bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
E-Government Services
Authors: Gatautis Rimantas , Vitkauskaite Elena
Published: December 2013

Adoption of ICT in the public sector has rapidly progressed over the last decade. Many national and local governmental institutions move towards more sophisticated public electronic services aiming to increase service provision efficiency and effectiveness as well as develop services attractive for citizens. However, such digitalization represents supply-driven approach while governmental institutions and software development companies move public services online. Demand side user satisfaction and acceptance usually is ignored supposing ICT-based services pretend to be modern services. Public electronic services’ acceptance heavily depends on citizens’ attitudes. In this context, citizens’ understanding of public electronic service quality plays an important role. The current chapter’s propose is to show public electronic service quality assessment model considering three perspectives – environment quality, delivery quality, and outcome quality. The proposed model is verified empirically assessing three different public electronic services in Lithuania.
Customer Satisfaction and the Role of Demographic Characteristics in Online Banking
Authors: Yaya Luc Honore Petnji , Marimon Frederic , Casadesus Marti
Published: December 2013

This chapter proposes a model that (1) analyzes the direct and indirect effects of e-service quality on satisfaction and value with the moderating/mediating role of value as well as (2) analyzes the positive impact of gender, age, education, and income on quality, satisafaction, and value. The overall results show service quality is a major predictor of perceived value, which in turn is positively related to customer satisfaction. The mediating/moderating role of perceived value on the relationship between service quality and satisfaction is confirmed. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, no relationships and no differences in the various subgroups categories of age, education, and income are detected in terms of service quality, value, and satisfaction. Consequently, customers’ demographic characteristics limitation on the adoption of online banking is now history. However, the authors recommend that managers always consider each segment of the customers’ demographic profiles individually while making their decisions.
Designing and Evaluating Web Interaction for Older Users
Authors: Spinelli Gabriella , Jain Seema
Published: December 2013

With the unprecedented changes in demographic structure, the ageing population is becoming a more powerful and attractive audience for Web-based services. To provide this group with satisfying user experiences, it is necessary to understand the impact that the ageing process has on abilities, needs, and expectations. While researchers and practitioners can apply inclusive design and methods to centre the development of Internet-based services around lifestyle and behaviours of the ageing population, it is also important to consider what innovations can be introduced to online services to make them more attractive and sustainably adopted among older people. The chapter is centred on issues affecting the online experience of users in later life: physical and cognitive abilities, aspirations, and constraints. It then provides an overview of the methods inspired by User-Centred Design. Finally, it considers challenges that go beyond the remit of design but still powerfully affect the Web experience of older users.
A Multi-Functional Interactive Image Processing Tool for Lung CT Images
Authors: Kishore V. Vijaya , Satyanarayana R. V. S.
Published: December 2013

An important requirement for clinical diagnosis and treatment is a platform for medical image processing technique that is more flexible and accurate. An interactive image processing method that can be used as a Computer Aided Detection (CAD) tool for medical image processing is proposed in this paper. The tool is developed in MATLAB to read images of different formats like tif, jpg, DICOM etc. The tool is also capable of displaying information about the loaded image of the selected format, read and save images from and to workspace. In addition to this user can use functional tools like determining the value of pixel in the image, obtain histogram, horizontal and vertical profiles of selected lines of the image, color maps of CT window that include CT bone, CT spine, CT mediastinal, auto adjustment of global intensity and selective intensity, image smoothening, manual and auto thresholding. All the mentioned functions are integrated in Graphical User Interface which is user friendly.
The Role of Personal Computers in Undergraduate Education
Authors: Butson Russell , Sim Kwong Nui
Published: December 2013

This scoping study investigated the role that personal computers play in supporting undergraduate study practice. Monitoring software was installed on the personal computers of five third year students undertaking a summer school course at the University of Otago in 2012. The data showed students’ daily academic use of their personal computers was significantly lower compared with their non-academic use. There was also no obvious relationship found when comparing overall computer use with course assignment schedules. In addition, students’ perceived use of personal computers as captured through self-reports was found to be contrary to their actual use as recorded by the computer monitoring software. The low level of use for academic purposes indicates that the personal computers did not play a significant role in the daily study practices of these students and that the current perceptions that such devices are vital to student learning may be unsound.
Authentic and Situated Learning with the Use of an Adaptive Search Engine and a QR-Code in Mobile Mode
Authors: De Pietro Orlando
Published: December 2013

The paper presents a technique of interrogation, in mobile technology, of a knowledge base contained in an e-Learning platform. The query is done through the integrated use of an adaptive search engine (ASE) and QR codes. The QR-Code are used to label objects in real environments of cultural matter (eg: museums, art galleries, archaeological sites, etc.). These objects can then be analyzed in more detail during a real learning activity (situated learning and authentic learning). The knowledge base of the virtual learning environment (VLE), is interrogated through a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) which, through an appropriate decoder software, interprets the instructions contained in a QR label previously positioned on the object actually observed by the learner (eg, during a visit to a museum). ASE combines to the data contained in the QR-Code those relating to the user who performs the query (previously recognized via the log-in on the e-Learning platform), therefore, extracts information about the observed object, adapting to the profile of the user-learner. With the help of these tools the learner can expand his real learning experience, while interacting with a virtual learning environment. In this way, situated and authentic learning activities can be upgraded and virtualized, maturing a significative educational experience with the use of intuitive and user friendly digital tools.
A Virtual Tutor for Significant Learning within e-Learning 2.0 Environments
Authors: De Pietro Orlando , Frontera Giovanni
Published: December 2013

The paper reports of an automatic application solution that allows the realization of significant learning within e-learning 2.0 environments. In particular, it is presented an intelligent agent which supports tutoring activities within an e-Learning platform. The agent interacts with the users in natural language; it integrates an adaptive search engine to do automated researches based on external sources of the knowledge base of the platform, and a monitoring system to report of any technical failure.
ECPDR
Authors: Ferrag Mohamed Amine , Nafa Mehdi , Ghanemi Salim
Published: December 2013

The recent rise and widespread adoption of wireless networked embedded systems for mobile communication applications has sparked numerous visions of an ever more networked and interactive world. One such vision proposed in the past years are wireless ad hoc social networks, where wireless ad hoc communication and mobile devices are combined with integrated social characteristics to exchange data related games, rumors, and interesting information. However, they are still faces many challenges including routing security and privacy preservation. In this paper, the authors propose an Efficient Conditional Privacy preservation scheme with Demand Response, called ECPDR, for implement an effective information security, and achieving privacy preservation of message transmitted over wireless ad hoc social networks. They choose Ad hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) as a reactive routing protocol. This routing protocol has been extended to include the necessary parameters to perform the cryptographic operations at the nodes. Based on the cooperative neighbor and the short signatures technique, the proposed ECPDR scheme can not only detect and avoid but also can preserves the message privacy against elemental attacks and compound attacks. Extensive analyses and experiments are given to demonstrate its high detection rate and practicability under various scenarios.
MACBETH
Authors: Dunbar Norah E. , Wilson Scott N. , Adame Bradley J. , Elizondo Javier , Jensen Matthew L. , Miller Claude H. , Kauffman Abigail Allums , Seltsam Toby , Bessarabova Elena , Vincent Cindy , Straub Sara K. , Ralston Ryan , Dulawan Christopher L. , Ramirez Dennis , Squire Kurt , Valacich Joseph S. , Burgoon Judee K.
Published: December 2013

This paper describes the process of rapid iterative prototyping used by a research team developing a training video game for the Sirius program funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Described are three stages of development, including a paper prototype, and builds for alpha and beta testing. Game development is documented, and the process of playtesting is reviewed with a focus on the challenges and lessons-learned. Advances made in the development of the game through the playtesting process are discussed along with implications of the rapid iterative prototyping approach.
An International Study on Learning and Process Choices in the Global Game Jam
Authors: Arya Ali , Chastine Jeff , Preston Jon , Fowler Allan
Published: December 2013

This paper reports the results of an online survey done by Global Game Jam (GGJ) participants in January 2012. This is an expansion of an earlier survey of a local game jam event and seeks to validate and extend previous studies. The objectives of this survey were collecting demographic information about the GGJ participants, understanding their motivations, studying the effectiveness of GGJ as a learning and community-building experience, and understanding the process used by GGJ participants to make a computer game in extremely limited time. The survey was done in two phases: pre-jam and post-jam. Collectively, the information in this survey can be used to (1) plan different learning experiences, (2) revise the development process for professional and academic projects, and (3) provide additional elements to game jams or change their structures based on the participants' comments to make them more fruitful.
Are Good Games Also Good Problems?
Authors: Lee Yu-Hao
Published: December 2013

Based on theories from problem-based learning, this study content analyzed how educational messages are communicated to players in 108 web-based educational games. An argument of digital game based learning was also examined. Specifically the argument that good games will engage players with problems to solve, include more learning features to support problem-solving, and are more popular because of these learning features. This study found that the majority of games communicated environmental messages not as problems to solve and reflect upon, but as explicit values and facts to accept and memorize. The games that used ill-defined problems (i.e. multiple solutions) incorporated more learning principles than games that used well-defined problems (i.e. fixed solutions) and explicit facts. However, number of learning features did not predict game popularity.
Agile Response and Collaborative Agile Workflows
Authors: Wood Lisa , Büscher Monika , van Veelen Bernard , van Splunter Sander
Published: December 2013

Crisis response tests the limits of information technologies which aim to support collaboration. This paper develops a vision of IT supported ‘agile response’ and explores the potential and challenges for workflows in this context. The authors delineate ‘collaborative agile workflows’ as a candidate response to these challenges.
“You’ve Been Warned?”
Authors: Plotnick Linda , Hiltz Starr Roxanne , Burns Matthew
Published: December 2013

Outdoor emergency sirens are used as a major component of the Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Alert and Notification System in tornado-prone Alabama and many other areas of the U.S. This study examines public perceptions and reactions to the sirens for notification of tornadoes as well as perceptions of the usefulness of alternative means of notification. In April 2011 a major tornado swept through northeast Alabama leaving in its wake over 300 fatalities and massive destruction. Faculty and students of a mid-sized university in Calhoun County, Alabama were surveyed before and after the devastating 2011 tornado. Although the respondents find the sirens helpful, they have difficulty understanding the tones and spoken messages emitted by the sirens. In general, concerns about tornadoes did not increase after the 2011 tornado. However, those who did experience an increase in concern were likely to change their behavior in preparations and response to tornadoes.
Targeted Online Marketing using Social Networking
Authors: Watfa Mohamed K. , Najafi Nima , Bakkar Mahmoud Numan
Published: December 2013

For the past century, companies have had the luxury of deciding what they will produce and sell, what their brand message will be and how they will deliver it to their audience. Planning how best to allocate marketing dollars is arguably the most annoying challenge marketers face. The social web and more specifically, Web 2.0 have changed the original marketing strategy and have done so by giving rise to a new way of marketing where people belong to different social groups and markets have become conversations or recommendations. Social networking sites such as Facebook have reported exponential growth rates and have attracted millions of registered users, and they are interesting from a marketing point of view because they store large amounts of sensitive personal user data. In this paper, the authors introduce a targeted Marketing strategy that exploits group membership information that is available on social networking sites. More precisely, the authors show that information about the group memberships of a user can lead to a more efficient target marketing campaign. To determine the group membership of a user, the authors leverage well-known web browser history recording attacks and other available crawling services. The authors’ proposed algorithm is designed to use the captured customers' details and generate target marketing campaigns by relating each customer with certain rank of products. The authors demonstrate an Experiment by sending a SPAM Email to more than one thousand Facebook users and relate them with certain product pages. To measure the efficiency of the proposed techniques, the authors analyzed how many people have consequently accessed those pages and clicked on the products links inside those pages to get a promising success factor of 82%.
Reputation and Legitimacy
Authors: Kuoppakangas Päivikki , Suomi Kati , Horton Khim
Published: December 2013

The aim of this study is to map the principal reputation risks and threats to legitimacy in the processes of organisational change among the three cases in question. The key focus is on the core aims and dilemmas associated with transformation into a municipal enterprise form. According to the results, isomorphic forces affect the institutional process in enhancing and diminishing the isomorphism, and in simultaneously creating dilemmas that pose a risk to the organisation’s reputation and threaten its legitimacy. The findings further highlight the need to investigate strategic dilemma management as a tool for controlling reputation risks and legitimacy in the management of change in the public-healthcare sector.
The Computer-Related Self Concept
Authors: Janneck Monique , Vincent-Höper Sylvie , Ehrhardt Jasmin
Published: December 2013

This paper presents the computer-related self-concept as a new theoretical approach to analyzing and understanding computer-related attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. The approach integrates different lines of research on computer-related self-cognitions. The authors developed and validated a questionnaire to measure the computer-related self-concept and conducted a large online survey with more than 1100 male and female computing professionals. Results show that men have a significantly more positive computer-related self-concept than women. Furthermore, the computer-related self-concept shows high correlations with career motivation. Thus, the concept might serve to further analyze computer-related gender differences and eventually to devise supportive measures in order to foster women’s careers in computing. Further prospects for using the computer-related self-concept in research on human-computer interaction are also explored.
Influences of Frame Incongruence on Information Security Policy Outcomes
Authors: Laaksonen Anna Elina , Niemimaa Marko , Harnesk Dan
Published: December 2013

Despite the significant resources organizations devote to information security policies, the policies rarely produce intended outcome. Prior research has sought to explain motivations for non-compliance and suggested approaches for motivating employees for compliance using theories largely derived from psychology. However, the socio-cognitive structures that shape employees' perceptions of the policies and how they influence policy outcomes have received only modest attention. In this study, the authors draw on the socio-cognitive theory of frames and on literature on information security policies in order to suggest a theoretical and analytical concept of Information Security Policy Frames of Reference (ISPFOR). The concept is applied as a sensitizing device, in order to systematically analyze and interpret how the perceptions of policies are shaped by the frames and how they influence policy outcomes. The authors apply the sensitizing device in an interpretive case study conducted at a large multinational internet service provider. The authors’ findings suggest the frames shape the perceptions and can provide a socio-cognitive explanation for unanticipated policy outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
On ‘Inscribed’ and ‘Enacted’ Connectivity
Authors: Akoumianakis Demosthenes , Bessis Nik
Published: December 2013

This paper serves as a tutorial introduction to the themes and concepts of the special issue on ‘Social Networking and Mining’. It is aimed to provide an overview of the type of connectivity that emerges in social media and a reflection on the papers reviewed and selected for publication in this special issue. In this vein, connectivity is approached both in its ‘inscribed’ form which anchors it as a quality feature embedded in technologies as well as in its ‘enacted’ form which entails a social accomplishment that materializes as users appropriate technologies and co-engage in a certain practice. Each form points to different issues and entails considerations rooted in various theoretical fields and scholarships. Of particular interest to the present study is how such ‘inscribed’ and ‘enacted’ connectivity is traced, revealed and experienced.
Opportunistic Networks
Authors: Ciobanu Radu Ioan , Dobre Ciprian
Published: December 2013

When mobile devices are unable to establish direct communication, or when communication should be offloaded to cope with large throughputs, mobile collaboration can be used to facilitate communication through opportunistic networks. These types of networks, formed when mobile devices communicate only using short-range transmission protocols, usually when users are close, can help applications still exchange data. Routes are built dynamically, since each mobile device is acting according to the store-carry-and-forward paradigm. Thus, contacts are seen as opportunities to move data towards the destination. In such networks data dissemination is usually based on a publish/subscribe model. Opportunistic data dissemination also raises questions concerning user privacy and incentives. In this the authors present a motivation of using opportunistic networks in various real life use cases, and then analyze existing relevant work in the area of data dissemination. The authors present the categories of a proposed taxonomy that captures the capabilities of data dissemination techniques used in opportunistic networks. Moreover, the authors survey relevant techniques and analyze them using the proposed taxonomy.
Are Accessible Distance Learning Systems Useful for All Students?
Authors: Iglesias Ana , Moreno Lourdes , Cuadra Dolores , Castro Elena
Published: December 2013

Nowadays the use of distance learning systems is widely extended in engineering education. Moreover, most of them use multimedia resources that sometimes are the only educational material available to provide certain educational knowledge to the students. Unfortunately, most of the current educational systems and their educational content present accessibility barriers so some students cannot access to these educational resources. This paper introduces IMES, an inclusive system designed to ensure that students of all abilities can access the educational content of the system. But, are all the students (not only students with disabilities) satisfied with this kind of inclusive applications? Are they useful for all the students? One hundred and eight students participated in the evaluation of the system during an academic course at Universidad Carlos III of Madrid. The evaluation shows that the system presents educational benefits to all the students in terms of usefulness and user’s satisfaction.
Joyfully Map Social Dynamics when Designing Web-Based Courses
Authors: Ahamer Gilbert
Published: December 2013

This paper provides a concept and a notation for optimizing the design of social processes in gaming and learning for individuals, groups of individuals and society as a whole. Traditional approaches to the mapping and designing of the emerging social dynamics in a joyful, social education setting have fallen short of producing desirable results due to the lack of joint consideration of social processes occurring in several dimensions and their intrinsic interconnectedness. This paper suggests writing down gaming procedures by means of musical score. Such a mapping strategy allows for heuristic analysis of the social dynamics occurring at the following four levels: logical information conveyed (S), team building (A), debate & discourse (T), and integration with others’ experience (B). This paper then concludes by identifying a dynamic structure of learning frameworks that may be capable of delivering an optimal learning effect for both individual and collective learning endeavors.
Determining the Consistency of Student Grading in a Hybrid Business Course using a LMS and Statistical Software
Authors: Strang Kenneth David
Published: December 2013

Extant literature asserted that peer assessments improved learning but only a few studies had addressed the student rating consistency issue and not had evaluated this within a Learning Management System (LMS). The researcher explored how to conduct peer assessments in Moodle LMS for a hybrid-mode business course (N=90 students) which required 270 (25-page) reports. Rater agreement statistical theory was applied to test the consistency of student peer assessments. The resulting coefficient was 0.79 and statistically significant. A pair-wise t-test and a nonparametric Mann Whitley u-test confirmed there was no significant difference between the student ratings and the scores given by the professor on the same assignments. Nonparametric Spearman correlation was very high between each student rating coefficient as compared to the score given in Moodle, which indicated the LMS was reliable in providing a grade for the quality of student peer assessment. A protocol was developed using SPSS to calculate a peer assessment inter-rater agreement consistency indicator since this was not available in Moodle.
Taxonomic and faunistic note on italian Mordellidae (Coleoptera Tenebrionoidea) with redescription of Variimorda (Variimorda) argyropleura (Franciscolo, 1942)
Authors: Ruzzier Enrico
Published: December 2013

Abstract- In this paper will be given new faunistic records of Italian Mordellidae and an updated check list. Variimorda argyropleura will be redescribed and a new taxonomic combination will be proposed.
Descrizione di una nuova specie neotropicale di Elateridae: Anaissus (Anaissus) cororoensis n. sp. (Coleoptera Elateridae Agrypninae)
Authors: Riese Sergio
Published: December 2013

Viene descritta una nuova specie di Elateridae neotropicale: Anaissus (Anaissus) cororoensis n. sp. del Paraguay (♂♀, loc. typ.: Paraguay, Cororo). il genere Anaissus, stabilito da Candéze nel 1857 per la specie A. tarsalis come facente parte dei Crepidomeninae, è stato messo in relazione da Calder (1978) coi Pyrophorinae e trasferito da Costa, Lawrence e rosa (2010) agli Agrypninae. Viene descritta una nuova specie di questo genere del Paraguay: Anaissus (Anaissus) cororoensis n. sp. (♂♀, loc. typ. Paraguay, Cororo). La nuova specie presenta lo stesso habitus di A. fuscipes Calder, 1978, ma si distingue da quest’ultimo per l’aspetto opaco, i lati del pronoto non arrotondati, i punti del pronoto più profondi, larghi e densi e per la carena degli angoli posteriori poco visibile.
226Ra determination via the rate of 222Rn ingrowth with the Radium Delayed Coincidence Counter (RaDeCC)
Authors: Geibert Walter , Rodellas Valentí , Annett Amber , van Beek Pieter , Garcia‐Orellana Jordi , Hsieh Yu‐Te , Masque Pere
Published: December 2013

We present a new method to determine 226Ra in aqueous environmental samples, based on the rate of ingrowth of 222Rn from 226Ra, using the radium delayed coincidence counter (RaDeCC). We use the same instrument setup that is used for the determination of 223Ra and 224Ra. In contrast to methods published earlier, the approach does not require a modification of the counting equipment, counting separately for 226Ra, or waiting for radioactive equilibrium. We show that the calibration works from as low as 10 dpm (0.166 Bq) per sample, up to more than 1000 dpm (16.7 Bq). Although uncertainties are larger (typically around 10%) than reported uncertainties for γ counting, liquid scintillation, or mass spectrometry at comparable activities, the simple setup, low cost, and robustness of the method make it a useful approach for underway measurements, combinations with short‐lived radium isotopes, or monitoring purposes when limited funding or infrastructure is available.
A total quasi-steady-state formulation of substrate uptake kinetics in complex networks and an example application to microbial litter decomposition
Authors: Tang J. Y. , Riley W. J.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. We demonstrate that substrate uptake kinetics in any consumer–substrate network subject to the total quasi-steady-state assumption can be formulated as an equilibrium chemistry (EC) problem. If the consumer-substrate complexes equilibrate much faster than other metabolic processes, then the relationships between consumers, substrates, and consumer-substrate complexes are in quasi-equilibrium and the change of a given total substrate (free plus consumer-bounded) is determined by the degradation of all its consumer-substrate complexes. In this EC formulation, the corresponding equilibrium reaction constants are the conventional Michaelis–Menten (MM) substrate affinity constants. When all of the elements in a given network are either consumer or substrate (but not both), we derived a first-order accurate EC approximation (ECA). The ECA kinetics is compatible with almost every existing extension of MM kinetics. In particular, for microbial organic matter decomposition modeling, ECA kinetics explicitly predicts a specific microbe's uptake for a specific substrate as a function of the microbe's affinity for the substrate, other microbes' affinity for the substrate, and the shielding effect on substrate uptake by environmental factors, such as mineral surface adsorption. By taking the EC solution as a reference, we evaluated MM and ECA kinetics for their abilities to represent several differently configured enzyme-substrate reaction networks. In applying the ECA and MM kinetics to microbial models of different complexities, we found (i) both the ECA and MM kinetics accurately reproduced the EC solution when multiple microbes are competing for a single substrate; (ii) ECA outperformed MM kinetics in reproducing the EC solution when a single microbe is feeding on multiple substrates; (iii) the MM kinetics failed, while the ECA kinetics succeeded, in reproducing the EC solution when multiple consumers (i.e., microbes and mineral surfaces) were competing for multiple substrates. We then applied the EC and ECA kinetics to a guild based C-only microbial litter decomposition model and found that both approaches successfully simulated the commonly observed (i) two-phase temporal evolution of the decomposition dynamics; (ii) final asymptotic convergence of the lignocellulose index to a constant that depends on initial litter chemistry and microbial community structure; and (iii) microbial biomass proportion of total organic biomass (litter plus microbes). In contrast, the MM kinetics failed to realistically predict these metrics. We therefore conclude that the ECA kinetics are more robust than the MM kinetics in representing complex microbial, C substrate, and mineral surface interactions. Finally, we discuss how these concepts can be applied to other consumer–substrate networks.
Oscillatory behavior of two nonlinear microbial models of soil carbon decomposition
Authors: Wang Y. P. , Chen B. C. , Wieder W. R. , Luo Y. Q. , Leite M. , Medlyn B. E. , Rasmussen M. , Smith M. J. , Agusto F. B. , Hoffman F.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. A number of nonlinear models have recently been proposed for simulating soil carbon decomposition. Their predictions of soil carbon responses to fresh litter input and warming differ significantly from conventional linear models. Using both stability analysis and numerical simulations, we showed that two of those nonlinear models (a two-pool model and a three-pool model) exhibit damped oscillatory responses to small perturbations. Stability analysis showed the frequency of oscillation is proportional to √ (ϵ −1−1)Ks/Vs in the two-pool model, and to √ (ϵ −1−1)Kl/Vl in the three-pool model, where ϵ is microbial growth efficiency, Ks and Kl are the half saturation constants of soil and litter carbon, respectively, and Vs and Vl are the maximal rates of carbon decomposition per unit of microbial biomass for soil and litter carbon, respectively. For both models, the oscillation has a period between 5 and 15 yr depending on other parameter values, and has smaller amplitude at soil temperatures between 0 °C to 15 °C. In addition, the equilibrium pool sizes of litter or soil carbon are insensitive to carbon inputs in the nonlinear model, but are proportional to carbon input in the conventional linear model. Under warming, the microbial biomass and litter carbon pools simulated by the nonlinear models can increase or decrease, depending whether ϵ varies with temperature. In contrast, the conventional linear models always simulate a decrease in both microbial and litter carbon pools with warming. Based on the evidence available, we concluded that the oscillatory behavior and insensitivity of soil carbon to carbon input in the nonlinear models are unrealistic. We recommend that a better model for capturing the soil carbon dynamics over decadal to centennial timescales would combine the sensitivity of the conventional models to carbon influx with the flexible response to warming of the nonlinear model.
A numerical analysis of the role of the microbial loop in regulating nutrient stoichiometry and phytoplankton dynamics in a eutrophic lake
Authors: Li Y. , Gal G. , Makler-Pick V. , Waite A. M. , Bruce L. C. , Hipsey M. R.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. The recycling of organic material through bacteria and microzooplankton to higher trophic levels, known as the "microbial loop", is an important process in aquatic ecosystems. Here the significance of the microbial loop in influencing nutrient supply to phytoplankton is investigated in Lake Kinneret (Israel) using a coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem model. The model was designed to simulate the dynamic cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus through bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton functional groups, with each pool having unique C : N : P dynamics. Three microbial loop sub-model configurations were used to isolate mechanisms by which the microbial loop could influence phytoplankton biomass, considering: (i) the role of bacterial mineralization, (ii) bacterial ability to compete for dissolved inorganic nutrients, and (iii) the effect of micrograzer excretion. The nutrient flux pathways between the abiotic pools and biotic groups and the patterns of biomass and nutrient limitation of the different phytoplankton groups were quantified for the different model configurations. Considerable variation in phytoplankton biomass and dissolved organic matter demonstrated the sensitivity of predictions to assumptions about microbial loop operation and the specific mechanisms by which phytoplankton growth was affected. Comparison of the simulations identified that the microbial loop most significantly altered phytoplankton growth by periodically amplifying internal phosphorus limitation due to bacterial competition for phosphate to satisfy their own stoichiometric requirements. Importantly, each configuration led to a unique prediction of the overall community composition, and we conclude that the microbial loop plays an important role in nutrient recycling by regulating not only the quantity, but also the stoichiometry of available N and P that is available to primary producers. The results demonstrate how commonly employed simplifying assumptions about model structure can lead to large uncertainty in phytoplankton community predictions and highlight the need for aquatic ecosystem models to carefully resolve the variable stoichiometry dynamics of microbial interactions.
Correction of approximation errors with Random Forests applied to modelling of cloud droplet formation
Authors: Lipponen A. , Kolehmainen V. , Romakkaniemi S. , Kokkola H.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. In atmospheric models, due to their computational time or resource limitations, physical processes have to be simulated using reduced (i.e. simplified) models. The use of a reduced model, however, induces errors to the simulation results. These errors are referred to as approximation errors. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to correct these approximation errors. We model the approximation error as an additive noise process in the simulation model and employ the Random Forest (RF) regression algorithm for constructing a computationally low cost predictor for the approximation error. In this way, the overall simulation problem is decomposed into two separate and computationally efficient simulation problems: solution of the reduced model and prediction of the approximation error realisation. The approach is tested for handling approximation errors due to a reduced coarse sectional representation of aerosol size distribution in a cloud droplet formation calculation as well as for compensating the uncertainty caused by the aerosol activation parameterization itself. The results show a significant improvement in the accuracy of the simulation compared to the conventional simulation with a reduced model. The proposed approach is rather general and extension of it to different parameterizations or reduced process models that are coupled to geoscientific models is a straightforward task. Another major benefit of this method is that it can be applied to physical processes that are dependent on a large number of variables making them difficult to be parameterized by traditional methods.
Influence of high-resolution surface databases on the modeling of local atmospheric circulation systems
Authors: Paiva L. M. S. , Bodstein G. C. R. , Pimentel L. C. G.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. Large-eddy simulations are performed using the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) code at horizontal grid resolutions as fine as 300 m to assess the influence of detailed and updated surface databases on the modeling of local atmospheric circulation systems of urban areas with complex terrain. Applications to air pollution and wind energy are sought. These databases are comprised of 3 arc-sec topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, 10 arc-sec vegetation type data from the European Space Agency (ESA) GlobCover Project, and 30 arc-sec Leaf Area Index and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation data from the ESA GlobCarbon Project. Simulations are carried out for the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro using six one-way nested-grid domains that allow the choice of distinct parametric models and vertical resolutions associated to each grid. ARPS is initialized using the Global Forecasting System with 0.5°-resolution data from the National Center of Environmental Prediction, which is also used every 3 h as lateral boundary condition. Topographic shading is turned on and two soil layers with depths of 0.01 and 1.0 m are used to compute the soil temperature and moisture budgets in all runs. Results for two simulated runs covering the period from 6 to 7 September 2007 are compared to surface and upper-air observational data to explore the dependence of the simulations on initial and boundary conditions, topographic and land-use databases and grid resolution. Our comparisons show overall good agreement between simulated and observed data and also indicate that the low resolution of the 30 arc-sec soil database from United States Geological Survey, the soil moisture and skin temperature initial conditions assimilated from the GFS analyses and the synoptic forcing on the lateral boundaries of the finer grids may affect an adequate spatial description of the meteorological variables.
Assessment of surface water resources availability using catchment modeling and the results of tracer studies in the meso-scale Migina Catchment, Rwanda
Authors: Munyaneza O. , Mukubwa A. , Maskey S. , Wenninger J. , Uhlenbrook S.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. In the last couple of years, different hydrological research projects were undertaken in the Migina catchment (243.2 km2), a tributary of the Kagera river in Southern Rwanda. These projects were aimed to understand hydrological processes of the catchment using analytical and experimental approaches and to build a pilot case whose experience can be extended to other catchments in Rwanda. In the present study, we developed a hydrological model of the catchment, which can be used to inform water resources planning and decision making. The semi-distributed hydrological model HEC-HMS (version 3.5) was used with its soil moisture accounting, unit hydrograph, liner reservoir (for base flow) and Muskingum-Cunge (river routing) methods. We used rainfall data from 12 stations and streamflow data from 5 stations, which were collected as part of this study over a period of two years (May 2009 and June 2011). The catchment was divided into five sub-catchments each represented by one of the five observed streamflow gauges. The model parameters were calibrated separately for each sub-catchment using the observed streamflow data. Calibration results obtained were found acceptable at four stations with a Nash–Sutcliffe Model Efficiency of 0.65 on daily runoff at the catchment outlet. Due to the lack of sufficient and reliable data for longer periods, a model validation (split sample test) was not undertaken. However, we used results from tracer based hydrograph separation from a previous study to compare our model results in terms of the runoff components. It was shown that the model performed well in simulating the total flow volume, peak flow and timing as well as the portion of direct runoff and base flow. We observed considerable disparities in the parameters (e.g. groundwater storage) and runoff components across the five sub-catchments, that provided insights into the different hydrological processes at sub-catchment scale. We conclude that such disparities justify the need to consider catchment subdivisions, if such parameters and components of the water cycle are to form the base for decision making in water resources planning in the Migina catchment.
An attempt to deal with flash floods using a probabilistic hydrological nowcasting chain: a case study
Authors: Silvestro F. , Rebora N. , Cummings G.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. The forecast of flash floods is sometimes impossible. In the last two decades, Numerical Weather Prediction Systems have become increasingly reliable with very relevant improvements in terms of quantitative precipitation forecasts. However, some types of events, those that are intense and localized in small areas, are still very difficult to predict. In many cases meteorological models fail to predict the volume of precipitable water at the large scale. Despite the application of modern probabilistic chains that uses precipitation downscaling algorithms in order to forecast the streamflow, some significant flood events remain unpredicted. This was also the case with an event which occurred on 8 and 9 June 2011 in the eastern part of the Liguria Region, Italy. This event affected in particular the Entella basin, which is quite a small watershed that flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The application of a hydrological nowcasting chain as a tool for predicting flash-floods in small and medium size basins with an anticipation time of a few hours (2–5) is here presented. This work investigated the "behaviour" of the chain in the cited event and how it could be exploited for operational purposes. The results in this particular case were encouraging.
The extreme runoff index for flood early warning in Europe
Authors: Alfieri L. , Pappenberger F. , Wetterhall F.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. Systems for the early detection of floods over continental and global domains have a key role in providing a quick overview of areas at risk, raise the awareness and prompt higher detail analyses as the events approach. However, the reliability of these systems is prone to spatial inhomogeneity, depending on the quality of the underlying input data and local calibration. This work proposes a simple approach for flood early warning based on ensemble numerical predictions of surface runoff, provided by weather forecasting centers. The system is based on a novel indicator, referred to as Extreme Runoff Index, which is calculated from the input data through a statistical analysis. It is designed for use in large or poorly gauged domains, as no local knowledge or in situ observations are needed for its setup. Daily runs over 32 months are evaluated against calibrated hydrological simulations for the entire Europe. Results show skillful flood early warning capabilities up to a 10 day lead time. A dedicated analysis is performed to investigate the optimal timing of forecasts to maximize the detection of extreme events. A case study for the Central Europe floods in June 2013 is presented and forecasts compared to the output of a hydro-meteorological ensemble model.
New insights on the occurrence of peperites and sedimentary deposits within the silicic volcanic sequences of the Paraná Magmatic Province, Brazil
Authors: Luchetti A. C. F. , Nardy A. J. R. , Machado F. B. , Madeira J. , Arnosio J. M.
Published: December 2013

Abstract. In the Paraná Basin (southern and southeastern Brazil), the stratigraphy of the Paraná Magmatic Province (PMP) is composed of a thick (up to 1600 m) volcanic sequence formed by a succession of petrographically and geochemically distinct units of basic and acidic composition. The whole package may have been emplaced in approximately 3 million yr of almost uninterrupted activity. A few aeolian sandstone layers, indicating arid environmental conditions (Botucatu Formation), are interlayered in the lower basalts. Above the basalts, the Palmas and Chapecó Members of the Early Cretaceous Serra Geral Formation, are composed of silicic volcanic rocks (trachydacites, dacites, rhyolites, and rhyodacites) and basalts. This paper presents new evidence of episodes of sedimentation separating silicic volcanic events, expressed by occurrences of sedimentary deposits. Interaction between the volcanic bodies and the coeval unconsolidated sediments formed peperites. The sediments were observed between basaltic lava flows and silicic rocks or interlayered in the Palmas type rocks, between Chapecó type rocks and underlying basaltic flows, between silicic bodies of Palmas and Chapecó types, and interlayered with Palmas type units. The observed structures indicate that the sediments were still wet and unconsolidated, or weakly consolidated, at the time of volcanism, which coupled with the sediment features reflect environmental conditions that are different from those characterizing the Botucatu arid conditions.
Gentrificación y renovación urbana. Abordajes conceptuales y expresiones en América Latina
Authors: Vergala Constela Carlos
Published: December 2013

Enmarcado en la elaboración del trabajo final para la obtención del título de Máster en Estudios Territoriales y de la Población (UAB), el objetivo del presente artículo es exhibir una reflexión teórica sobre las relaciones entre gentrificación y renovación urbana con foco en América Latina. Con la reestructuración productiva a escala global como contexto, se indican los lineamientos primarios entre gentrificación y renovación urbana; luego se abordan los principales enfoques teóricos de la gentrificación residencial; se continúa con una breve exposición de un concepto emergente: gentrificación productiva; en la sección siguiente se hace una sucinta revisión de seis casos de renovación urbana y gentrificación en América Latina generando una posterior discusión teórica en torno a la temática; para finalizar con las principales conclusiones de la reflexión exhibiendo cuatro dimensiones constitutivas del concepto.
Probability, Objectivity, and Induction
Authors: Baise Arnold
Published: December 2013

The main purpose of this article is to use Ayn Rand's analysis of the meaning of objectivity to clarify the much-discussed question of whether probability is “objective” or “subjective.” This results in a classification of probability theories as frequentist, subjective Bayesian, or objective Bayesian. The work of objective Bayesian E. T. Jaynes is emphasized, and is used to provide a formal definition of probability. The relation between probability and induction is covered briefly, with probability theory presented as the basis of inductive inference.
Examining The Fountainhead
Authors: Seddon Fred
Published: December 2013

Robert Mayhew has edited a series of books featuring essays examining the novels of Ayn Rand. This book is the third in the series, and it is a highly recommended collection. Among the best essays are those written by Shoshana Milgram, Jeff Britting, Tore Boeckmann, and Mayhew. The book does, however, suffer from a few scholarly lapses.