective.

  18. Small Business Enterprises for Workers with Disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richman, Charles S.

    Designed to make disabled individuals aware of their own potential entrepreneurial capacities, this self-help manual provides information to help potential entrepreneurs make appropriate small business decisions and to find needed information and resources. Following a discussion of entrepreneurship as an employment option, various topics relevant…

  19. An ABC analysis for power generation project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Batool Hasani

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the primary concerns on performance measurement is to know how much a particular project cost. However, using traditional method on project-based products often leads to inappropriate results. In this paper, we re-examine this issue by comparing the cost of a power station construction project using ABC versus traditional method. The results of survey show that ABC method is capable of providing better estimates for overhead costs compared with traditional method. In other words, ABC method helps reduce some of the unnecessary overhead cost items and increase on some other cost components. This helps increase the relative efficiency of the system by reducing total cost of project.

  20. Understanding the Influence of knowledge-sharing in Project Portfolio Management in professional services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Mads Lyngsø; Horsager, Betina; Tambo, Torben

    2016-01-01

    that combine the entire project-, program and portfolio life-cycle. The information processing must facilitate controlled knowledge flows and learnings, while helping the project managers to reduce non-productive knowledge acquisition. This is accomplished with a balance between the need for knowledge....... As critical findings of the paper are observations, characterization of knowledge-sharing and -management processes between clients, consultants, consultants-as-a-community, and senior management with information systems often in a retrospective position according to the immediate needs of PPM....... As such there is found knowledge-based deficit in the precision of the PPM system. The originality of this paper relates to knowledge management studies in small professional services organization at the tipping point where KM changes from person-based to be institutionalized in information systems with having...

  1. Correspondence of Charles Darwin on James Torbitt's project to breed blight-resistance potatoes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeArce, M

    2008-01-01

    The most prolific of Darwin's correspondents from Ireland was James Torbitt, an enterprising grocer and wine merchant of 58 North Street, Belfast. Between February 1876 and March 1882, 141 letters were exchanged on the feasibility and ways of supporting one of Torbitt's commercial projects, the large-scale production and distribution of true potato seeds (Solan um tuberosum) to produce plants resistant to the late blight fungus Phytophthora infestans, the cause of repeated potato crop failures and thus the Irish famines in the nineteenth century. Ninety-three of these letters were exchanged between Torbitt and Darwin, and 48 between Darwin and third parties, seeking or offering help and advice on the project. Torbitt's project required selecting the small proportion of plants in an infested field that survived the infection, and using those as parents to produce seeds. This was a direct application of Darwin's principle of selection. Darwin cautiously lobbied high-ranking civil servants in London to obtain government funding for the project, and also provided his own personal financial support to Torbit.

  2. 77 FR 31149 - National Small Business Week, 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-24

    ... Small Business Week, 2012 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation For centuries..., and we renew our promise to help their businesses grow, hire, and succeed. Because small businesses... workers and our businesses. Since I took office, we have repeatedly cut taxes for small businesses and...

  3. Systems Engineering Applications for Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-01

    Engineering processes within the SBIR community. Information was collected from multiple organizations throughout the SBIR community to support this research...Force by Program Executive Officers, Technolgy Directorates, Air Logistics Centers and Test Centers. SBIR projects are developed in three phases...found to be associated with SBIR projects and varied among organizations. Thus it became essential to conduct interviews to gather the information

  4. Kotka ecopower IGCC-project, the attempt to transfer the biocycle project to Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salo, K.

    1998-01-01

    The Danish utilities Elsam and Elkraft planned to build a small (7 MW e ) IGCC-plant in Denmark, called Biocycle Project, based on the gasification and gas clean-up technology of Enviropower Inc. EU/THERMIE program committed to finance part of the investment. The project, however, was not feasible due to the difficulty of finding a suitable customer and sufficient amount of reasonably priced biomass. For this reason a new host and site was found for the Biocycle project. The new site was in Kotka, Finland, where Kotka Energy Ltd., the Energy Board of the City of Kotka acted as the main partner. The fuel of the IGCC project would have been sugar mill wood residue from Xyrofin Inc. During the feasibility investigation (project definition phase) Xyrofin Inc. made the decision to change the production process which eliminated the wood waste production. Without no-cost fuel and due to the low electricity price in Finland the small size IGCC power plant proved not to be feasible. (author)

  5. Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons from the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities about "What Works" in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felner, Robert D.; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy; Bolton, Natalie

    2007-01-01

    Personalizing the school environment is a central goal of efforts to transform America's schools. Three decades of work by the Project on High Performance Learning Communities are considered that demonstrate the potential impact and importance of the creation of "small learning environments" on student motivation, adjustment, and well-being.…

  6. The SOURCE Demonstration Project: Helping Disadvantaged High School Students Enroll in College

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bos, Johannes; Berman, Jacqueline

    2009-01-01

    The primary research question for this project was whether a streamlined, relatively inexpensive, counseling-based program that assists low-income high school students with the college and financial application processes can significantly increase college enrollment rates. The intervention was designed to test the hypothesis that lack of…

  7. Project management for small business: a streamlined approach from planning to completion

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Phillips, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    ... a Project Management Plan 81 72 Developing the Work Breakdown Structure 85 76 Selecting Your Project Management Software 83 65 CHAPTER 4: MANAGING PROJECT COSTS Building a Cost Management Frame...

  8. Small team, big reach : Leduc's AMR process translates cutting-edge engineering skills into worldwide contracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gullage, R.

    2009-01-01

    AMR Process specializes in oil and gas process engineering. The small company which is headquartered in Leduc, Alberta provides oil and gas packages, proprietary licensed designs and process engineering services in Brazil, China, Iraq and more than a dozen other countries. AMR's expertise includes troubleshooting, de-bottlenecking and process train upgrading. They help clients avoid complicated, costly changes to a project by targeting potential problems at a project's inception. The president and founder of AMR credits the company's success in part to the Nisku-Leduc Economic Development Authority (EDA) which brought AMR together with I. Matheson and Company Ltd., a steel manufacturer in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Pressure vessels are one of Matheson's primary products. This article described how AMR Process Inc. has worked with Matheson to secure contracts to build equipment used in oil processing, for markets around the world. 1 fig

  9. Responding to the challenge of artisanal and small-scale mining. How can knowledge networks help?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buxton, Abbi

    2013-02-15

    This paper reviews what is known about the problems and structural challenges facing the 20-30 million artisanal and small-scale miners and their communities worldwide. Better understanding of these structural challenges is needed to improve policies and policy implementation to further sustainable development opportunities for the sector. The paper explores the current gaps in knowledge to achieve policy change from researchers, practitioners and artisanal and small-scale miners themselves. It explores how a 'knowledge intermediary', which acts to link knowledge with policy, could address these gaps and includes case studies of IIED’s work on knowledge networks and programmes. The paper concludes by proposing a way forward for designing a knowledge programme to meet the particular needs of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, and by inviting ASM sector stakeholders to share their views on the options outlined.

  10. Responding to the challenge of artisanal and small-scale mining. How can knowledge networks help?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buxton, Abbi

    2013-02-15

    This paper reviews what is known about the problems and structural challenges facing the 20-30 million artisanal and small-scale miners and their communities worldwide. Better understanding of these structural challenges is needed to improve policies and policy implementation to further sustainable development opportunities for the sector. The paper explores the current gaps in knowledge to achieve policy change from researchers, practitioners and artisanal and small-scale miners themselves. It explores how a 'knowledge intermediary', which acts to link knowledge with policy, could address these gaps and includes case studies of IIED’s work on knowledge networks and programmes. The paper concludes by proposing a way forward for designing a knowledge programme to meet the particular needs of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, and by inviting ASM sector stakeholders to share their views on the options outlined.

  11. Vaksvikelva small hydro

    OpenAIRE

    Loe, Daniel Aarset

    2017-01-01

    Norway is in constant need of renewable energy, and hydroelectric power is still the main source. A great future potential can be found in countless small rivers scattered across the country, which could be developed through small hydro projects. In the process of converting mechanical movement - flowing water - into electric energy, about 5% turns into heat. From a power plant with an annual production of 15 GWh, this means energy enough to heat approximately 30 households is lost. In my pro...

  12. [A simplified occupational health and safety management system designed for small enterprises. Initial validation results].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacchi, Romana; Veneri, L; Ghini, P; Caso, Maria Alessandra; Baldassarri, Giovanna; Renzetti, F; Santarelli, R

    2009-01-01

    Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) are known to be effective in improving safety at work. Unfortunately they are often too resource-heavy for small businesses. The aim of this project was to develop and test a simplified model of OHSMS suitable for small enterprises. The model consists of 7 procedures and various operating forms and check lists, that guide the enterprise in managing safety at work. The model was tested in 15 volunteer enterprises. In most of the enterprises two audits showed increased awareness and participation of workers; better definition and formalisation of respon sibilities in 8 firms; election of Union Safety Representatives in over one quarter of the enterprises; improvement of safety equipment. The study also helped identify areas where the model could be improved by simplification of unnecessarily complex and redundant procedures.

  13. Method for the Drawing of Newman Projections: Understanding ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    hands-on learning/manipula- tives, Newman projections. Method for the Drawing of Newman Projections: Understanding Newman Projections with the Help of Hands. The interconversion between the perspective formulae and. Newman projections is illustrated here. The method describes how students can look at their ...

  14. Conjoint utility analysis of technical maturity and project progress of construction project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ma Wei

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, taking construction project as the research object, the relationship between the project maturity index calculated by the construction project technical risks with different fine degree and the project progress index is studied, and the equilibrium relationship between the Party A’s utility curve and the Party B’s cost curve of using project maturity index and project progress index as the research variables is analyzed. The results show that, when the construction project technical risk division is more precise, the conjoint utility of the project's technical maturity index and the project progress is higher, and the project’s Party A and Party B two sides are closer to the optimal equilibrium. This shows that the construction project technical risk must be finely divided, and managed and controlled respectively, which will help to improve the conjoint utility of the project Party A and Party B two sides.

  15. Small hydro project in Wohlen, Bern - Preliminary study; Programm Kleinwasserkraftwerke. KWKW Hofenmuehle, Wohlen BE - Vorstudie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fritschi, M.; Spescha, P.

    2008-11-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the preliminary project study for the refurbishment of an existing small hydropower installation in Wohlen, Bern, Switzerland. The installation is in the Hofenmuehle, a listed mill complex dating from the first half of the nineteenth century. The headrace channel has already been refurbished by a community service group. The high level of financial effort and the idealism of the owner families are noted. The existing installations are described in detail. The refurbishment of the technical equipment and the associated work such as water-flow measurements are discussed. Cost estimates and environmental aspects are presented and discussed as are the financing of the refurbishment work and the cost-covering remuneration for the power produced. A possible increase in the power produced and the associated water-usage concession are discussed.

  16. Developing Independence in a Capstone Course: Helping Students Ask and Answer Their Own Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camenga, Kristin A.

    2013-01-01

    We discuss a mathematics capstone course designed to help students grow in mathematical independence. We describe how the course is structured to support this goal and the major assignments: a course wiki, a group expository project, and an individual problem to solve and extend. Students learn to ask and answer their own questions, helping them…

  17. THE MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION PROCESS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pop Alexandra Mihaela

    2013-07-01

    The model is a useful tool for improving the internal communication process of a project and help the project raise its efficiency. It has been created based on the characteristics of the information flow within a project. Also the Internal Communication Analysis Model – ICAM – helps improve the projects‘ deliverables by making sure that everyone in the project understood their roles correctly.

  18. Helping students into, through, and beyond: reading strategies for english-as-a-foreign-language students Helping students into, through, and beyond: reading strategies for english-as-a-foreign-language students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Mano

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Reading and writing research indicates that students do both activities more successfully if the process that readers and writers engage in is consciously activated to aid in the production of products. In writing instruction, this has led to a focus on facilitating the composing process through the introduction of pre-writing, composing, revising, and editing activities. Currently the same types of strategies are available to facilitate the reading process. Many of these, developed by individual teachers or projects such as the California Literature Project, aim to help students read challenging materials in their first language. Reading and writing research indicates that students do both activities more successfully if the process that readers and writers engage in is consciously activated to aid in the production of products. In writing instruction, this has led to a focus on facilitating the composing process through the introduction of pre-writing, composing, revising, and editing activities. Currently the same types of strategies are available to facilitate the reading process. Many of these, developed by individual teachers or projects such as the California Literature Project, aim to help students read challenging materials in their first language.

  19. Risk management in product innovation projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Halman, J.I.M.; Keizer, J.A.

    1993-01-01

    In product innovation projects risk management has become increasingly important. Technological and commercial developments ask for effective and efficient product innovation. Systematic diagnosing and management of risks can help to make product innovation projects successful. In this paper a

  20. Prioritising Project Scope Definition Elements in Public Building Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed K Fageha

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available A complete definition of the scope of a project upfront during early stages ensures smooth and successful implementation during the project execution. This research identifies and prioritises project scope definition elements for public buildings in Saudi Arabia. Elements that could significantly contribute to complete project scope definition package at pre-project planning stage are identified and their interrelationship determined and prioritised. Using the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI as a basis, the study uses analytical network process (ANP technique based on data obtained from project managers who have been involved in public sector projects in Saudi Arabia. Data collection and analysis was conducted in three steps. The first step involved identification of scope definition elements while the second involved an investigation into interrelationships among the elements. In the third step, ANP was used to determine the weight of the elements’ importance in terms of contribution to project scope definition completeness. Finally, Pareto analysis was used to prioritise and assess the distribution pattern of the elements. The outcome from this research is the prioritisation of project scope definition elements for public building projects in Saudi Arabia. The prioritised list developed indicates the importance of project scope definition elements. It should help project management teams identify elements to consider when evaluating project scope definition for completeness at the pre-project planning stage. Keywords: Project scope definition, pre-project planning, prioritising, public building projects, Saudi Arabia, Analytical Network Process (ANP

  1. Mastering Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008

    CERN Document Server

    Johnson, Steven

    2010-01-01

    A complete, winning approach to the number one small business solution. Do you have 75 or fewer users or devices on your small-business network? Find out how to integrate everything you need for your mini-enterprise with Microsoft's new Windows Server 2008 Small Business Server, a custom collection of server and management technologies designed to help small operations run smoothly without a giant IT department. This comprehensive guide shows you how to master all SBS components as well as handle integration with other Microsoft technologies.: Focuses on Windows Server 2008 Small Business Serv

  2. Pelagic Project Mauritania 2005-2006

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heessen, H.J.L.; Tjoe-Awie, P.J.; Haan, de D.; Ybema, M.S.

    2007-01-01

    The Pelagic Project Mauritania 2005-2006 was the continuation of two earlier, but similar, projects for the years 1998-2001 and 2002-2004. The project was carried out in cooperation between IMARES and IMROP and had as most important objectives to further the assessment of small pelagic species,

  3. A proposed model for construction project management ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Keywords: Communication skills and leadership model, construction project ..... help a manager handle stress and break tension (Gido & Clements,. 2012: 331; Harrin .... production and management of projects, the higher the demand for.

  4. How Project Managers Really Manage: An Indepth Look at Some Managers of Large, Complex NASA Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulenburg, Gerald M.; Impaeilla, Cliff (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    This paper reports on a research study by the author that examined ten contemporary National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) complex projects. In-depth interviews with the project managers of these projects provided qualitative data about the inner workings of the project and the methodologies used in establishing and managing the projects. The inclusion of a variety of space, aeronautics, and ground based projects from several different NASA research centers helped to reduce potential bias in the findings toward any one type of project, or technical discipline. The findings address the participants and their individual approaches. The discussion includes possible implications for project managers of other large, complex, projects.

  5. Four Approaches to Project Evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, Markus; Svejvig, Per; Rode, Anna Le Gerstrøm

    . Each of the framework’s four approaches provides a distinct evaluation that sheds light on some issues while leaving others unattended. Following these lines, the paper calls for more multi-faceted project evaluations. Introducing a framework that can help analyze existing evaluations and structure......There are many theoretical and practical reasons for evaluating projects – including explorative arguments focusing on expanding descriptive knowledge on project work as well as normative arguments focusing on improving prescriptive models of project performance. Despite the need for project...... management methodologies that work and combat project failure, and research methods that can assess effective project management and methodologies, as well as empirical research on the actuality of projects as practice, evaluation research on projects including project management and methodologies is scarce...

  6. The One-Page Project Manager Comunicate and Manage Any Project With a Single Sheet of Paper

    CERN Document Server

    Campbell, Clark A

    2007-01-01

    The One-Page Project Manager shows you how to boil down any project into a simple, one-page document that can be used to communicate all essential details to upper management, other departments, suppliers, and audiences. This practical guide will save time and effort, helping you identify the vital parts of a project and communicate those parts and duties to other team members.

  7. Joint research using small tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gryaznevich, M.P.; Bosco, E. Del; Malaquias, A.; Mank, G.; Oost, G. van; He, Yexi; Hegazy, H.; Hirose, A.; Hron, M.; Kuteev, B.; Ludwig, G.O.; Nascimento, I.C.; Silva, C.; Vorobyev, G.M.

    2005-01-01

    Small tokamaks have an important role in fusion research. More than 40 small tokamaks are operational. Research on small tokamaks has created a scientific basis for the scaling-up to larger tokamaks. Well-known scientific and engineering schools, which are now determining the main directions of fusion science and technology, have been established through research on small tokamaks. Combined efforts within a network of small and medium size tokamaks will further enhance the contribution of small tokamaks. A new concept of interactive coordinated research using small tokamaks in the mainstream fusion science areas, in testing of new diagnostics, materials and technologies as well as in education, training and broadening of the geography of fusion research in the scope of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project, is presented

  8. Process-based project proposal risk management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alok Kumar

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available We all are aware of the organizational omnipresence. Projects within the organizations are ubiquitous too. Projects achieve their goals successfully if they are planned, scheduled, controlled and implemented well. The project lifecycle of initiating, planning, scheduling, controlling and implementing are very well-planned by project managers and the organizations. Successful projects have well-developed risk management plans to deal with situations impacting projects. Like any other organisation, a university does try to access funds for different purposes too. For such organisations, running a project is not the issue, rather getting a project proposal approved to fund a project is the key. Project proposal processing is done by the nodal office in every organisation. Usually, these nodal offices help in administration and submission of a project proposal for accessing funds. Seldom are these nodal project offices within the organizations facilitate a project proposal approval by proactively reaching out to the project managers. And as project managers prepare project proposals, little or no attention is made to prepare a project proposal risk plan so as to maximise project acquisition. Risk plans are submitted while preparing proposals but these risk plans cater to a requirement to address actual projects upon approval. Hence, a risk management plan for project proposal is either missing or very little effort is made to treat the risks inherent in project acquisition. This paper is an integral attempt to highlight the importance of risk treatment for project proposal stage as an extremely important step to preparing the risk management plan made for projects corresponding to their lifecycle phases. Several tools and techniques have been proposed in the paper to help and guide either the project owner (proposer or the main organisational unit responsible for project management. Development of tools and techniques to further enhance project

  9. Guidelines for Automation Project Execution

    OpenAIRE

    Takkinen, Heidi

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to create instructions for executing an automation project. Sarlin Oy Ab needed directions on how to execute an automation project. Sarlin is starting up a new business area offering total project solutions for customers. Sarlin focuses on small and minor automation projects on domestic markets. The thesis represents issues related to project execution starting from the theory of the project to its kick-off and termination. Site work is one importan...

  10. Helping HELP with limited resources: the Luquillo experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    F.N. Scatena; JR Ortiz-Zayas; J.F. Blanco-Libreros

    2008-01-01

    By definition the HELP approach involves the active participation of individuals from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, including representatives of industry, academics, natural resource managers, and local officials and community leaders. While there is considerable enthusiasm and support for the integrated HELP approach, a central problem for all HELP...

  11. Projected Growth in Small-Scale, Fossil-Fueled Distributed Generation: Potential Implications for the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eberle, Annika [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heath, Garvin A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-03-29

    The generation capacity of small-scale (less than one megawatt) fossil-fueled electricity in the United States is anticipated to grow by threefold to twenty-fold from 2015 to 2040. However, in adherence with internationally agreed upon carbon accounting methods, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) U.S. Greenhouse Inventory (GHGI) does not currently attribute greenhouse gases (GHGs) from these small-scale distributed generation sources to the electric power sector and instead accounts for these emissions in the sector that uses the distributed generation (e.g., the commercial sector). In addition, no other federal electric-sector GHG emission data product produced by the EPA or the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) can attribute these emissions to electricity. We reviewed the technical documentation for eight federal electric-sector GHG emission data products, interviewed the data product owners, collected their GHG emission estimates, and analyzed projections for growth in fossil-fueled distributed generation. We show that, by 2040, these small-scale generators could account for at least about 1%- 5% of total CO2 emissions from the U.S. electric power sector. If these emissions fall outside the electric power sector, the United States may not be able to completely and accurately track changes in electricity-related CO2 emissions, which could impact how the country sets GHG reduction targets and allocates mitigation resources. Because small-scale, fossil-fueled distributed generation is expected to grow in other countries as well, the results of this work also have implications for global carbon accounting.

  12. Getting Help

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Parents & Students Home > Special Features > Getting Help Getting Help Resources from NIAAA Treatment for Alcohol Problems: Finding ... and find ways to make a change. Professional help Your doctor. Primary care and mental health practitioners ...

  13. The Mixmasters: A Smart Marketing Mix Helps a Small College Dramatically Increase Student Enrollments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, R. Dana; Stark, Ken

    1983-01-01

    Adrian College's steady increase and confidence in enrollment projections stem from a research-based, thoughtfully planned, carefully implemented, highly controlled marketing programs. Four major elements of a successful marketing mix are identified: product, price, place, promotion. (MLW)

  14. How Can We Help Hesitant Kindergarten Writers Become Risk Takers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterling, Lora T.; Martin, Suzanne; Lyons, Sandra

    This paper examines the ways kindergarten teachers can help improve the writing skills of their students who are hesitant to write. The paper describes a project that modified the physical classroom environment, nurtured the emotional climate, and used other strategies, such as allowing more time to write, modeling functional writing, and valuing…

  15. National assessment study in Armenia using innovative nuclear reactors and fuel cycles methodology for an innovative nuclear systems in a country with small grid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sargsyan, V.H.; Galstyan, A.A.; Gevorgyan, A.A.

    2010-01-01

    The International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) was launched in November 2000 under the aegis of the IAEA. Phases 1A and IB (first Part) of the Project were dedicated to elaboration, testing and validation of the INPRO Methodology. At the Technical Meeting in Vienna (13-15 October 2004) Armenia has proposed an assessment using the INPRO Methodology for an Innovative Nuclear Energy System in a country with a small electrical grid. Such kind of study helps Armenia in analysis of Innovative Nuclear Energy System (INS), including fuel cycle options, as well as shows applicability of INPRO methodology for small countries, like Armenia. This study was based on the results given in [3] and [4], and also on the main objectives, declared by the Government of Armenia in the paper 'Energy Sector Development Strategies in the Context of Economic Development in Armenia'

  16. Access to realization of small hydroelectric power station in Republic of Macedonia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jakimova Filipovska, Nevenka

    2001-01-01

    In the paper an overview of the small-scale hydroelectric power plants is presented. The categorization groups of small to micro hydroelectric power plants by different countries are given. Also, the evaluation models of the projects for realization the small hydroelectric power plants are analysed. The aim of the paper is to stress the advantages of the small hydro projects and their implementation in Macedonia

  17. A REVIEW OF SELF HELP GROUPS: ISSUE AND CHALLENGES IN INDIA

    OpenAIRE

    Anoop Dixit *, Dr. S. K. Sharma

    2017-01-01

    Basic purpose of this study is to review the challenges and issues faced by SHGs in India. It was found that SHG’s facilitated the members to become self dependent for solving their social & economic problems and enhances the social status of members by virtue of their being members to the group. Self help groups are small informal association of the poor created at the grass root level for the purpose of enabling members to reap economic benefits out of mutual help solidarity and joint respo...

  18. Helping Children Learn Vocabulary during Computer-Assisted Oral Reading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregory Aist

    2002-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses an indispensable skill using a unique method to teach a critical component: helping children learn to read by using computer-assisted oral reading to help children learn vocabulary. We build on Project LISTEN’s Reading Tutor, a computer program that adapts automatic speech recognition to listen to children read aloud, and helps them learn to read (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen. To learn a word from reading with the Reading Tutor, students must encounter the word and learn the meaning of the word in context. We modified the Reading Tutor first to help students encounter new words and then to help them learn the meanings of new words. We then compared the Reading Tutor to classroom instruction and to human-assisted oral reading as part of a yearlong study with 144 second and third graders. The result: Second graders did about the same on word comprehension in all three conditions. However, third graders who read with the 1999 Reading Tutor, modified as described in this paper, performed statistically significantly better than other third graders in a classroom control on word comprehension gains – and even comparably with other third graders who read one-on-one with human tutors.

  19. Private hydropower projects: exporting the american experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogers, W.L.; Bourgeacq, J.P.

    1991-01-01

    This paper addresses different aspects of exporting the American knowledge and experience in the private development of small-scale hydropower projects. It details the 'export' and 'adaptation/translation' of American PURPA philosophy to other countries. The major stumbling blocks on the road to exportation are listed. The subject countries'market evaluation is explained, as well as methods for researching and gathering the necessary information on a specific country. Methods of choosing a target country are discussed, and the criteria necessary for making a choice are detailed. The subject of legal framework and privatization of power generation issues overseas and the ways and means to help the 'export of U.S. expertise' through U.S. Government programs are described. The subjects of financing and joint ventures with local entities are also included in this paper. Various scenarios for private development overseas are presented

  20. EPA and USDA to Help Two Maine Communities with Economic Development Goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have selected Eastport & Millinocket, Maine, as partners in Cool & Connected, an innovative initiative that helps small towns use broadband service for economic development.

  1. Project Management Yinyang: Coupling project success and client satisfaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg Stewart Usher

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Our research applies paradox theory to a project management construct to help project management researchers and practitioners understand the tensions that can exist between project success and client satisfaction. Our research highlights that although project success and client satisfaction are both present within a project management construct, they also belong to different functional systems. Project success and client satisfaction have different systemic-discourses and use different language games to convey information. These distinctions can create latent and sometimes salient tensions within the project management construct that project managers must understand, embrace, and work with. We have used a Grounded Theory (GT methodology to explore the lived experience of project managers, and from this have identified a phenomenon which we have termed project management yinyang. Project management yinyang is the state that exists when both project success and Client satisfaction are tightly coupled within the project management construct. Project management yinyang highlights that these two phenomena cannot be viewed as separate elements because the ‘seed’ of each exists within the other. And to truly achieve one, you must also achieve the other. Our findings indicate that in order to create project management yinyang the project manager must embrace a paradoxical yet holistic philosophy. They must understand the complementarity, interdependency, and structural coupling that exists between the positivist and interpretivist paradigms within the project management construct. They must understand how satisfaction (Yin and success (Yang are created through focus. Furthermore, they must understand how project management yinyang is separate from, but borne from, the convergence of the other two elements.

  2. Joint research using small tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gryaznevich, M.P.; Del Bosco, E.; Malaquias, A.; Mank, G.; Oost, G. van

    2005-01-01

    Small tokamaks have an important role in fusion research. More than 40 small tokamaks are operational. Research on small tokamaks has created a scientific basis for the scaling-up to larger tokamaks. Well-known scientific and engineering schools, which are now determining the main directions of fusion science and technology, have been established through research on small tokamaks. Combined efforts within a network of small and medium size tokamaks will further enhance the contribution of small tokamaks. A new concept of interactive co-ordinated research using small tokamaks in the mainstream fusion science areas, in testing of new diagnostics, materials and technologies as well as in education, training and broadening of the geography of fusion research in the scope of the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project is presented. (author)

  3. Prototype board development for the validation of the VMM ASICs for the New Small Wheel ATLAS upgrade project

    CERN Document Server

    Gkountoumis, Panagiotis; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The VMM is a custom Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) which was designed to be used in the front-end readout electronics of both micromegas (MM) and small Thin Gap Chambers (sTGC) detectors of the New Small Wheel (NSW) Phase-I upgrade project of the ATLAS experiment. A new version of the VMM was recently fabricated and for that reason various prototype boards, the micromegas Front-End (MMFE1) and the General Purpose VMM (GPVMM), have been fabricated and extensively tested in order to validate the functionality of the ASIC. These boards use commercial Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for direct communication with computers which is achieved through 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet and UDP/IP protocols. The low noise performance of these boards gave the opportunity to be used in various test beams with micromegas detectors for validating the VMM and for performance studies of the sTGC detectors. A detailed description of the boards along with the results of the test beam and the detector studies wi...

  4. Prototype board development for the validation of the VMM ASICs for the New Small Wheel ATLAS upgrade project

    CERN Document Server

    Gkountoumis, Panagiotis; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The VMM is a custom Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) which was designed to be used in the frontend readout electronics of both micromegas (MM) and small Thin Gap Chambers (sTGC) detectors of the New Small Wheel (NSW) Phase-I upgrade project of the ATLAS experiment. A new version of the VMM was recently fabricated and for that reason various prototype boards, the micromegas Front-End (MMFE1) and the General Purpose VMM (GPVMM), have been fabricated and extensively tested in order to validate the functionality of the ASIC. These boards use commercial Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for direct communication with computers which is achieved through 10=100=1000 Mbps Ethernet and UDP/IP protocols. The low noise performance of these boards gave the opportunity to be used in various test beams with micormegas detectors for validating the VMM and for performance studies of the sTGC detectors. A detailed description of the boards along with the results of the test beam and the detector studies will...

  5. Small Commercial Building Re-tuning: A Primer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cort, Katherine A.; Hostick, Donna J.; Underhill, Ronald M.; Fernandez, Nicholas; Katipamula, Srinivas

    2013-09-30

    To help building owners and managers address issues related to energy-efficient operation of small buildings, DOE has developed a Small Building Re-tuning training curriculum. This "primer" provides additional background information to understand some of the concepts presented in the Small Building Re-tuning training. The intent is that those who are less familiar with the buidling energy concepts will review this material before taking the building re-tuning training class.

  6. Combating dephasing decoherence by periodically performing tracking control and projective measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Ming; Dai Hongyi; Xi Zairong; Xie Hongwei; Hu Dewen

    2007-01-01

    We propose a scheme to overcome phase damping decoherence by periodically performing open loop tracking control and projective measurement. Although it is impossible to stabilize a qubit subject to Markovian dynamics only by open loop coherent control, one can attain a 'softened' control goal with the help of periodical projective measurement. The 'softened' control objective in our scheme is to keep the state of the controlled qubit to stay near a reference pure state with a high probability for a sufficiently long time. Two suboptimal control problems are given in the sense of trace distance and fidelity, respectively, and they are eventually reduced to the design of a period T. In our scheme, one can choose the period T as long as possible if the 'softened' control goal is attained. This is in contrast to the observation that quantum Zeno effect takes place only if measurements are performed in a very frequent manner, i.e., the period T must be extremely small

  7. Small portion sizes in worksite cafeterias: do they help consumers to reduce their food intake?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vermeer, W.M.; Steenhuis, I.H.M.; Leeuwis, F.H.; Heijmans, M.W.; Seidell, J.C.

    2011-01-01

    Background:Environmental interventions directed at portion size might help consumers to reduce their food intake.Objective:To assess whether offering a smaller hot meal, in addition to the existing size, stimulates people to replace their large meal with a smaller meal.Design:Longitudinal randomized

  8. Distributed power in Afghanistan: The Padisaw micro-hydro project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hallett, Michael

    2009-01-01

    The provision of electricity is a vital need in reconstruction and development situations, like that in Afghanistan. Indeed, according to the Afghan government's Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS) the need for electricity featured in 80% of the Provincial Development Plans as a top priority. With the help of the International Community, the government of Afghanistan is attempting to develop a new market oriented approach to the nationwide provision of electrical power. Although the bulk of the electrification effort is directed toward large scale construction of a national grid, the ANDS explicitly mentions a role for 'micro-hydro, solar, waste and small scale diesel power and energy generating sources'. This article will describe a micro-hydro project in Padisaw village, in the Nurgaram district of Nuristan province located in Northeastern Afghanistan and the role Provincial Reconstruction Team played in working with the local community through the project planning and building processes and offer some observation on how, as the Afghan National Development Strategy is executed, the private sector can play an increasingly significant role in the Afghan distributed energy arena. (author)

  9. Practical Sun Power: 5 Projects to Help Free You from Depending on Any Fuel Other Than the Sun.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rankins, William H., III; Wilson, David A.

    This publication describes in detail projects for using solar energy; five major projects and five mini-projects. The major projects are: (1) Parabolic reflectors, both cylindrical and spherical; (2) Solar oven; (3) Hot water heater; (4) House heating; and (5) Conversion to electricity. Mini-projects investigate: (1) Solar computers; (2) Fresnel…

  10. 13 CFR 120.882 - Eligible Project costs for 504 loans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... financing including points, fees and interest. (e) If the project involves expansion of a small business... expansion of a small business concern” includes any project that involves the acquisition, construction or... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Eligible Project costs for 504...

  11. Hydrogen for small-scale energy consumers and CO2-storage. Feasibility study of a demonstration project in the Rijnmond, Netherlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergsma, G.C.; Van der Werff, T.T.; Rooijers, F.J.

    1996-01-01

    In the future natural gas can be substituted by hydrogen. In the short term hydrogen can be produced from fossil fuels. Released CO 2 can be stored. In the long run it will be possible to produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources (solar cells and wind turbines), which can be transported to the consumer. In the study on the title subject attention is paid to different methods of hydrogen production from natural gas and from residual oils, costs and problems of hydrogen distribution, hydrogen appliances, and CO 2 storage. From the results it appears that a demonstration project to use hydrogen on a small-scale is feasible, although expensive. The costs of the reconstruction of the present natural gas distribution system to a hydrogen distribution system is higher than expected. The price of hydrogen per GJ is higher than the equal energy content of natural gas, in spite of a reduction of the energy levy. The demonstration project will be 25% cheaper per GJ hydrogen when carried out in a newly built area. A demonstration project in which hydrogen is mixed with natural gas is even a factor 2 cheaper. 17 refs., 7 appendices

  12. The Challenge of Integrating OHS into Industrial Project Risk Management: Proposal of a Methodological Approach to Guide Future Research (Case of Mining Projects in Quebec, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adel Badri

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Although risk management tools are put to good use in many industrial sectors, some large projects have been met with numerous problems due to failure to take occupational health and safety (OHS into consideration. In spite of the high level of risk and uncertainty associated with many industrial projects, the number of studies of methods for managing all known risks systematically remains small. Under effervescent economic conditions, industries must meet several challenges associated with frequent project start-ups. In highly complex and uncertain environments, rigorous management of risk remains indispensable for avoiding threats to the success of projects. Many businesses seek continually to create and improve integrated approaches to risk management. This article puts into perspective the complexity of the challenge of integrating OHS into industrial project risk management. A conceptual and methodological approach is proposed to guide future research focused on meeting this challenge. The approach is based on applying multi-disciplinary research modes to a complex industrial context in order to identify all scenarios likely to contain threats to humans or the environment. A case study is used to illustrate the potential of the proposed approach for application and its contribution to meeting the challenge of taking OHS into consideration. On-site researchers were able to develop a new approach that helped two mining companies in Quebec (Canada to achieve successful integration of OHS into expansion projects.

  13. IT Project Management from a Systems Thinking Perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Eck, Pascal; Ponisio, Laura

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: We proposes a Systems Thinking approach to the study of IT project management and show how this approach helps project managers in controlling their projects. Systems Thinking is a holistic problem solving method in which system behaviour emerges from the interaction of system components.

  14. Interconversion of Fischer and Zig-Zag Projections Learning ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    IAS Admin

    Stereochemistry, conforma- tional analysis, hands-on learn- ing, Fischer projections, zig-zag projection, C–C bond rotations. Interconversion of Fischer and Zig-Zag Projections. Learning Stereochemistry with the Help of Hands. Visualization of molecules in three dimensions is an important aspect of organic chemistry.

  15. Regional Focus on Small-scale wind power (<50kW) in southeastern Sweden within the Network for wind farms. Final Report, Project No. 31852-1. ; Regional Satsning paa Smaaskalig vindkraft (<50kW) i sydoestra Sverige inom Naetverket foer vindbruk. Slutrapport, projekt nr 31852-1.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tyrberg, Lennart (ed.)

    2011-07-01

    Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden AB, the Swedish Network for wind farming and the EU project RuralRES have collaborated in this project. The project has resulted in a competence buildup and dissemination of small-scale wind power knowledge. The project has, among other things documented good practices and performs feasibility studies for establishment of small scale wind power. This work has led to an understanding of preconditions for a successful investment in small-scale wind power. The dissemination of this knowledge here in the region, in other parts of Sweden and to other partners in the EU project has contributed to a more realistic level of expectations on small-scale wind power, something that is very important for the industry's continued development. A good wind location is the most important prerequisite for a successful wind power project; this applies to small as well as large-scale wind power. Availability of reliable wind turbines with good performance is important for the development of the industry. Further, it should be reasonably easy to get building permits and permits for electricity connection. The growth might be stimulated by the introduction of net charging and an adaptation of the electricity certificate system for small producers.

  16. Clinical observation of small-incision extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation for the treatment of cataract in the sight restoration project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiao-Jian Cheng

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To analyze the clinical effects of small-incision extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation for the treatment of cataract.METHODS:Totally 642 cases 676 eyes of cataract were treated by small-incision extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation. Complication during and after operations and postoperative visual acuity was observed.RESULTS:Visual acuity of 670 eyes was ≥0.05 and off-blindness rate was 99.11%, and there was 627 eyes ≥0.3 and the off-disability rate was 92.75% after 1mo. Rupture of posterior capsule during surgery occurred in 24 eyes. Fifty-four eyes were corneal edema, and anterior chamber exudation were 26 eyes, and 23 eyes were hypertension after operation. CONCLUSION: There are a little complications during and after operation for cataract treated by small-incision extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation. Patients have good recovery after operation. This operation does not need high-standard equipments and is suitable in the sight restoration project.

  17. Small Group Teaching in Undergraduate Science. Higher Education Learning Project (h.e.l.p.) - Physics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogborn, Jon, Ed.; And Others

    While this book is focused primarily on the tutorials held in the British universities, it offers many insights that can improve the teaching in the discussion sections so common in our large universities. Introductions to analyses of group processes of technical language, and of questions are given. Lesson plans for skill building sessions are…

  18. Going Online: Helping Technical Communicators Help Translators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flint, Patricia; Lord van Slyke, Melanie; Starke-Meyerring, Doreen; Thompson, Aimee

    1999-01-01

    Explains why technical communicators should help translators. Offers tips for creating "translation-friendly" documentation. Describes the research and design process used by the authors to create an online tutorial that provides technical communicators at a medical technology company the information they need to help them write and…

  19. How Mockups, a Key Engineering Tool, Help to Promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Harry E.

    2010-01-01

    The United States ranking among the world in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is decreasing. To counteract this problem NASA has made it part of its mission to promote STEM education among the nation s youth. Mockups can serve as a great tool when promoting STEM education in America. The Orion Cockpit Working Group has created a new program called Students Shaping America s Next Space Craft (SSANS) to outfit the Medium Fidelity Orion Mockup. SSANS will challenge the students to come up with unique designs to represent the flight design hardware. There are two main types of project packages created by SSANS, those for high school students and those for university students. The high school projects will challenge wood shop, metal shop and pre-engineering classes. The university projects are created mainly for senior design projects and will require the students to perform finite element analysis. These projects will also challenge the undergraduate students in material selection and safety requirements. The SSANS program will help NASA in its mission to promote STEM education, and will help to shape our nations youth into the next generation of STEM leaders.

  20. Preliminary study on the reactivation of the WERAP small hydro power station in Bubikon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bretscher, A.; Gutzwiller, S.

    2003-01-01

    This study on the revitalisation of a small hydro power station belonging to old spinning mill in Bubikon, Switzerland, proposes ideas for the reactivation of an old hydropower installation that once helped power a spinning mill. Details are given on the history of the mill and the hydrological conditions to be expected at the site. Three variants are proposed for the refurbishment, including the revision of the power station's existing 44 kW Francis turbine dating from 1908, the addition of further, similar Francis turbine or its replacement with a new 61 kW Francis turbine. The costs and amortisation of the refurbishment variants are examined, the revenues that can be expected from its operation and other financial factors are discussed. Further, environmental and legal aspects of the project are examined and suggestions are made for the next steps to be taken towards the realisation of this small hydropower plant. An annex provides photographs of the location and the power station's equipment

  1. Small scale smugglers in Tamaulipas, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simón Pedro Izcara Palacios

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Small-scale part-time smugglers are embedded in the migrant community itself. They work in the United States for several months before returning to their place of origin to organize, with the help of several assistants, a small group of migrants, who are transported where the coyotes themselves are going. This article analyses small-scale smuggling carried out by Tamaulipas' polleros, who transport to the United States, one or a few times per year, migrants from their hometowns or other neighboring areas in order to be employed in the farming sector.

  2. Project evaluation: one framework - four approaches

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rode, Anna Le Gerstrøm; Svejvig, Per

    . Introducing a framework that can help structure such evaluations, the aim of this paper is to contribute to project theory and practice by inspiring project researchers and aiding project workers in their efforts to open up the black box of projects and deliver relevant and valuable results......There are many theoretical and practical reasons for evaluating projects – including explorative arguments focusing on expanding descriptive knowledge on projects as well as normative arguments focusing on developing prescriptive knowledge of project management. Despite the need for effective...... project management and research methods that can assess effective project management methodologies, extant literature on evaluation procedures or guidelines on how to evaluate projects and/or project management is scarce. To address this challenge, this paper introduces an evaluation framework consisting...

  3. Project managing your simulator DCS upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carr, S.

    2006-01-01

    The intention of this paper is to provide helpful information and tips for the purchaser with regard to the project management of a DCS upgrade for an existing nuclear power station operator-training simulator. This paper was written shortly after STS Powergen completed two nuclear power station simulator DCS projects in the USA. Areas covered by this paper are: - Contractual documents and arrangements; - Licence and Escrow agreements; - Liquidated damages; - Project management; - Project schedules and resources; - Monitoring progress; - Defect reporting; - DCS automation code; - Access to proprietary information; - Tips for project meetings; - Testing; - Cultural issues; - Training

  4. Life or death decisions: framing the call for help.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eileen Y Chou

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Chronic blood shortages in the U.S. would be alleviated by small increases, in percentage terms, of people donating blood. The current research investigated the effects of subtle changes in charity-seeking messages on the likelihood of people responses to a call for help. We predicted that "avoid losses" messages would lead to more helping behavior than "promote gains" messages would. METHOD: Two studies investigated the effects of message framing on helping intentions and behaviors. With the help and collaboration of the Red Cross, Study 1, a field experiment, directly assessed the effectiveness of a call for blood donations that was presented as either death-preventing (losses or life-saving (gains, and as being of either more or less urgent need. With the help and collaboration of a local charity, Study 2, a lab experiment, assessed the effects of the gain-versus-loss framing of a donation-soliciting flyer on individuals' expectations of others' monetary donations as well their own volunteering behavior. Study 2 also assessed the effects of three emotional motivators - feelings of empathy, positive affect, and relational closeness. RESULT: Study 1 indicated that, on a college campus, describing blood donations as a way to "prevent a death" rather than "save a life" boosted the donation rate. Study 2 showed that framing a charity's appeals as helping people to avoid a loss led to larger expected donations, increased intentions to volunteer, and more helping behavior, independent of other emotional motivators. CONCLUSION: This research identifies and demonstrates a reliable and effective method for increasing important helping behaviors by providing charities with concrete ideas that can effectively increase helping behavior generally and potentially death-preventing behavior in particular.

  5. Life or Death Decisions: Framing the Call for Help

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Eileen Y.; Murnighan, J. Keith

    2013-01-01

    Background Chronic blood shortages in the U.S. would be alleviated by small increases, in percentage terms, of people donating blood. The current research investigated the effects of subtle changes in charity-seeking messages on the likelihood of people responses to a call for help. We predicted that “avoid losses” messages would lead to more helping behavior than “promote gains” messages would. Method Two studies investigated the effects of message framing on helping intentions and behaviors. With the help and collaboration of the Red Cross, Study 1, a field experiment, directly assessed the effectiveness of a call for blood donations that was presented as either death-preventing (losses) or life-saving (gains), and as being of either more or less urgent need. With the help and collaboration of a local charity, Study 2, a lab experiment, assessed the effects of the gain-versus-loss framing of a donation-soliciting flyer on individuals’ expectations of others’ monetary donations as well their own volunteering behavior. Study 2 also assessed the effects of three emotional motivators - feelings of empathy, positive affect, and relational closeness. Result Study 1 indicated that, on a college campus, describing blood donations as a way to “prevent a death” rather than “save a life” boosted the donation rate. Study 2 showed that framing a charity’s appeals as helping people to avoid a loss led to larger expected donations, increased intentions to volunteer, and more helping behavior, independent of other emotional motivators. Conclusion This research identifies and demonstrates a reliable and effective method for increasing important helping behaviors by providing charities with concrete ideas that can effectively increase helping behavior generally and potentially death-preventing behavior in particular. PMID:23483903

  6. Position Paper on Jatropha curcas. State of the Art Small and Large Scale Project Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daey Ouwens, K.; Franken, Y.J.; Rijssenbeek, W. [Fuels from Agriculture in Communal Technology FACT, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Francis, G. [University of Hohenheim, Hohenheim (Germany); Riedacker, A. [French National Institute for Agricultural Research INRA, Paris (France); Foidl, N.; Jongschaap, R.; Bindraban, P. [Plant Research International PRI, Wageningen (Netherlands)

    2007-06-15

    Much information has been collected during the Seminar on Jatropha held in Wageningen, Netherlands, March 2007, summarized in this paper. Much research is still necessary to improve yield, to allow use of biological products such as oil cake as animal fodder, etc. Good documented yield data are still scarce. Cooperation with research institutions is therefore recommended. At this stage it is still particularly important to distinguish between reality, promises and dangerous extrapolations. To avoid, spectacular and regretful failures and waste of money for investors as well as great disappointments of local populations, promoters of large scale plantation are invited to adopt stepwise approaches: large scale plantations should only be considered after some 4 to 5 years obtaining experimental data (annual seed yield and oil yield, economical viability etc.) from a sufficient number of small scale experimental plots (about 1 ha) corresponding to the whole range of soil and climatic conditions of such projects.

  7. Total renewal of a small hydro project on the Engstligenalp - Licence and construction project; Bergbahnen Engstligenalp AG - Gesamterneuerung Kleinwasserkraftwerk. Konzessions- und Bauprojekt - Technischer Bericht mit Beilagen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Conrad, M.

    2009-05-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) deals with the total renewal of a small hydro scheme operated by the Engstligenalp aerial cableway in Switzerland. The cableway operator considers itself as part of the national effort to support sustainability. The refurbished hydropower installation will produce power for around 500 homes. The hydrology of the catchment area involved, quantities of water available and residual water conditions as well as the existing installations are described and discussed. Stipulations concerning landscape conservation are noted. The renewal project is discussed and details are given on the dam, water intake, pressure pipe and regulation. The new underground facilities for the horizontal-axis turbine, generator and electrical equipment are described. Finally environmental aspects, energy production and economic viability are discussed.

  8. Assessment of small versus large hydro-power developments - a Norwegian case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bakken, Tor Haakon; Harby, Atle

    2010-07-01

    Full text: The era of new, large hydro-power development projects seems to be over in Norway. Partly as a response to this, a large number of applications for the development of smallscale hydro power projects up to 10 MW overflow the Water Resources and Energy Directorate, resulting in an extensive development of small tributaries and water courses in Norway. This study has developed a framework for the assessment and comparison of several small versus many large hydro-power projects based on a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) approach, and further tested this approach on planned or developed projects in the Helgeland region, Norway. Multi-criteria analysis is a decision-support tool aimed at providing a systematic approach for the comparison of various alternatives with often non-commensurable and conflicting attributes. At the same time, the technique enables complex problems and various alternatives to be assessed in a transparent and simple way. The MCA-software was in our case equipped with 2 overall criteria (objectives) with a number of sub criteria; Production with sub-criteria like volume of energy production, installed effect, storage capacity and economical profit; Environmental impacts with sub-criteria like fishing interests, biodiversity, protection of unexploited nature The data used in the case study is based on the planned development of Vefsna (large project) with the energy/effect production estimated and the environmental impacts identified as part of the feasibility studies (the project never reached the authorities' licensing system with a formal EIA). The small-scale hydro-power projects used for comparison are based on realized projects in the Helgeland region and a number of proposed projects, up scaled to the size of the proposed Vefsna-development. The results from the study indicate that a large number of small-scale hydro-power projects need to be implemented in order to balance the volume of produced electricity/effect from one

  9. Clean coal: Global opportunities for small businesses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-01-01

    The parallel growth in coal demand and environmental concern has spurred interest in technologies that burn coal with greater efficiency and with lower emissions. Clean Coal Technologies (CCTs) will ensure that continued use of the world's most abundant energy resource is compatible with a cleaner, healthier environment. Increasing interest in CCTs opens the door for American small businesses to provide services and equipment for the clean and efficient use of coal. Key players in most coal-related projects are typically large equipment manufacturers, power project developers, utilities, governments, and multinational corporations. At the same time, the complexity and scale of many of these projects creates niche markets for small American businesses with high-value products and services. From information technology, control systems, and specialized components to management practices, financial services, and personnel training methods, small US companies boast some of the highest value products and services in the world. As a result, American companies are in a prime position to take advantage of global niche markets for CCTs. This guide is designed to provide US small businesses with an overview of potential international market opportunities related to CCTs and to provide initial guidance on how to cost-effectively enter that growing global market

  10. Clean coal: Global opportunities for small businesses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-01-01

    The parallel growth in coal demand and environmental concern has spurred interest in technologies that burn coal with greater efficiency and with lower emissions. Clean Coal Technologies (CCTs) will ensure that continued use of the world`s most abundant energy resource is compatible with a cleaner, healthier environment. Increasing interest in CCTs opens the door for American small businesses to provide services and equipment for the clean and efficient use of coal. Key players in most coal-related projects are typically large equipment manufacturers, power project developers, utilities, governments, and multinational corporations. At the same time, the complexity and scale of many of these projects creates niche markets for small American businesses with high-value products and services. From information technology, control systems, and specialized components to management practices, financial services, and personnel training methods, small US companies boast some of the highest value products and services in the world. As a result, American companies are in a prime position to take advantage of global niche markets for CCTs. This guide is designed to provide US small businesses with an overview of potential international market opportunities related to CCTs and to provide initial guidance on how to cost-effectively enter that growing global market.

  11. Distribution and abundance of small plastic debris on beaches in the SE Pacific (Chile): a study supported by a citizen science project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidalgo-Ruz, Valeria; Thiel, Martin

    2013-01-01

    The accumulation of large and small plastic debris is a problem throughout the world's oceans and coastlines. Abundances and types of small plastic debris have only been reported for some isolated beaches in the SE Pacific, but these data are insufficient to evaluate the situation in this region. The citizen science project "National Sampling of Small Plastic Debris" was supported by schoolchildren from all over Chile who documented the distribution and abundance of small plastic debris on Chilean beaches. Thirty-nine schools and nearly 1000 students from continental Chile and Easter Island participated in the activity. To validate the data obtained by the students, all samples were recounted in the laboratory. The results of the present study showed that the students were able to follow the instructions and generate reliable data. The average abundance obtained was 27 small plastic pieces per m(2) for the continental coast of Chile, but the samples from Easter Island had extraordinarily higher abundances (>800 items per m(2)). The abundance of small plastic debris on the continental coast could be associated with coastal urban centers and their economic activities. The high abundance found on Easter Island can be explained mainly by the transport of plastic debris via the surface currents in the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre, resulting in the accumulation of small plastic debris on the beaches of the island. This first report of the widespread distribution and abundance of small plastic debris on Chilean beaches underscores the need to extend plastic debris research to ecological aspects of the problem and to improve waste management. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Valorization of a repository in an added value project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Hove, E.

    2004-01-01

    Professor of Sociology (retired), spoke of the valorization of a repository in an added value project. He pointed out that though local stakeholders may lack technical expertise, they consider their personal interests very carefully and projects affecting such interests are taken quite personally. This provides caution but also opportunity for such projects to be conducted in ways that can help, though not guarantee, better acceptance by local stakeholders. Professor Van Hove mentioned three attributes. First, while engineering projects tend to be thought of as mono-functional (e.g. dispose of waste), building flexibility into the project to reflect the interests of the local stakeholders can measurably improve Stakeholder satisfaction. What the implementer may see as a single-purpose project may indeed provide additional, desirable capabilities to a creative local population. Second, while engineering projects, particularly waste management projects are often designed and built in uninteresting, utilitarian ways, a more creative design and implementation can add a sense of enjoyment and pride on the part of the local stakeholders. And third, while engineering projects are often conducted a manner closed to their environment, a more transparent, inclusive process may draw local stakeholders more intimately into the project. All of these features can help by providing inviting borders, by valuing the beauty and aesthetic dimension of the project and by building the project so that it has an appropriate place in the memory of society. Professor Van Hove emphasised that people show great ingenuity in adapting uses and functions beyond those originally intended. The extent to which local stakeholders can help provide the vision and then the reality of such waste management projects can significantly improve their sense of ownership of the project and their ultimate acceptance. (author)

  13. Small-scale hydro power in the Anniviers Valley. Project Ayer-Nava. Variants and preliminary project; Forces Motrices de la Gougra SA. Mini-hydraulique en Anniviers. Projet Ayer-Nava. Etude de variantes et avant-projet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-04-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) reports on the preliminary project for a small hydropower plant near Ayer, a village in the Anniviers Valley (Swiss Alps). Water from the Nava, a steep mountain river, should be lead into a hydraulic scheme for power generation. A hydraulic head of 400 to 550 m is available, depending on the variant considered. The corresponding expected mechanical power is 0.9 to 1.1 MW. For the most promising variant a preliminary project is described (peak electric power: 0.91 MW, annual electrical energy production: 3.1 GWh). The local geology and hydrogeology are presented. The water collection points, conduits and the power station are described. Technical details on water quantities and energy production are presented. Financial aspects including construction and operating costs are presented and the economic viability of the project is discussed. Environmental aspects are reviewed. Further steps to be taken in the realisation of this hydropower installation are listed.

  14. Earned value project management

    CERN Document Server

    Fleming, Quentin W

    2010-01-01

    Organizations that follow the principles of good Earned Value Management (EVM) create an environment that allows teams to successfully operate and thrive ? even in the face of challenges that could negatively impact their projects. Earned Value Project Management (EVPM) is a methodology used to measure and communicate the real physical progress of a project taking into account the work completed, the time taken and the costs incurred to complete that work. As a result, EVPM allows more educated and effective management decision-making, which helps evaluate and control project risk by measuring project progress in monetary terms. In the first two editions of Earned Value Project Management, Quentin W. Fleming and Joel M. Koppelman provided guidance for project management practitioners already familiar with EVPM, was well as those who were new to the use of this technique. The third edition expanded the information available on of EVPM for medium and smaller projects while still being relevant for larger projec...

  15. Effectiveness of online self-help for suicidal thoughts: results of a randomised controlled trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bregje A J van Spijker

    Full Text Available Many people with suicidal thoughts do not receive treatment. The Internet can be used to reach more people in need of support.To test the effectiveness of unguided online self-help to reduce suicidal thoughts.236 adults with mild to moderate suicidal thoughts were randomised to the intervention (n=116 or a waitlist control group (n=120. Assessments took place at baseline, and 2, 4 and 6 weeks later. Primary outcome was suicidal thoughts. Secondary outcomes were depressive symptoms, anxiety, hopelessness, worry, and health status.The intervention group showed a small significant effect in reducing suicidal thoughts (d=0.28. Effects were more pronounced for those with a history of repeated suicide attempts. There was also a significant reduction in worry (d=0.33. All other secondary outcomes showed small but non-significant improvements.Although effect sizes were small, the reach of the internet could enable this intervention to help many people reduce their suicidal thoughts.Netherlands Trial Register NTR1689.

  16. Methodology of project management at implementation of projects of high-rise construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papelniuk, Oksana

    2018-03-01

    High-rise construction is the perspective direction in urban development. An opportunity to arrange on rather small land plot a huge number of the living and commercial space makes high-rise construction very attractive for developers. However investment projects of high-rise buildings' construction are very expensive and complex that sets a task of effective management of such projects for the company builder. The best tool in this area today is the methodology of project management, which becomes a key factor of efficiency.

  17. Help guide for setting up photovoltaic projects born by agricultural companies and farmers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-01-01

    After a brief recall of energy production and consumption challenges in France, and a brief presentation of photovoltaic energy production connected to the distribution network in urban settings, this document describes the arrangements which aim at supporting this production by introducing purchase tariffs. Eligibility criteria and the different tariff levels are presented. They depend on the type of building and on the level of integration of the production module. Then, after having highlighted the reasons to invest in such projects, the document specify technical prerequisites (building orientation, roof slope angle, shadow effect plotting, module technologies, connection technical and economic feasibility), how to carry the project to a successful conclusion (internal communication, urban planning approaches, engineering consultancy, relationship with financiers, administrative aspects). It also comments the various aspects of the technical-economic analysis (photovoltaic system choice and installation, maintenance, insurance, connection to the network), the law and tax issues (roof renting, taxes), and the operation. Four examples are briefly presented

  18. Commercialisation of small hydro through community participation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stevenson, R.

    1999-07-01

    This report gives details of a project aimed at deriving models for the development of a community owned and managed small hydroelectric power plant in Wales for testing financial and legal structures, and assessing models for the sale of electricity. The formation of the community group, technical assessment of the project, the scoping for environmental effects, and legal and financial options for community renewable energy projects are discussed. Electricity trading options are considered, and the project economics and financing are analysed. (UK)

  19. Commercialisation of small hydro through community participation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stevenson, R.

    1999-01-01

    This report gives details of a project aimed at deriving models for the development of a community owned and managed small hydroelectric power plant in Wales for testing financial and legal structures, and assessing models for the sale of electricity. The formation of the community group, technical assessment of the project, the scoping for environmental effects, and legal and financial options for community renewable energy projects are discussed. Electricity trading options are considered, and the project economics and financing are analysed. (UK)

  20. Removal of radon by aeration testing of various aeration techniques for small water works. For European Commission under Contract No FI4PCT960054 TENAWA project

    CERN Document Server

    Salonen, L; Mehtonen, J; Mjoenes, L; Raff, O; Turunen, H

    2002-01-01

    Capability of various aeration techniques to remove radon from water in small waterworks was studied as a part of project (Treatment Techniques for Removing Natural Radionuclides from Drinking Water), which was carried out during 1997-1999 on a cost-shared basis (contract No. F14PCT960054) with The European Commission (CEC) under the supervision of the Directorate-General XII Radiation Protection Research Unit. In TENAWA project both laboratory and field experiments were performed in order to find reliable methods and equipment for removing natural radionuclides from ground water originating either from private wells or small waterworks. Because such techniques are more often needed in private households than at waterworks, the main emphasis of the research was aimed to solve the water treatment problems related to the private water supplies, especially bedrock wells. Radon was the most important radionuclide to be removed from water at waterworks whereas the removal of other radionuclides ( sup 2 sup 3 sup 4...

  1. A net-present value analysis for a wind turbine purchase at a small US college

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, N. H. [Principia College, Elsah, IL 62028 (United States); Solomon, B. D. [Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931 (United States)

    2010-07-01

    Wind power is becoming an increasingly attractive method of electric power generation due to concerns with global climate change, increasing uncertainty of future oil supplies, and energy security. While most large-scale wind turbines are part of wind farms, which help states meet state renewable energy standards, several colleges and universities in the United States have purchased wind turbines for financial and educational purposes. This paper gives details of a cost-benefit analysis completed for a small liberal arts college in Illinois, Principia College, which is considering buying a single large-scale turbine. The process set forth here can easily be adapted to any college, university, or school. It is found that the project has a positive net present value for both a 20-year scenario and a 30-year scenario. Assuming the project did not receive any grants, Principia College would need to have an annual real return rate of about 6% on its initial investment to gain the same economic benefits. (author)

  2. A Net-Present Value Analysis for a Wind Turbine Purchase at a Small US College

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas H. Johnson

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Wind power is becoming an increasingly attractive method of electric power generation due to concerns with global climate change, increasing uncertainty of future oil supplies, and energy security. While most large-scale wind turbines are part of wind farms, which help states meet state renewable energy standards, several colleges and universities in the United States have purchased wind turbines for financial and educational purposes. This paper gives details of a cost-benefit analysis completed for a small liberal arts college in Illinois, Principia College, which is considering buying a single large-scale turbine. The process set forth here can easily be adapted to any college, university, or school. It is found that the project has a positive net present value for both a 20-year scenario and a 30-year scenario. Assuming the project did not receive any grants, Principia College would need to have an annual real return rate of about 6% on its initial investment to gain the same economic benefits.

  3. Construction strategies and lifetime uncertainties for nuclear projects: A real option analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jain, Shashi; Roelofs, Ferry; Oosterlee, Cornelis W.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Real options can be used to value flexibility of modular reactors. • Value of NPPs increases with implementation of long term cost reductions. • Levels of uncertainties affect the choice between projects. -- Abstract: Small and medium sized reactors, SMRs (according to IAEA, ‘small’ are reactors with power less than 300 MWe, and ‘medium’ with power less than 700 MWe) are considered as an attractive option for investment in nuclear power plants. SMRs may benefit from flexibility of investment, reduced upfront expenditure, and easy integration with small sized grids. Large reactors on the other hand have been an attractive option due to economy of scale. In this paper we focus on the advantages of flexibility due to modular construction of SMRs. Using real option analysis (ROA) we help a utility determine the value of sequential modular SMRs. Numerical results under different considerations, like possibility of rare events, learning, uncertain lifetimes are reported for a single large unit and modular SMRs

  4. Construction strategies and lifetime uncertainties for nuclear projects: A real option analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jain, Shashi, E-mail: s.jain@cwi.nl [TU Delft, Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Delft (Netherlands); Nuclear Research Group, Petten (Netherlands); Roelofs, Ferry, E-mail: roelofs@nrg.eu [Nuclear Research Group, Petten (Netherlands); Oosterlee, Cornelis W., E-mail: c.w.oosterlee@cwi.nl [CWI – Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica, Amsterdam (Netherlands); TU Delft, Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Delft (Netherlands)

    2013-12-15

    Highlights: • Real options can be used to value flexibility of modular reactors. • Value of NPPs increases with implementation of long term cost reductions. • Levels of uncertainties affect the choice between projects. -- Abstract: Small and medium sized reactors, SMRs (according to IAEA, ‘small’ are reactors with power less than 300 MWe, and ‘medium’ with power less than 700 MWe) are considered as an attractive option for investment in nuclear power plants. SMRs may benefit from flexibility of investment, reduced upfront expenditure, and easy integration with small sized grids. Large reactors on the other hand have been an attractive option due to economy of scale. In this paper we focus on the advantages of flexibility due to modular construction of SMRs. Using real option analysis (ROA) we help a utility determine the value of sequential modular SMRs. Numerical results under different considerations, like possibility of rare events, learning, uncertain lifetimes are reported for a single large unit and modular SMRs.

  5. Print-based self-help interventions for smoking cessation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie; Lancaster, Tim; Stead, Lindsay F

    2014-06-03

    provider, there was no evidence of a difference, but confidence intervals were wide (n = 2992, RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.49).Only four studies evaluated self-help materials as an adjunct to nicotine replacement therapy, with no evidence of additional benefit (n = 2291, RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.25). A small number of other trials failed to detect benefits from using additional materials or targeted materials, or to find differences between different self-help programmes. Standard, print-based self-help materials increase quit rates compared to no intervention, but the effect is likely to be small. We did not find evidence that they have an additional benefit when used alongside other interventions such as advice from a healthcare professional, or nicotine replacement therapy. There is evidence that materials that are tailored for individual smokers are more effective than non-tailored materials, although the absolute size of effect is still small. Available evidence tested self-help interventions in high income countries; further research is needed to investigate their effect in contexts where more intensive support is not available.

  6. Multiple Learning Strategies Project. Small Engine Repair. Visually Impaired.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Don; And Others

    This instructional package designed for visually impaired students, focuses on the vocational area of small engine repair. Contained in this document are forty learning modules organized into fourteen units: engine block; starters; fuel tank, lines, filters and pumps; carburetors; electrical; test equipment; motorcycle; machining; tune-ups; short…

  7. Empowering Adult Learners. NIF Literacy Program Helps ABE Accomplish Human Development Mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurley, Mary E.

    1991-01-01

    The National Issues Forum's Literacy Program uses study circles and group discussion to promote empowerment and enhance adult literacy through civic education. The program has helped the Westonka (Minnesota) Adult Basic Education project accomplish its mission and has expanded the staff's view of adult learning. (SK)

  8. Assessment of two small-sized innovative nuclear reactors for electricity generation in Brazil using INPRO methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goncalves Filho, Orlando Joao Agostinho; Sefidvash, Farhang

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the main results of the assessment study of two small-sized innovative reactors for electricity generation in Brazil using the methodology developed under the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), co-ordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). INPRO was initiated in 2001 and has the main objective of helping to ensure that nuclear energy is available to contribute in a sustainable manner to the energy needs of the 21st century. Brazil joined the INPRO project since its beginning and in 2005 submitted a proposal for the assessment using INPRO methodology of two small-sized reactors (IRIS - International Reactor Innovative and Secure, and FBNR - Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor) as potential components of an innovative nuclear energy system (INS) completed by a conventional open nuclear fuel cycle based on enriched uranium. The scope of this assessment study was restricted to the reactor component of the INS and to the methodology areas of economics and safety for IRIS, and proliferation resistance and safety for FBNR. The results indicate that both IRIS and FBNR innovative designs comply mostly with the basic principles of the areas assessed and have potential to comply with the remaining ones. (author)

  9. Small-boat Cetacean Surveys Database

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The database contains multiple spreadsheets that hold data collected during each small-boat survey project conducted by the PIFSC CRP. This includes a summary of the...

  10. Demonstrating a new framework for the comparison of environmental impacts from small- and large-scale hydropower and wind power projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakken, Tor Haakon; Aase, Anne Guri; Hagen, Dagmar; Sundt, Håkon; Barton, David N; Lujala, Päivi

    2014-07-01

    Climate change and the needed reductions in the use of fossil fuels call for the development of renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy production, such as hydropower (both small- and large-scale) and wind power have adverse impacts on the local environment by causing reductions in biodiversity and loss of habitats and species. This paper compares the environmental impacts of many small-scale hydropower plants with a few large-scale hydropower projects and one wind power farm, based on the same set of environmental parameters; land occupation, reduction in wilderness areas (INON), visibility and impacts on red-listed species. Our basis for comparison was similar energy volumes produced, without considering the quality of the energy services provided. The results show that small-scale hydropower performs less favourably in all parameters except land occupation. The land occupation of large hydropower and wind power is in the range of 45-50 m(2)/MWh, which is more than two times larger than the small-scale hydropower, where the large land occupation for large hydropower is explained by the extent of the reservoirs. On all the three other parameters small-scale hydropower performs more than two times worse than both large hydropower and wind power. Wind power compares similarly to large-scale hydropower regarding land occupation, much better on the reduction in INON areas, and in the same range regarding red-listed species. Our results demonstrate that the selected four parameters provide a basis for further development of a fair and consistent comparison of impacts between the analysed renewable technologies. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Helping Moroccan women preserve the argan tree at the gateway to ...

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

    2010-11-01

    Nov 1, 2010 ... ... Charrouf of the Faculté des sciences at the Université Mohammed V of Rabat, and Professor ... Therefore, the project aims not only to help prevent further ... the development of argan tree management scenarios; the selection of trees ... on the French networks (France 2 and FR3), and on Radio-Canada.

  12. The Acquisition of Functional Planning- and Programming Knowledge: Diagnosis, Modeling, and User-Adapted Help

    OpenAIRE

    Möbus, Claus; Schröder, Olaf

    1993-01-01

    The topic of our project has been to empirically investigate and to model processes of the acquisition, utilization, and optimization of knowledge while working with the ABSYNT Problem Solving Monitor (PSM ). The ABSYNT PSM is designed to support the acquisition of basic functional programming concepts by supplying learners with individualized, adaptive online help and proposals. ABSYNT ("Abstract Syntax Trees") is a functional visual programming language developed in the project. The ABSYNT ...

  13. Small public private partnerships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koch, Christian; Jensen, Jesper Ole

    2009-01-01

    Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are frequently mobilized as a purchasing form suitable for large infrastructure projects. And it is commonly assumed that transaction costs linked to the establishment of PPP make them prohibitive in small sizes. In a Danish context this has been safeguarded by t...

  14. Electronics technician Bill Clark assembling a cannon plug with the help of Jim Lewis

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    There is always something needed for a NASA aircraft before a research flight can take place. This photo shows William J. Clark working on one of those 'somethings' while Jimmie C. Lewis watches ready to help. Working on a research project is a challenge, for there is no set pattern to follow. From the drawings to the final product there are many people who contribute to that final product -- the flight. The electronic technicians in the Instrumentation Laboratory at NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility are no exception. Bill Clark is busy creating a cannon plug to be used on the CV-990. He is soldering wires in the appropriate order so the plug will transmit electrical currents correctly when installed in the airplane. Jim stands by to give help and support on the project.

  15. Report on the EMBER Project--A European Multimedia Bioinformatics Educational Resource

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attwood, Terri K.; Selimas, Ioannis; Buis, Rob; Altenburg, Ruud; Herzog, Robert; Ledent, Valerie; Ghita, Viorica; Fernandes, Pedro; Marques, Isabel; Brugman, Marc

    2005-01-01

    EMBER was a European project aiming to develop bioinformatics teaching materials on the Web and CD-ROM to help address the recognised skills shortage in bioinformatics. The project grew out of pilot work on the development of an interactive web-based bioinformatics tutorial and the desire to repackage that resource with the help of a professional…

  16. Integrated Interventions to Tackle Antimicrobial Usage in Animal Production Systems: The ViParc Project in Vietnam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrique-Mas, Juan J; Rushton, Jonathan

    2017-01-01

    Antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animal production is now recognized to be an important contributor to the global problem of AMR. Initiatives to curb indiscriminate antimicrobial use in animal production are currently being discussed in many low- and middle-income countries. Well-designed, scientifically sound interventions aimed to tackle excessive antimicrobial usage should provide scientists and policy makers with evidence of the highest quality to guide changes in policy and to formulate better targeted research initiatives. However, since large-scale interventions are costly, they require careful planning in order not to waste valuable resources. Here, we describe the components of the ViParc project (www.viparc.org), one of the first large-scale interventions of its kind to tackle excessive antimicrobial usage in Southeast Asian animal production systems. The project has been formulated as a "randomized before-and-after controlled study" targeting small-scale poultry farms in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It aims to provide farmers with a locally-adapted veterinary support service to help them reduce their reliance on antimicrobials. ViParc has been developed in the backdrop of efforts by the Government of Vietnam to develop a National Action Plan to reduce Antimicrobials in Livestock and Aquaculture. Crucially, the project integrates socio-economic analyses that will provide insights into the drivers of antimicrobial usage, as well as an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the proposed intervention. Information generated from ViParc should help the Government of Vietnam refine its policies to curb excessive antimicrobial usage in poultry production, while lessons from ViParc will help tackle excessive antimicrobial usage in other productions systems in Vietnam and in the broader Southeast Asian region.

  17. Implementing Livestock Anaerobic Digestion Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page provides information to help make an informed decision about installing an anaerobic digester. Is it a good match for a farm’s organic waste, project financing, development guidelines and permit requirements?

  18. Choosing and Developing the Right Leadership Styles for Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Ralf

    2008-01-01

    Analyzing extensive questionnaires completed by 400 project management professionals, Professor Rodney Turner of the Lille Graduate School of Management and I have identified competencies that contribute significantly to project management success. Our research helps define the managerial and emotional competencies needed to make projects work. We also found that different kinds of projects call for different combinations of competencies.

  19. IT project management 30 steps to success

    CERN Document Server

    Doraiswamy, Premanand

    2011-01-01

    This pocket guide is designed to help IT project managers to succeed, and is based on the author's years of experience in IT project management. The guide's step-by-step approach will enable those new to IT project management, or intending to make a career in this field, to master the essential skills. For seasoned professionals, the pocket guide offers an invaluable concise reference guide.

  20. The Impact of Student-Directed Projects in Introductory Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spence, Dianna J.; Bailey, Brad; Sharp, Julia L.

    2017-01-01

    A multi-year study investigated the impact of incorporating student-directed discovery projects into introductory statistics courses. Pilot instructors at institutions across the United States taught statistics implementing student-directed projects with the help of a common set of instructional materials designed to facilitate such projects.…

  1. Focusing innovation projects on promoting well-being: A toolkit

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steen, M.G.D.; Luiten, H.

    2014-01-01

    Increasingly, private and public organizations are organizing innovation projects that aim to promote people’s wellbeing. In order to better focus such projects on this goal, we developed a (prototype) tool, based on the Capability Approach (CA). It is intended to help people in innovation projects

  2. Basic Project Management Methodologies for Survey Researchers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, Robert H.

    To be effective, project management requires a heavy dependence on the document, list, and computational capability of a computerized environment. Now that microcomputers are readily available, only the rediscovery of classic project management methodology is required for improved resource allocation in small research projects. This paper provides…

  3. Information Service System For Small Forestowners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shaochen; Li, Yun

    Individual owned forests have boomed in the last decade in China. Hundreds of millions of private forest owners have emerged since years of afforestation practice and collective forest ownership reform. Most of those private forest owners are former peasants living in afforestation areas. They thirst for forestry information, such as technique knowledge, forestry policies, finance, marketing, etc. Unfortunately the ways they could get certain information are very limit. Before internet time, Local governments are the main channel they search helps for useful information and technique supports. State and local governments have paid much attention to provide necessary forestry technique supports to those small forest owners and provided varies training projects, issued official forestry information through their websites. While, as state government expands household contract system in the management of collective forestry land, the number of individual forest owners is bumping up in future 5 years. There is still a gap between supplying ability and requirement of forestry information. To construct an effective forestry information service system in next 3-5 year can bridge the gap. This paper discusses the framework of such an information service system.

  4. Anticipated Guilt for not Helping and Anticipated Warm Glow for Helping are Differently Impacted by Personal Responsibility to Help

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arvid Erlandsson

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available One important motivation for people behaving prosocially is that they want to avoid negative and obtain positive emotions. In the prosocial behavior literature however, the motivations to avoid negative emotions (e.g. guilt and to approach positive emotions (e.g. warm glow are rarely separated, and sometimes even aggregated into a single mood-management construct. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anticipated guilt if not helping and anticipated warm glow if helping are influenced similarly or differently when varying situational factors related to personal responsibility to help. Helping scenarios were created and pilot tests established that each helping scenario could be formulated both in a high-responsibility version and in a low-responsibility version. In Study 1 participants read high-responsibility and low-responsibility helping scenarios, and rated either their anticipated guilt if not helping or their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e. separate evaluation. Study 2 was similar but here participants rated both their anticipated guilt if not helping and their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e. joint evaluation. Anticipated guilt was clearly higher in the high-responsibility versions, but anticipated warm glow was unaffected (in Studies 1a and 1b, or even higher in the low-responsibility versions (Study 2. In Studies 3 (where anticipated guilt and warm glow were evaluated separately and 4 (where they were evaluated jointly, personal responsibility to help was manipulated within-subjects. Anticipated guilt was again constantly higher in the high-responsibility versions but for many types of responsibility-manipulations, anticipated warm glow was higher in the low-responsibility versions. The results suggest that we anticipate guilt if not fulfilling our responsibility but that we anticipate warm glow primarily when doing over and beyond our responsibility. We argue that future studies investigating motivations for

  5. Anticipated Guilt for Not Helping and Anticipated Warm Glow for Helping Are Differently Impacted by Personal Responsibility to Help

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erlandsson, Arvid; Jungstrand, Amanda Å.; Västfjäll, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    One important motivation for people behaving prosocially is that they want to avoid negative and obtain positive emotions. In the prosocial behavior literature however, the motivations to avoid negative emotions (e.g., guilt) and to approach positive emotions (e.g., warm glow) are rarely separated, and sometimes even aggregated into a single mood-management construct. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anticipated guilt if not helping and anticipated warm glow if helping are influenced similarly or differently when varying situational factors related to personal responsibility to help. Helping scenarios were created and pilot tests established that each helping scenario could be formulated both in a high-responsibility version and in a low-responsibility version. In Study 1 participants read high-responsibility and low-responsibility helping scenarios, and rated either their anticipated guilt if not helping or their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., separate evaluation). Study 2 was similar but here participants rated both their anticipated guilt if not helping and their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., joint evaluation). Anticipated guilt was clearly higher in the high-responsibility versions, but anticipated warm glow was unaffected (in Studies 1a and 1b), or even higher in the low-responsibility versions (Study 2). In Studies 3 (where anticipated guilt and warm glow were evaluated separately) and 4 (where they were evaluated jointly), personal responsibility to help was manipulated within-subjects. Anticipated guilt was again constantly higher in the high-responsibility versions but for many types of responsibility-manipulations, anticipated warm glow was higher in the low-responsibility versions. The results suggest that we anticipate guilt if not fulfilling our responsibility but that we anticipate warm glow primarily when doing over and beyond our responsibility. We argue that future studies investigating motivations for helping

  6. America Saves! Energizing Main Street's Small Businesses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lindberg, James [National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC (United States)

    2016-09-30

    The America Saves! Energizing Main Street Small Businesses project engaged the 1,200-member National Main Street Center (NMSC) network of downtown organizations and other local, regional, and national partners to test a methodology for sharing customized energy efficiency information with owners of commercial buildings smaller than 50,000 square feet. Led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Green Lab, the project marshalled local staff and volunteers to gather voluntarily-disclosed energy use information from participating businesses. This information was analyzed using a remote auditing tool (validated by the National Renewable Energy Lab) to assess energy savings opportunities and design retrofit strategies targeting seven building types (food service and sales, attached mixed-use, strip mall, retail, office, lodging, and schools). The original project design contemplated extensive leveraging of the Green Button protocol for sharing annualized utility data at a district scale. Due the lack of adoption of Green Button, the project partners developed customized approaches to data collection in each of twelve pilot communities. The project team encountered considerable challenges in gathering standardized annual utility data from local partners. After overcoming these issues, the data was uploaded to a data storehouse. Over 450 properties were benchmarked and the remote auditing tool was tested using full building profiles and utility records for more than 100 commercial properties in three of the pilot communities. The audit tool demonstrated potential for quickly capturing, analyzing, and communicating energy efficiency opportunities in small commercial buildings. However, the project team found that the unique physical characteristics and use patterns (partial vacancy, periodic intensive uses) of small commercial buildings required more trouble-shooting and data correction than was anticipated. In addition, the project revealed that

  7. Project Reinvest: Invest in America's Future by Reinvesting in America's Community Colleges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCabe, Robert H.

    To help raise the level of funding for the nation's community colleges, Project Reinvest was created to help colleges communicate their role in solving the nation's problems and the importance of adequate funding. Specifically, the project seeks to encourage colleges' participation in efforts to develop a genuine understanding of their…

  8. Financing Energy Services for Small-scale Energy-users - project FINESSE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Annan, R.; Saunders, R.J.; Hassing, P.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents the FINESSE (Financing Energy Services for Small-scale Energy users) launched in 1989 by World Bank 's Energy Sector Assistance Program (ESMAP) in association with the US Department of Energy and the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation, whose purpose is to address financial, institutional and policy issues related to enhancing energy services for residential and commercial energy consumers in the Developing World. It describes the related technology benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as a technology overview and outlines the strategies for financing alternatives in the Developing World. It concludes with a description of successful experiences in small-scale energy services, especially in Asia. (TEC). 8 figs

  9. Perceptions of Help Given to Healthy Older Mothers by Adult Daughters: Ways of Initiating Help and Types of Help Given

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martini, Tanya S.; Grusec, Joan E.; Bernardini, Silvia Cortese

    2003-01-01

    Older mother-adult daughter dyads (N = 43) addressed two issues pertaining to the ways in which help is initiated (offered, requested, and imposed help) and type of help given (instrumental help, advice, and emotional support) a) mothers' reasoning about these aspects of help, and b) daughters' understanding of mothers' feelings. Both groups noted…

  10. Poverty Mapping Project: Small Area Estimates of Poverty and Inequality

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Small Area Estimates of Poverty and Inequality dataset consists of consumption-based poverty, inequality and related measures for subnational administrative...

  11. Characterisation of mobile radio channels for small multiantenna terminals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kotterman, Wim Anton Theo

    The Ph.D. thesis "Characterisation of mobile radio channels for small multiantenna terminals" discusses the work on and presents the results of the Ph.D. project "Smart antennas for small terminals". The scope of the project was to determine whether the use of multiple antennas on small handheld...... mobile terminals could improve the transmission quality and throughput of mobile communication links under typical usage conditions. That is, using multiple antennas of typical design, handled by users in typical ways in typical environments as handling by users has a strong influence on channel...... for multiantenna operation, and user influences. Additionally, the reduction of rank of narrow band channels on small observation intervals is discussed. One of the consequences is that fading prediction is limited to about less than a wavelength ahead in practical circumstances....

  12. Digitizing specimens in a small herbarium: A viable workflow for collections working with limited resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Kari M; Marsico, Travis D

    2017-04-01

    Small herbaria represent a significant portion of herbaria in the United States, but many are not digitizing their collections. At the Arkansas State University Herbarium (STAR), we have created a viable workflow to help small herbaria begin the digitization process, including suggestions for publishing data on the Internet. We calculated hourly rates of each phase of the digitization process. We also mapped accessions at the county level to determine geographic strengths in the collection. All 17,678 accessioned flowering plant specimens at STAR are imaged, databased in Specify, and available electronically on the herbarium's website. Students imaged the specimens at a mean rate of 145/h. We found differences in databasing rates between the graduate student leading the project (47/h) and undergraduate assistants (25/h). The majority of specimens at STAR were collected within the counties neighboring the institution. With this workflow, we estimate that one person can digitize a 20,000-specimen collection in less than 2.5 yr by working only 10 h/wk. Because STAR is a small herbarium with limited resources, the application of the workflow described should assist curators of similar-sized collections as they contemplate and undertake the digitization process.

  13. Project management strategies for prototyping breakdowns

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Granlien, Maren Sander; Pries-Heje, Jan; Baskerville, Richard

    2009-01-01

    , managing the explorative and iterative aspects of prototyping projects is not a trivial task. We examine the managerial challenges in a small scale prototyping project in the Danish healthcare sector where a prototype breakdown and project escalation occurs. From this study we derive a framework...... of strategies for coping with escalation in troubled prototyping projects; the framework is based on project management triangle theory and is useful when considering how to manage prototype breakdown and escalation. All strategies were applied in the project case at different points in time. The strategies led...

  14. Why are small scale demonstration projects important for the future of CCS?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leetaru, H. E.; Bauer, R. A.; McBride, J. H.; Freiburg, J. T.; Greenberg, S. E.

    2017-12-01

    Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is moving toward large-scale commercial projects and the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting a new CarbonSAFE initiative to assist in the development of a 50 million tonnes geologic storage project. This type of large commercial CCS project will rely on lessons learned from smaller DOE CCS projects such as the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP) and the Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (IL-ICCS) Project located one mile north of IBDP. Over a three year period ending 2014 IBDP injected almost one million tonnes of CO2 into the Mt. Simon Sandstone, and the IL-ICCS project which commenced injection in 2017 will inject another four million tonnes over a four year period. The IBDP has recorded microseismic events within the study area through continuous downhole seismic monitoring before, during, and after injection. Monitoring shows that microseismicity increased during injection and originate not only in the Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone (the target reservoir), but also in the underlying Argenta clastics and deeper Precambrian igneous rocks as SW-NE elongate clusters aligned in strike to the maximum in situ stress direction. An interpretation of site 3D seismic reflection data suggests that much of the microseismicity is proximal to interpreted faults that extend from the basement up into the lowermost Mt. Simon strata. The faults proximally associated with microseismic activity are oriented parallel with respect to the maximum stress direction. The seismic monitoring of the IBDP indicate that the assessment of induced seismic potential associated with commercial-scale CCS requires not only identification of a suitable reservoir and its petrophysical characteristics, but also the extent and orientation of existing faults and their relation to regional stress orientation. Assessment of regional fault orientation using 3D seismic reflection data can be extremely useful to understanding the risks of induced seismicity

  15. Increasing gender equality among small millet farmers in South Asia ...

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

    29 avr. 2016 ... Gender equality among small millet. More than 1,600 women were involved in testing small millet varieties. One reason for the decline in small millet cultivation is the drudgery involved in their processing, a task that traditionally falls to women. The Revalorizing small millets in South Asia (RESMISA) project ...

  16. SMALL GROUP LEARNING METHODS AND THEIR EFFECT ON LEARNERS’ RELATIONSHIPS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radka Borůvková

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Building relationships in the classroom is an essential part of any teacher's career. Having healthy teacher-to-learner and learner-to-learner relationships is an effective way to help prevent pedagogical failure, social conflict and quarrelsome behavior. Many strategies are available that can be used to achieve good long-lasting relationships in the classroom setting. Successful teachers’ pedagogical work in the classroom requires detailed knowledge of learners’ relationships. Good understanding of the relationships is necessary, especially in the case of teenagers’ class. This sensitive period of adolescence demands attention of all teachers who should deal with the problems of their learners. Special care should be focused on children that are out of their classmates’ interest (so called isolated learners or isolates in such class and on possibilities to integrate them into the class. Natural idea how to do it is that of using some modern non-traditional teaching/learning methods, especially the methods based on work in small groups involving learners’ cooperation. Small group education (especially problem-based learning, project-based learning, cooperative learning, collaborative learning or inquire-based learning as one of these methods involves a high degree of interaction. The effectiveness of learning groups is determined by the extent to which the interaction enables members to clarify their own understanding, build upon each other's contributions, sift out meanings, ask and answer questions. An influence of this kind of methods (especially cooperative learning (CL on learners’ relationships was a subject of the further described research. Within the small group education, students work with their classmates to solve complex and authentic problems that help develop content knowledge as well as problem-solving, reasoning, communication, and self-assessment skills. The aim of the research was to answer the question: Can the

  17. Water Loss in Small Settlements

    OpenAIRE

    Mindaugas Rimeika; Anželika Jurkienė

    2014-01-01

    The main performance indicators of a water supply system include the quality and safety of water, continuous work, relevant pressure and small water loss. The majority of foreign and local projects on reducing water loss have been carried out in the water supply systems of metropolitans; however, the specificity of small settlements differs from that of big cities. Differences can be observed not only in the development of infrastructure and technical indicators but also in the features of wa...

  18. Reusable Communication Infrastructure for Small Satellites

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The research goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive communications reference architecture that is applicable to a wide variety of small satellite...

  19. Automated Detection of Small Bodies by Space Based Observation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidstrup, P. R.; Grillmayer, G.; Andersen, A. C.; Haack, H.; Jorgensen, J. L.

    detection of small bodies is currently on a preliminary stage and known as the Bering project - a deep space survey to the asteroid Main-Belt. With a successful detection method, the Bering mission is expected to discover approximately 6 new small objects per day and 1 will thus during the course of a few years discover 5,000-10,000 new sub-kilometer asteroids. Discovery of new small bodies can: 1) Provide further links between groups of meteorites. 2) Constrain the cratering rate at planetary surfaces and thus allow significantly improved cratering ages for terrains on Mars and other planets. 3) Help determine processes that transfer small asteroids from orbits in the asteroid Main-Belt to the inner Solar System. 2

  20. Distributed Project Work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borch, Ole; Kirkegaard, B.; Knudsen, Morten

    1998-01-01

    for information exchange in the traditional project environment is performed. A group of teachers and a student group using small project examples test the method. The first test group used a prototype for testing and found the new activity synchronization difficult to adapt, so the method was finally adjusted...... to be very precises and with success used on the second test group. Distributed project work is coming pretty soon and with little improvement in server tools, projects in different topics with a large and inhomogeneous profile of users are realistic.......Project work has been used for many years at Aalborg University to improve learning of theory and methods given in courses. In a closed environment where the students are forming a group in a single room, the interaction behaviour is more or less given from the natural life. Group work...

  1. Market for small waste gasification projects - preliminary scoping study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    This report presents the findings of a market analysis for small waste gasification/pyrolysis plant in the UK. The overall objectives of the study are to assess the potential merits in establishing a demonstration plant in the UK, and to identify the size, profile and characteristics of the potential market based on municipal solid waste (MSW) feedstock. (author)

  2. Small farmers and agricultural extension : surviving on a small farm in the Netherlands and possibilities for agricultural extension to reach a hard-to-reach category

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Somers, B.M.

    1991-01-01

    This dissertation reports the results of the research project "Employment in Agriculture and Extension". Primary aims of the project were: a) to identify categories of farmers who are homogeneous in their survival strategies and b) to indicate ways agricultural extension could help farmers

  3. Design Safety Considerations for Water Cooled Small Modular Reactors Incorporating Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-03-01

    The global future deployment of advanced nuclear reactors for electricity generation depends primarily on the ability of nuclear industries, utilities and regulatory authorities to further enhance their reliability and economic competitiveness while satisfying stringent safety requirements. The IAEA has a project to help coordinate Member States efforts in the development and deployment of small and medium sized or small modular reactor (SMR) technology. This project aims simultaneously to facilitate SMR technology developers and potential SMR uses, particularly States embarking on a nuclear power programme, in identifying key enabling technologies and enhancing capacity building by resolving issues relevant to deployment, including nuclear reactor safety. The objective of this publication is to explore common practices for Member States, which will be an essential resource for future development and deployment of SMR technology. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was caused by an unprecedented combination of natural events: a strong earthquake, beyond the design basis, followed by a series of tsunamis of heights exceeding the design basis tsunami considered in the flood analysis for the site. Consequently, all the operating nuclear power plants and advanced reactors under development, including SMRs, have been incorporating lessons learned from the accident to assure and enhance the performance of the engineered safety features in coping with such external events

  4. Managing a sensitive project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Etcheber, Pascal

    1998-01-01

    A 'sensitive' project needs to be managed differently from a 'normal' project. This statement might seem simple enough. However, it does not seem to be a simple task to prove it in twenty minutes. This paper is an attempt to share with the audience some of the experiences the company had dealing with sensitive projects. It describes what a sensitive project is, though of all people, the 'nuclear' should know. Then the common mistakes are described, that are made in the hoping that some personal experiences are recognised. Finally the company's strategy is shown, how we foster third party support and the main tools to be used. Ultimately, success is ensured by having a sufficient quantity of allies. A sensitive project does not die because it has too many opponents, but because it has too few allies. Finding and helping allies to act is the thrust of our activity. It enables sensitive projects which deserve to succeed to do so, where traditional management fails miserably

  5. Use of models in small mammal population studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conley, W.; Nichols, J.D.

    1978-01-01

    The role of models as contributors to the understanding of natural populations of small mammals is reviewed. A philosophy of model use and projections for future work are also included. Categories of biological phenomena reviewed include models on population dynamics (demographic variables and population regulation, dispersal, sex-ratios, predation, population cycles), population responses to environmental conditions, genetics of small mammal populations, competitive interactions, ecosystems and small mammal functions, and control and management of small mammal populations

  6. Bringing solar home systems to rural El Salvador: lessons for small NGOs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balint, Peter J.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents the results of case studies examining two independent projects that worked to bring solar home systems (SHSs) to isolated communities in El Salvador. Both projects were implemented by small nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that did not have prior experience with SHSs. One project was market-based: families were given the opportunity to purchase the systems at going prices. The other was donor-based: residents were provided the equipment in return for their agreement to cooperate in local environmental protection efforts. Results of a comparative analysis support several conclusions. (1) For small NGOs, the promotion of markets is appealing because of the potential for financial sustainability; yet a reliance on markets may also heighten complexity and increase opportunities for failure. (2) In implementation of market-based projects, all stakeholders, including potential consumers, private-sector service providers, and the staff of NGOs acting as project managers, will face pressures to modify and adapt their attitudes and behaviors. (3) Alternative models for small-scale projects that integrate market-based and donor-based design features deserve consideration

  7. Urinary incontinence in older people living in the community: examining help-seeking behaviour.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Teunissen, T.A.M.; Weel, C. van; Lagro-Janssen, A.L.M.

    2005-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Only a small proportion of older people with urinary incontinence seek help, despite the availability of adequate treatment. AIM: To ascertain the patient- and disease-specific factors that determine whether medical care for urinary incontinence is sought by independently living older

  8. Which Type of Project Manager are You?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    Which type of project manager best describes you — are you a prophet, gambler, expert or executor? Take this twelve-question quiz to find out right now. There are no wrong answers, but the result may surprise you — and understanding your personal strength can help guide your career and project...

  9. Wireless Sensor for Measuring Pump Efficiency: Small Business Voucher Project with KCF Technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gehl, Anthony C [ORNL; Liu, Xiaobing [ORNL; Koopman, Gary [KCF Technologies; Fugate, David L [ORNL

    2017-01-23

    This document is to fulfill the final report requirements for the Small Business Voucher (SBV) CRADA project with ORNL and KCF Technologies (CRADA/NFE-16-06133). Pumping systems account for nearly 20% of the world’s electrical energy demand and range from 25-50% of the energy usage in many industrial and building power plants. The energy cost is the largest element in the total cost of owning a pump (~40%). In response to a recent DOE mandate for improved pump efficiency pump manufacturers are preparing for the changes that the impending regulations will bring, including design improvements. This mandate also establishes a need for new low cost pump efficiency measurement systems. The standard industry definition of pump efficiency is the mechanical water horsepower delivered divided by the electrical horsepower input to the motor. KCF Technologies has developed a new sensor measurement technique to estimate fluid pump efficiency using a thermodynamic approach. KCF Technologies applied for a SBV grant with ORNL as the research partner. KCF needed a research partner with the proper facilities to demonstrate the efficacy of its wireless sensor unit for measuring pump efficiency. The ORNL Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC) test resources were used to test and demonstrate the successful measurement of pump efficiency with the KCF sensor technology. KCF is now working on next steps to commercialize this sensing technology.

  10. Entrepreneurial Intention and Small Business Growth : An Empirical Study of Small Food Processing Enterprises in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr.Palmarudi Mappigau,Ir,SU

    2013-07-01

    The results of the study that both internal and external factors of entrepreneurial intention influence the growth of small firms directly and positively. Although there is no difference, but it shows that external factor more dominant than internal factor.The study can be utilized in various area. For academic sector, the results contribute to the growing body of literature in entrepreneurship and small firm growth. For the entrepreneurs, the result will help enhancement of their willingness to grow the firms, and for public and privite sector, the results can aid policy decision in growing dangke small firm

  11. Informaticiens Sans Frontieres: Helping to bridge the Digital Divide

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva

    2009-01-01

    ISF was formed as a CERN club during the World Summit for the Information Society, in Geneva, in 2003. Today we are involved in a number of international projects aimed to helping Africa bridge the Digital Divide, as well as using computing power (BOINCs) in the research against Malaria, or creating GRIDs that could allow African universities to join us in scientific research projects such as the LHC. Our latest project, named MANGO Net, is aimed at capacity building, by creating a network of computer assembly schools across the continent, which would form hardware and software technicians, create assembly centres, and lay the foundation for a future IT industry. ISF est né comme un club du CERN, en 2003, pendant le Sommet Mondiale de la Société de l'information à Genève. Aujourd'hui nous participons à plusieurs projets avec le but d'aider l'Afrique à reduire la Fracture Numérique, ou de fournir de la puissance de calcul (BOINC) à la recherche contre le Paludisme, ou en créant des GRIDs qui pourra...

  12. Internal control activities in small Turkish companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Bilgi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present major outcomes from an empirical study concerning internal control activities in small Turkish companies, as to propose the improvement guidelines. Methods of analysis and synthesis, descriptive statistics, and statistical comparison were used. The collected data was processed with the help of the SPSS software. Тhe study is limited to organizations based in the European part of Turkey. Most of them operate in areas around large cities, such as Istanbul, Edirne, Kırklareli, and Tekirdağ. They employ on average 19-20 people and have a turnover of about TRY 3 million (≈€715,000, https://sdw.ecb.europa.eu on average. The survey concentrates mainly on small family businesses, which have been present on the market for more than ten years, with managers of good education and other characteristics that presuppose availability of internal control systems. The research results were used to compile main points of a SWOT analysis, as a part of the broader effort to help modernizing the internal control system in Turkish small businesses.

  13. FINANCING OF NEW BUSINESS IDEAS IN SMALL ENTERPRISES

    OpenAIRE

    Adrian Dumitru Tantau; Laurentiu Catalin Fratila; Daniela Liliana Hincu

    2008-01-01

    Financing represents a central element of entrepreneurship. Financial resources allow developing new business projects and start up of activities of small enterprises. Unfortunately, the restrict credit politics for small enterprises and the absence of their resources represent important obstacle for implementation of new business ideas. In our research, we try to identify the main problems which oppose to the promotion of business ideas in small enterprises.

  14. Understanding the costs and schedule of hydroelectric projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merrow, E.W.; Schroeder, B.R.

    1991-01-01

    This paper is based on a study conducted for the World Bank which evaluated the feasibility of developing an empirically based ex ante project analysis system for hydroelectric projects. The system would be used to assess: the reasonableness of engineering-based cost and schedule estimates used for project appraisal and preliminary estimates used to select projects for appraisal; and the potential for cost growth and schedule slip. The system would help identify projects early in the project appraisal process that harbor significantly higher than normal risks of overrunning cost and schedule estimates

  15. SELF HELP GROUPS (SHGS): MICRO FINANCE IN INDIA

    OpenAIRE

    Shivam SAKSHI; Pető KÁROLY

    2018-01-01

    Micro finance in India has developed in decades from an idea to implementation to many success stories to an overall success. The early dawn of the idea of micro financing was to provide the capital to the population which was considered the bottom of socio economic pyramid so as to carry out the small household business and this idea has gradually grown up to become the way to help improve the socio standards of the poor people. India is the country of villages, more than 70% of the nation’s...

  16. Project control integrating cost and schedule in construction

    CERN Document Server

    Del Pico, Wayne J

    2013-01-01

    The key to successful project control is the fusing of cost to schedule whereby the management of one helps to manage the other. Project Control: Integrating Cost and Schedule in Construction explores the reasons behind and the methodologies for proper planning, monitoring, and controlling both project costs and schedule. Filling a current void the topic of project control applied to the construction industry, it is essential reading for students and professionals alike.

  17. The 'Weri' small hydro project; Kraftwerk Weri - Schlussbericht. Programm Kleinwasserkraftwerke

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burgener, H.-P. [EWBN Elektrizitaetswerk Brig-Naters AG, Brig-Glis (Switzerland); Bodenmann, M. [BSAP Ingenieure und Berater, Brig-Glis (Switzerland)

    2008-11-15

    This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) reports on a project which augments an existing hydropower complex in Brig-Naters, Switzerland. A project for an additional hydropower installation below the last stage of the existing complex in the North Simplon Pass region is presented and discussed. Details are presented on the amount of water available, the boundary conditions pertaining and the technical concept proposed. Financial aspects, including support from the Swiss cost-covering remuneration scheme for electricity from renewable energy sources are also examined. The costs and economic viability of the project are discussed, as are environmental aspects to be taken into account during the construction and operation of the proposed power station.

  18. 76 FR 56879 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-14

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small...

  19. 76 FR 37200 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-24

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self...

  20. 76 FR 22170 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-20

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self...

  1. 76 FR 63715 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-13

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small...

  2. 76 FR 46897 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-03

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small...

  3. 76 FR 6189 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-03

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self...

  4. 76 FR 10942 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-28

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project Committee AGENCY... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Practitioner Engagement Project... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self...

  5. Management of small digital collections with Omeka: the MoRE experience (A Museum of REfused and unrealised art projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Salarelli

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the main features of Omeka, a free and open source CMS (Content Management System for online digital collections developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Omeka presents very interesting features: first, a remarkable ease of use that, however, does not affect its multiple functions; secondly, it provides tools to create, in an innovative way, virtual exhibitions for archives, libraries and museums in order to promote their collections on the web; thirdly, its extreme adaptability to collection size: in fact Omeka is used by large and celebrated institutions such as the New York Public Library and Europeana, but also by many small initiatives including MoRE (A Museum of REfused and unrealized art projects. Specifically, the second part of the article describes, in brief, the objectives and characteristics of this virtual museum dedicated to contemporary unrealized artworks; it is an experimental project, still under development, devised by a working group of the University of Parma (Italy, who found in Omeka the most suitable IT solution to collect and expose these unique museum materials.

  6. Small Business Administration: Workforce Transformation Plan Is Evolving

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    D'Agostino, Davi

    2002-01-01

    .... SBA's mission is to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by aiding, counseling, assisting, and protecting the interests of the nation's small businesses and by helping businesses and families...

  7. Small-scale hydro power in the Anniviers Valley. Project Chippis-Ricard. Variants and preliminary project; Forces Motrices de la Gougra SA. Mini-hydraulique en Anniviers. Projet Chippis-Ricard. Etude de variantes et avant-projet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-04-15

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) reports on the preliminary project for a small hydropower plant in Chippis, Switzerland. The project takes advantage of an existing irrigation scheme that deviates water from the Navisence River into two successive tunnels (total 1.8 km) and a following channel built on steep mountain sides. The basic idea of the project is to increase the flow rate entering the tunnels from 265 l/s to 1265 l/s and to lead the additional 1000 l/s to a new penstock connected to the second tunnel's outlet. In this way, a hydraulic head of 130 m could be used for power generation for over 600 households (mechanical power: 0.8 to 1.1 MW, annual electrical energy production: 2.5 to 3.6 GWh, depending on the variant considered). The report reviews the history of water use at this location and its present use as well as a feasibility study previously made. The project is described, including water collection points, conduits, the power station and the particular aspects of the joint use of water for power generation and irrigation from mid April to mid September. Technical details on water quantities and energy production are presented. Financial aspects including construction and operating costs are presented and the economic viability of the project is discussed. Environmental aspects are reviewed. Further steps to be taken in the realisation of this hydropower installation are listed.

  8. A Study of Learning Curve Impact on Three Identical Small Spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Guangming; McLennan, Douglas D.

    2003-01-01

    With an eye to the future strategic needs of NASA, the New Millennium Program is funding the Space Technology 5 (ST-5) project to address the future needs in the area of small satellites in constellation missions. The ST-5 project, being developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, involves the development and simultaneous launch of three small, 20-kilogram-class spacecraft. ST-5 is only a test drive and future NASA science missions may call for fleets of spacecraft containing tens of smart and capable satellites in an intelligent constellation. The objective of ST-5 project is to develop three such pioneering small spacecraft for flight validation of several critical new technologies. The ST-5 project team at Goddard Space Flight Center has completed the spacecraft design, is now building and testing the three flight units. The launch readiness date (LRD) is in December 2005. A critical part of ST-5 mission is to prove that it is possible to build these small but capable spacecraft with recurring cost low enough to make future NASA s multi- spacecraft constellation missions viable from a cost standpoint.

  9. IT Project Management from a Systems Thinking Perspective: A Position Paper

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Eck, Pascal; Ponisio, Laura

    2008-01-01

    We proposes a Systems Thinking approach to the study of IT project management and show how this approach helps project managers in controlling their projects. To illustrate our proposal, we present an example model of the dynamics of IT out-sourcing projects. The example model explains these

  10. Help with Hives

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Help With Hives KidsHealth / For Kids / Help With Hives What's in this article? What Are ... about what happened. The doctor can try to help figure out what might be causing your hives, ...

  11. Community Action Projects: Applying Biotechnology in the Real World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Phuong D.; Siegel, Marcelle A.

    2015-01-01

    Project-based learning and action research are powerful pedagogies in improving science education. We implemented a semester-long course using project-based action research to help students apply biotechnology knowledge learned in the classroom to the real world. Students had several choices to make in the project: working individually or as a…

  12. Chapter 11: Dinkey north and south project

    Science.gov (United States)

    M North; R. Rojas

    2012-01-01

    Designing and implementing vegetation treatments that can move a forest landscape toward a desired future condition is often challenging. Faced with diverse stakeholder interests and the unknown effects of changing climate conditions, managers need to engage and build collaborative projects. One such effort is the Dinkey project designed to help restore a healthy,...

  13. Resistance projection welding small pins in vacuum tube feedthrough assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuncz, F. Jr.

    1980-01-01

    Resistance projection welding of two stainless steel pins to a cup is successfully accomplished by specially designed electrodes and by forming domes on the pin ends. Details of electrode and pin construction are given, as well as welding parameters

  14. Managing Project Team in Local Government B.A. Amujiri Abstract ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Religion Dept

    government and discovered that managing project team is indispensable in local governments .... subordinate; improve employee motivation; improve communication between .... or events required in completing the project. This will help to.

  15. Youths Attitude To Rural Development Projects In Ogba ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... encourage youths to participate more in rural development projects. Also, training in the form of participatory seminars and workshops would help the youths to be more proactive. Keywords: Youths attitude, rural development projects, Ogba communities, Rivers State, Nigeria Global Approaches to Extension Practice Vol.

  16. Purchasing cooperatives for small employers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mallozzi, J

    1997-12-01

    Despite a booming economy, the number of uninsured Americans is rising. It hit nearly 42 million in 1996. Many of the uninsured work at businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Because small firms have traditionally found it difficult to provide health benefits, purchasing cooperatives have grown in scope and size across the country in recent years. By bringing small businesses together to buy insurance as a group, these organizations can help employers provide greater choice to their workers at a lower cost. However, to operate well in the insurance market, purchasing cooperatives must be well-designed and provided with adequate legal protections.

  17. Small Hydropower in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hadjerioua, Boualem [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Johnson, Kurt [Telluride Energy, Telluride, CO (United States)

    2015-09-01

    Small hydropower, defined in this report as hydropower with a generating capacity of up to 10 MW typically built using existing dams, pipelines, and canals has substantial opportunity for growth. Existing small hydropower comprises about 75% of the current US hydropower fleet in terms of number of plants. The economic feasibility of developing new small hydropower projects has substantially improved recently, making small hydropower the type of new hydropower development most likely to occur. In 2013, Congress unanimously approved changes to simplify federal permitting requirements for small hydropower, lowering costs and reducing the amount of time required to receive federal approvals. In 2014, Congress funded a new federal incentive payment program for hydropower, currently worth approximately 1.5 cents/kWh. Federal and state grant and loan programs for small hydropower are becoming available. Pending changes in federal climate policy could benefit all renewable energy sources, including small hydropower. Notwithstanding remaining barriers, development of new small hydropower is expected to accelerate in response to recent policy changes.

  18. The Human Genome Diversity Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cavalli-Sforza, L. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

    1994-12-31

    The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGD Project) is an international anthropology project that seeks to study the genetic richness of the entire human species. This kind of genetic information can add a unique thread to the tapestry knowledge of humanity. Culture, environment, history, and other factors are often more important, but humanity`s genetic heritage, when analyzed with recent technology, brings another type of evidence for understanding species` past and present. The Project will deepen the understanding of this genetic richness and show both humanity`s diversity and its deep and underlying unity. The HGD Project is still largely in its planning stages, seeking the best ways to reach its goals. The continuing discussions of the Project, throughout the world, should improve the plans for the Project and their implementation. The Project is as global as humanity itself; its implementation will require the kinds of partnerships among different nations and cultures that make the involvement of UNESCO and other international organizations particularly appropriate. The author will briefly discuss the Project`s history, describe the Project, set out the core principles of the Project, and demonstrate how the Project will help combat the scourge of racism.

  19. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: Small Business Administration

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    2001 Major Management Challenges and Program Risks Small Business AdministrationGAO-01-260 Form SF298 Citation Data Report Date ("DD MON YYYY...34) 00JAN2001 Report Type N/A Dates Covered (from... to) ("DD MON YYYY") Title and Subtitle Major Management Challenges and Program Risks Small Business ...Administration (SBA) as it seeks to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of the nations small businesses and help businesses and families

  20. Capitalizing on a current fad to promote poison help: (1-800-222-1222).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krenzelok, Edward P; Klick, Ross N; Burke, Thomas V; Mrvos, Rita

    2007-01-01

    The distinctive yellow Lance Armstrong 'Live Strong' silicon wristbands, which support cancer research, have reached iconic status and spawned substantial interest from other organizations seeking to capitalize on the same awareness opportunity. To promote the national toll-free Poison Help telephone number, a regional poison information center developed and introduced a Poison Help wristband. The RPIC worked with a marketing firm to design the Poison Help wristband, conduct a feasibility analysis to determine the financial viability of the project and develop a plan to market and sell the wristbands. The wristbands were a unique color, contained the words Poison Help and the national toll-free telephone number. Approximately 50,000 wristbands were distributed in the first four months. By developing a practical application for a popular item, the RPIC increased poison center awareness and, as a secondary benefit, generated revenue to support other poison prevention education endeavors.

  1. Small Island Visitor Attractions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haven Allahar

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This article proposes a process framework for developing and managing visitor attractions (VA in small island developing states with Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island state in the Caribbean, as the case study. An extensive literature review was conducted, supported by field observations, individual depth interviews, and small and large focus group meetings. The process framework identified four sets of processes: national policy formulation and legislation; inventory, classification, evaluation, and ranking of VA; general operations management involving project management activities; and site specific activities of development, operations, and maintenance. The value of the framework lies in the fact that no similar framework applicable to small islands was covered in the literature and validation was obtained from a panel of experts and a cross section of tourism stakeholders in Tobago.

  2. Identification of suicidal ideations with the help of projective tests: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Devvarta; Nizamie, S Haque; Abhishek, Priyadarshee; Prasanna, Lavanya Tumkur

    2014-12-01

    Identification of the presence of suicidal ideations in an individual is crucial for the timely intervention. However, these ideations may remain unidentified as an individual with serious intentions of self-harm may not express them explicitly. Various projective tests can provide crucial clues to clinicians about the presence of suicidal ideations in an individual's mind. The present review is intended to update clinicians working in the field of suicide prevention about salient findings on these tests which can serve as a ready reckoner for them. We also highlight the status of research in this domain. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Workforce development and effective evaluation of projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickerson, Claire; Green, Tess; Blass, Eddie

    The success of a project or programme is typically determined in relation to outputs. However, there is a commitment among UK public services to spending public funds efficiently and on activities that provide the greatest benefit to society. Skills for Health recognised the need for a tool to manage the complex process of evaluating project benefits. An integrated evaluation framework was developed to help practitioners identify, describe, measure and evaluate the benefits of workforce development projects. Practitioners tested the framework on projects within three NHS trusts and provided valuable feedback to support its development. The prospective approach taken to identify benefits and collect baseline data to support evaluation was positively received and the clarity and completeness of the framework, as well as the relevance of the questions, were commended. Users reported that the framework was difficult to complete; an online version could be developed, which might help to improve usability. Effective implementation of this approach will depend on the quality and usability of the framework, the willingness of organisations to implement it, and the presence or establishment of an effective change management culture.

  4. Financing to meet community needs: a guide for small hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Bill

    2009-03-01

    To succeed in the current financial markets, small hospitals need flexible project and financing plans. Many small local banks today can offer small hospitals financing solutions on par with what was previously offered only by the country's strongest investment-grade rated banks. Federal assistance through programs such as HUD's Section 242 mortgage insurance program is also a viable option for small hospitals.

  5. How effective project management will add value to your uranium project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bradford, R.; Titley, M.

    2014-01-01

    Up until the recent Fukushima incident in March 2011 project activity in the uranium sector was driven by high uranium prices and merger and acquisition corporate activity. Soon after the incident, project development in the uranium sector collapsed and capital slowly dried up as Uranium prices dropped. New projects were put on hold, significantly reducing growth in the small to medium capital markets. Existing brownfield growth plans were halted as corporate strategies focused on improving the efficiency of existing assets. Recent positive sentiment supported by positive commentary in the uranium market, driven by an improved understanding of the supply and demand fundamentals and the restart of Japan’s nuclear reactors, has seen renewed corporate merger and acquisition activity. Developers are again taking an interest in new uranium project development.

  6. Reconstruction of tomographic images from projections of a small number of views by means of mathematical programming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobayashi, Fujio; Yamaguchi, Shoichiro

    1985-01-01

    Fundamental studies have been made on the application of mathematical programming to the reconstruction of tomographic images from projections of a small number of views without requiring any circular symmetry nor periodicity. Linear programming and quadratic programming were applied to minimize the quadratic sum of the residue and to finally obtain optimized reconstruction images. The mathematical algorithms were verified by the method of computer simulation, and the relationship between the number of picture elements and the number of iterations necessary for convergence was also investigated. The methods of linear programming and quadratic programming require fairly simple mathematical procedures, and strict solutions can be obtained within a finite number of iterations. Their only draw back is the requirement of a large quantity of computer memory. But this problem will be desolved by the advent of large fast memory devices in the near future. (Aoki, K.)

  7. NASA SBIR abstracts of 1991 phase 1 projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwenk, F. Carl; Gilman, J. A.; Paige, J. B.

    1992-01-01

    The objectives of 301 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1991 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 301, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1991 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included.

  8. NASA SBIR abstracts of 1992, phase 1 projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwenk, F. C.; Gilman, J. A.; Paige, J. B.; Sacknoff, S. M.

    1993-01-01

    The objectives of 346 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1992 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 346, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1992 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included.

  9. A helping hand

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mirjam de Klerk; Alice de Boer; Sjoerd Kooiker; Inger Plaisier; Peggy Schyns

    2014-01-01

    Original title: Hulp geboden   The help provided to people with a care need is about to undergo major changes in the Netherlands. People who need help will be expected to rely more on help from members of their network. What are the opportunities for informal carers and volunteers, and where

  10. Integrated Interventions to Tackle Antimicrobial Usage in Animal Production Systems: The ViParc Project in Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan J. Carrique-Mas

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance (AMR in animal production is now recognized to be an important contributor to the global problem of AMR. Initiatives to curb indiscriminate antimicrobial use in animal production are currently being discussed in many low- and middle-income countries. Well-designed, scientifically sound interventions aimed to tackle excessive antimicrobial usage should provide scientists and policy makers with evidence of the highest quality to guide changes in policy and to formulate better targeted research initiatives. However, since large-scale interventions are costly, they require careful planning in order not to waste valuable resources. Here, we describe the components of the ViParc project (www.viparc.org, one of the first large-scale interventions of its kind to tackle excessive antimicrobial usage in Southeast Asian animal production systems. The project has been formulated as a “randomized before-and-after controlled study” targeting small-scale poultry farms in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It aims to provide farmers with a locally-adapted veterinary support service to help them reduce their reliance on antimicrobials. ViParc has been developed in the backdrop of efforts by the Government of Vietnam to develop a National Action Plan to reduce Antimicrobials in Livestock and Aquaculture. Crucially, the project integrates socio-economic analyses that will provide insights into the drivers of antimicrobial usage, as well as an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the proposed intervention. Information generated from ViParc should help the Government of Vietnam refine its policies to curb excessive antimicrobial usage in poultry production, while lessons from ViParc will help tackle excessive antimicrobial usage in other productions systems in Vietnam and in the broader Southeast Asian region.

  11. Project management and management of innovation in small industrial firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    During, W.E.

    1986-01-01

    In innovation projects, three sub-processes have to evolue concurrently. These are problem solving, to bring about a new product or process; internal innovation diffusion, to disseminate information and engender a positive attitude towards new developments; and change in the organization so that it

  12. Triple Value System Dynamics Modeling to Help Stakeholders Engage with Food-Energy-Water Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Triple Value (3V) Community scoping projects and Triple Value Simulation (3VS) models help decision makers and stakeholders apply systems-analysis methodology to complex problems related to food production, water quality, and energy use. 3VS models are decision support tools that...

  13. ANALYSIS OF THE POSSIBILITY FOR ESTABLISHING PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO IN COMPANIES IN SERBIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragana Milin

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Project Management Office (PMO is an organizational unit established to help project managers, project teams and the various levels of management in carrying out the principles of project management. The research was carried out in Serbia, in 2011, with the aim to establish which methodologies and techniques are used for project m anagement, and which of them are used the most frequently. Furthermore, the need for establishment of PMOs in Serbia is discussed. These offices should help in establishing a standardized methodology (at the organization level and thus overcome the obviou s poor use of any project management methodology at all.

  14. 13 CFR 120.801 - How a 504 Project is financed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false How a 504 Project is financed. 120.801 Section 120.801 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Development Company Loan Program (504) § 120.801 How a 504 Project is financed. (a) One or more small...

  15. Risk-informed ranking of engineering projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jyrkama, M.; Pandey, M.

    2011-01-01

    Refurbishment planning requires prudent investment decisions with respect to the various systems and components at the station. These decisions are influenced by many factors, including engineering, safety, regulatory, economic, and political constraints. From an engineering perspective, the concept of cost-benefit analysis is a common way to allocate capital among various projects. Naturally, the 'best' or optimal project should have the lowest cost and the highest benefit. In the context of risk-informed decision making (RIDM), a process that has been widely embraced by the global nuclear community, the costs and benefits must further be 'weighted' by probabilities to estimate the underlying risk associated with the various planning alternatives. The main purpose of this study is to illustrate how risk and reliability information can be integrated into the refurbishment planning process to facilitate more objective and transparent investment decisions. The methodology is based on the concept of generation risk assessment (GRA) which provides a systematic approach for balancing investment costs with the reduction in overall financial risk. In addition to reliability predictions, the model provides estimates for the level of risk reduction associated with each system/project and also the break-even point for investment. This information is vital for project ranking, and helps to address the key question of whether capital investment should be made in the most risk critical systems, or in systems that reduce the overall risk the most. The application of the proposed methodology requires only basic information regarding the current reliability of each engineering system, which should be readily available from plant records and routine condition assessments. Because the methodology can be readily implemented in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, all plausible (e.g., bounding) planning scenarios, with or without investment, can also be generated quickly and easily, while

  16. Planning and Managing Drupal Projects

    CERN Document Server

    Nordin, Dani

    2011-01-01

    If you're a solo website designer or part of a small team itching to build interesting projects with Drupal, this concise guide will get you started. Drupal's learning curve has thrown off many experienced designers, particularly the way it handles design challenges. This book shows you the lifecycle of a typical Drupal project, with emphasis on the early stages of site planning. Learn how to efficiently estimate and set up your own project, so you can focus on ways to make your vision a reality, rather than let project management details constantly distract you. Plan and estimate your projec

  17. Social Loafing in the Refugee Crisis: Information about Existing Initiatives Decreases Willingness to Help

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Schindler

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In light of the European refugee situation, we investigate how information about others’ support influences individuals’ willingness to help. When individuals see information about other people supporting refugees, they may either be influenced by a descriptive norm, and act accordingly. Alternatively, they may perceive that others are already doing the job, and thus engage in social loafing. In an experiment (N = 132, we tested these competing predictions. Specifically, participants were exposed to a map of Germany that either indicated many or few helping initiatives across the country. In a control group, no map was shown. Subsequently, participants were asked about their willingness to help. While there was no effect between the two map conditions, results revealed that participants reported lower willingness to help in both map conditions, compared with the control group. Thus, providing information about helping projects results in social loafing, jeopardizing widespread communication strategies to increase solidarity.

  18. Helping Spanish SMEs Staff to Develop Their Competence in Writing Business Letters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foz-Gil, Carmen; Gonzalez-Pueyo, Isabel

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports on the development of a website tool aimed at helping Spanish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) staff to write their commercial correspondence in English. It describes the steps involved in the tool system design process, making an emphasis on the methodological criteria and rational that guided us to develop the site. In…

  19. SU-E-U-02: The Development of a Practical Ultrasonic System for Cross-Sectional Imaging of Small Animals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kamp, J [Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (United States); Karmanos Cancer Institute - International Imaging Center, Detroit, MI (United States); Malyarenko, E [Karmanos Cancer Institute - International Imaging Center, Detroit, MI (United States); Tessonics Corp, Birmingham, MI (United Kingdom); Chen, D [Karmanos Cancer Institute - International Imaging Center, Detroit, MI (United States); Wydra, A [True Phantoms Solutions, Windsor, ON (Canada); University of Windsor - Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research, Windsor, ON (Canada); Maev, R [Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (United States); Karmanos Cancer Institute - International Imaging Center, Detroit, MI (United States); Tessonics Corp, Birmingham, MI (United Kingdom); True Phantoms Solutions, Windsor, ON (Canada); University of Windsor - Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research, Windsor, ON (Canada)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To test the feasibility of developing a practical medium frequency ultrasound tomography method for small animal imaging. The ability to produce cross-sectional or full body images of a live small animal using a low-cost tabletop ultrasound scanner without any special license would be very beneficial to long term biological studies, where repeated scanning is often required over an extended period of time. Methods: The cross sectional images were produced by compounding multiple B-scans of a laboratory phantom or an animal acquired at different projection angles. Two imaging systems were used to test the concept. The first system included a programmable 64-channel phased array controller driving a 128-channel, 5–10 MHz linear probe to produce 143 B-Mode projections of the spinning object. The second system designed and manufactured in house, produced 64 or 128 B-Mode projections with a single unfocused 8 MHz transducer scanning with a 0.116 mm step size. Results: The phased array system provided good penetration through the phantoms/mice (with the exception of the lungs) and allowed to acquire data in a very short time. The cross-sectional images have enough resolution and dynamic range to detect both high- and low-contrast organs. The single transducer system takes longer to scan, and the data require more sophisticated processing. To date, our images allow seeing details as small as 1–2 mm in the phantoms and in small animals, with the contrast mostly due to highly reflecting bones and air inclusions. Conclusion: The work indicates that very detailed and anatomically correct images can be created by relatively simple and inexpensive means. With more advanced algorithms and improved system design, scan time can be reduced considerably, enabling high-resolution full 3D imaging. This will allow for quick and easy scans that can help monitor tumor growth and/or regression without contributing any dose to the animal. The authors would like to acknowledge

  20. Environmental impacts of wind-energy projects

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Committee on Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects, National Research Council

    2007-01-01

    .... Although the use of wind energy to generate electricity is increasing rapidly in the United States, government guidance to help communities and developers evaluate and plan proposed wind-energy projects is lacking...

  1. The Astronomy Genealogy Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenn, Joseph S.

    2014-01-01

    The Astronomy Genealogy Project, to be known as AstroGen, will list as many as possible of the world's astronomers with their academic parents (aka thesis advisors) and enable the reader to trace both academic ancestors and descendants. It will be very similar to the highly successful Mathematics Genealogy Project (MGP), available at http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu. The MGP, which has been in operation since 1996, now contains the names of about 170,000 "mathematicians." These include many physicists and astronomers, as well as practitioners of related sciences. Mitchel Keller, the director of the MGP, has generously shared the software used in that project, and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) will host AstroGen, a project of the Historical Astronomy Division, on its website. We expect to start seeking entries soon, depending on the availability of computational assistance from the AAS IT department. We are seeking volunteers to help run the project. If you are interested, please contact me at joe.tenn@sonoma.edu.

  2. A framework to improve performance measurement in engineering projects

    OpenAIRE

    Zheng , Li; Baron , Claude; Esteban , Philippe; Xue , Rui; Zhang , Qiang

    2017-01-01

    International audience; A wide range of methods and good practices have been developed for the measurement of projects performance. They help project managers to effectively monitor the project progress and evaluate results. However, from a literature review, we noticed several remaining critical issues in measuring projects performance, such as an unbalanced development of Key Performance Indicators types between lagging and leading indicators. On the other hand, systems engineering measurem...

  3. Leveraging federal science data and tools to help communities & business build climate resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herring, D.

    2016-12-01

    Decision-makers in every sector and region of the United States are seeking actionable science-based information to help them understand and manage their climate-related risks. Translating data, tools and information from the domain of climate science to the domains of municipal, social, and economic decision-making raises complex questions—e.g., how to communicate causes and impacts of climate variability and change; how to show projections of plausible future climate scenarios; how to characterize and quantify vulnerabilities, risks, and opportunities facing communities and businesses; and how to make and implement "win-win" adaptation plans. These are the types of challenges being addressed by a public-private partnership of federal agencies, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private businesses that are contributing to the development of the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (toolkit.climate.gov), a new website designed to help people build resilience to extreme events caused by both natural climate variability and long-term climate change. The site's Climate Explorer is designed to help people understand potential climate conditions over the course of this century. It offers easy access to downloadable maps, graphs, and data tables of observed and projected temperature, precipitation and other decision-relevant climate variables dating back to 1950 and out to 2100. Of course, climate change is only one of many variables affecting decisions about the future so the Toolkit also ties climate information to a wide range of other relevant tools and information to help users to explore their vulnerabilities and risks. In this session, we will describe recent enhancements to the Toolkit, lessons learned from user engagements, and evidence that our approach of coupling scientific information with actionable decision-making processes is helping Americans build resilience to climate-related impacts.

  4. Financing small-scale infrastructure investments in developing countries

    OpenAIRE

    Daniel L. Bond; Daniel Platz; Magnus Magnusson

    2012-01-01

    In most developing countries a shortage of long-term, local-currency financing for small-scale infrastructure projects impedes local economic development. Inadequate fiscal transfers, little own source revenue and low creditworthiness make it difficult for local governments to fully fund projects on their own. This paper proposes the use of project finance as a means to attract financing from domestic banks and institutional investors. Donors can play a catalytic role by providing technical a...

  5. Joint development of China's medium/small hydropower projects with international investment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiaozhang, Z.

    1991-01-01

    A general profile of development of small and medium hydropower in China, is described at first. The socio-economic impacts as well as direct financial benefit will then be analyzed. A prospective view of medium/small hydro development for year 2,000 leads to a description of needs for foreign investment in this field. Following the adoption of open policy, a series of regulations for joint venture with foreign investment have been stipulated by the government, and are briefly illustrated. Future prospect is predicted on the basis of past experiences and planning for the next decade. 3 tabs

  6. Small libraries a handbook for successful management

    CERN Document Server

    Reed, Sally Gardner

    2002-01-01

    ""A gem""--Booklist; ""outstanding""--Library Journal; ""indispensable, invaluable""--Midwest Book Review; ""one of the best...wonderful""--Wilson Library Bulletin. This fully revised and updated edition provides current information on automation and technology and on advocacy to help small public libraries strive to make available the same basic services as larger libraries. This book is written for the directors of these honest-to-goodness small libraries, providing both a philosophical as well as a common sense basis for decision making.

  7. Implementing 'self-help friendliness' in German hospitals: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trojan, Alf; Nickel, Stefan; Kofahl, Christopher

    2016-06-01

    In Germany, the term 'self-help friendliness' (SHF) describes a strategy to institutionalize co-operation of healthcare institutions with mutual aid or self-help groups of chronically ill patients. After a short explanation of the SHF concept and its development, we will present findings from a longitudinal study on the implementation of SHF in three German hospitals. Specifically, we wanted to know (i) to what degree SHF had been put into practice after the initial development phase in the pilot hospitals, (ii) whether it was possible to maintain the level of implementation of SHF in the course of at least 1 year and (iii) which opinions exist about the inclusion of SHF criteria in quality management systems. With only minor restrictions, the findings provide support for the usefulness, practicability, sustainability and transferability of SHF. Limitations of our empirical study are the small number of hospitals, the above average motivation of their staff, the small response rate in the staff-survey and the inability to get enough data from members of self-help groups. The research instrument for measuring SHF was adequate and fulfils the most important scientific quality criteria in a German context. We conclude that the implementation of SHF leads to more patient-centredness in healthcare institutions and thus improves satisfaction, self-management, coping and health literacy of patients. SHF is considered as an adequate approach for reorienting healthcare institutions in the sense of the Ottawa Charta, and particularly suitable for health promoting hospitals. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. IT Project Evaluation and Investment Decision

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    黄东兵; 张世英

    2004-01-01

    There are many kinds of real options,which are valuable,in each phase of the lifetime of an information technology(IT)project.However,in the current IT investment decision theory,real options that embedded in IT projects are not considered. In this paper, the process of IT project decision and implementation is fully analyzed, the real options that may be embedded in an IT project are identified, and a real option analysis (ROA) method is proposed for evaluation of an IT project under uncertain business environment. ROA employs Black-Scholes expansion model and cancels the assumption that the cost of project is certain. The numerical example manifests that the ROA can better evaluate IT project and select the IT investment alternative. Finally, a road map is provided to help selecting the suitable evaluation method to make IT investment decision.

  9. 76 FR 46897 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-03

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue... Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee will be conducted....C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed...

  10. 76 FR 6190 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-03

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue... Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee will be conducted....C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed...

  11. 76 FR 37893 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-28

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue... Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee will be conducted....C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed...

  12. 76 FR 10942 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-28

    ... Small Business/Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue... Panel Small Business/ Self Employed Correspondence Exam Toll Free Project Committee will be conducted....C. App. (1988) that an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/Self Employed...

  13. Helping for Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuringer, Allen; Oleson, Kathryn C.

    2010-01-01

    In "Helping for Change," Allen Neuringer and Kathryn Oleson describe another strategy that individuals can use to achieve their green goals. You might ask, "How can helping someone else help me change when I'm in the habit of not fulfilling my own promises?" The authors answer that question by explaining how the social reinforcement in a helping…

  14. The international hydrocoin project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-01-01

    The International HYDROCOIN (Hydrologic Code Intercomparison) Project was started in May 1984. Fourteen organizations participate in the Project, with the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) as managing participant and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) taking part as a member of the Project secretariat. HYDROCOIN is concerned with the assessment of groundwater movements at potential nuclear waste disposal sites with the help of mathematical models and computer codes. The Project is divided into three levels. The objective of HYDROCOIN Level 1 is to verify the accuracy of groundwater flow codes. HYDROCOIN Level 2 and Level 3 are concerned with validation of hydrological models and uncertainty/sensitivity analysis, respectively. This report, which has been prepared by the NEA Secretariat and SKI in consultation with the co-ordinating group of the HYDROCOIN Project summarizes the background and objectives of the Project and presents the results of the work performed up to the middle of 1987. It is intended to provide general information on HYDROCOIN to interested parties beyond the group of directly involved specialists

  15. Ford Plug-In Project: Bringing PHEVs to Market Demonstration and Validation Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    D' Annunzio, Julie [Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (United States); Slezak, Lee [U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Conley, John Jason [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)

    2014-03-26

    This project is in support of our national goal to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. By supporting efforts that contribute toward the successful mass production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, our nation’s transportation-related fuel consumption can be offset with energy from the grid. Over four and a half years ago, when this project was originally initiated, plug-in electric vehicles were not readily available in the mass marketplace. Through the creation of a 21 unit plug-in hybrid vehicle fleet, this program was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology and to help build cross-industry familiarity with the technology and interface of this technology with the grid. Ford Escape PHEV Demonstration Fleet 3 March 26, 2014 Since then, however, plug-in vehicles have become increasingly more commonplace in the market. Ford, itself, now offers an all-electric vehicle and two plug-in hybrid vehicles in North America and has announced a third plug-in vehicle offering for Europe. Lessons learned from this project have helped in these production vehicle launches and are mentioned throughout this report. While the technology of plugging in a vehicle to charge a high voltage battery with energy from the grid is now in production, the ability for vehicle-to-grid or bi-directional energy flow was farther away than originally expected. Several technical, regulatory and potential safety issues prevented progressing the vehicle-to-grid energy flow (V2G) demonstration and, after a review with the DOE, V2G was removed from this demonstration project. Also proving challenging were communications between a plug-in vehicle and the grid or smart meter. While this project successfully demonstrated the vehicle to smart meter interface, cross-industry and regulatory work is still needed to define the vehicle-to-grid communication interface.

  16. Airlie House Pollution Prevention Technology Transfer pilot projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thuot, J.R.; Myron, H.; Gatrone, R.; McHenry, J.

    1996-08-01

    The projects were a series of pilot projects developed for DOE with the intention of transferring pollution prevention technology to private industry. The concept was to develop small technology transfer initiatives in partnership with the private sector. Argonne National Laboratory developed three projects: the microscale chemistry in education program, the microscale cost benefit study, and the Bethel New Life recycling trainee program. The two microscale chemistry projects focused on introducing microscale chemistry technologies to secondary and college education. These programs were inexpensive to develop and received excellent evaluations from participants and regulators. The recycle trainee project provided training for two participants and identified recycling and source reduction opportunities in Argonne`s solid waste stream. The pilot projects demonstrated that technology transfer initiatives can be developed and implemented with a small budget and within a short period of time. The essential components of the pilot projects were identification of target technologies that were already available, identification of target audiences, and a focus of effort to achieve a limited but defined objective.

  17. Hidroenergia 2010: International congress on small hydropower. Conference report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2010-07-01

    This conference, held in 2010 in Lausanne, Switzerland, gathered together the main stakeholders of the small hydropower community to debate about topics affecting the development of the sector, to exchange experience and to present new advances in the technological area. The two-day conference was held in a total of nine sessions, a poster session and a workshop. The first session was dedicated to water management in the Alps and covered new regulations, administrative procedures and finance issues. Contributions included a review of the present situation and the development of common guidelines to meet the challenge of conflicting technical and environmental objectives, the facilitation of small hydropower in Switzerland and the institutional frameworks involved, recent trends in small hydro project financing and the growing roles of venture capital, private equity and changing market dynamics. Finally the prospects for small hydropower in Serbia were discussed. In two parallel sessions the following topics were looked at: The promotion of small hydropower in Switzerland using various sources of water and remuneration for the power produced, small hydro in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, the use of karst groundwater for the underground production of power were looked at as well as the analysis of hydraulic facilities for combining pumped storage hydropower systems and wind power in Austria. The final presentation took a look at the new 'La Tzintre' hydropower project. The parallel session dealt with technical innovations and engineering solutions with presentations on the development of small diagonal turbines, the adaptation of propeller turbines to higher specific needs and the problems encountered in doing so. The use of centrifugal pumps as turbines, including a review of technology and applications were also dealt with. Two further parallel sessions looked at EU-funded projects and sustainability issues. The Sustainable Energy Europe project was

  18. GEF small grants programme - overview

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-12-01

    This paper describes the GEF small grants program which seeks to enhance the role of households and communities in conserving global biodiversity, mitigating global climate change, and protecting international waters. Grants up to $50k have been granted for projects in 33 countries, with plans for 12 other countries. The author describes the framework that the program works under, and the methodology followed in developing and planning projects. The approach to climate change concerns is to emphasize the development of non-carbon energy development activities to provide energy sources and economic development.

  19. Small Business Management Volume III: Curriculum. An Adult Education Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persons, Edgar A.; Swanson, Gordon I.

    The small business management adult education program outlined in this curriculum guide is designed to help small business entrepreneurs solve their business management problems and attain the goals they have established for their businesses and their families. (An instructor's manual and practice problems are in separate volumes.) The 3-year…

  20. All projects related to | Page 52 | IDRC - International Development ...

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

    Skills for Employment: Scaling Up Technical and Vocational Training. Project. This project will help prepare youth in East and Southern Africa for economic opportunities, and improve the skills of new labour market entrants and existing workers. Topic: TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT, YOUTH, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, EAST ...