title: Using ontologies to reason about the usability of interactive medical devices in multiple situations of use

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: Ontologies

abstract: Formally modelling interactive software systems and devices allows us to prove properties of correctness about such devices, and thus ensure effectiveness of their use. It also enables us to consider interaction properties such as usability and consistency between the interface and system functionality. Interactive modal devices, that have a ﬁxed interface but whose behaviour is dependent on the mode of the device, can be similarly modelled. Such devices always behave in the same way (i.e. have the same functionality and interaction possibilities) irrespective of how, or where, they are used. However, a user’s interaction with such devices may vary according to the physical location or environment in which they are situated (we refer to this as a system’s context and usage situation). In this paper we look at a particular example of a safety-critical system, that of a modal interactive medical syringe pump, which is used in multiple situations. We consider how ontologies can be used to reason about the effects of different situations on the use of such devices.

text: Using ontologies to reason about the usability of interactive medical devices in multiple situations of use Formally modelling interactive software systems and devices allows us to prove properties of correctness about such devices, and thus ensure effectiveness of their use. It also enables us to consider interaction properties such as usability and consistency between the interface and system functionality. Interactive modal devices, that have a ﬁxed interface but whose behaviour is dependent on the mode of the device, can be similarly modelled. Such devices always behave in the same way (i.e. have the same functionality and interaction possibilities) irrespective of how, or where, they are used. However, a user’s interaction with such devices may vary according to the physical location or environment in which they are situated (we refer to this as a system’s context and usage situation). In this paper we look at a particular example of a safety-critical system, that of a modal interactive medical syringe pump, which is used in multiple situations. We consider how ontologies can be used to reason about the effects of different situations on the use of such devices.

year: 2012

title: Do long-tailed bats alter their evening activity in response to aircraft noise?

authors: Le Roux, Darren Shaun

subjects: aircraft activity

abstract: Human-generated noise may alter animal activity patterns and mask vocal signals. We used field-based observations and a playback experiment to investigate whether aircraft activity and noise alter the evening activity of New Zealand long-tailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) a cryptic threatened species. Low-altitude aircraft activity temporally overlapped bat activity near the runway of an international airport, but was unlikely to mask echolocation pulses as aircraft noise was most intense at ≤ 10 kHz. There was no statistically significant difference in mean bat activity during and after overflights compared with pre-aircraft activity. The experiment revealed that playback stimuli (aircraft passes and two controls: silent tracks and blackbird (Turdus merula) calls) differed in their effect on bat activity at two sites, one with low and one with high aircraft activity. Simulated aircraft noise and silent tracks reduced bat activity when compared with blackbird calls (P < 0.05). Bats may have found it easier to detect observers during the playback of silent tracks (sampling involved walking circuits with hand-held detectors), and may have reduced activity to a perceived threat. This result suggests that broadcasted aircraft noise is no more disturbing than researcher presence during playback trials. Evidence for a site × playback stimuli interaction (P = 0.054) suggests that bats at the site with high aircraft activity may have habituated to aircraft noise. Both correlative and experimental data suggests that aircraft activity and noise may not have major impacts on long-tailed bat activity.

text: Do long-tailed bats alter their evening activity in response to aircraft noise? Human-generated noise may alter animal activity patterns and mask vocal signals. We used field-based observations and a playback experiment to investigate whether aircraft activity and noise alter the evening activity of New Zealand long-tailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) a cryptic threatened species. Low-altitude aircraft activity temporally overlapped bat activity near the runway of an international airport, but was unlikely to mask echolocation pulses as aircraft noise was most intense at ≤ 10 kHz. There was no statistically significant difference in mean bat activity during and after overflights compared with pre-aircraft activity. The experiment revealed that playback stimuli (aircraft passes and two controls: silent tracks and blackbird (Turdus merula) calls) differed in their effect on bat activity at two sites, one with low and one with high aircraft activity. Simulated aircraft noise and silent tracks reduced bat activity when compared with blackbird calls (P < 0.05). Bats may have found it easier to detect observers during the playback of silent tracks (sampling involved walking circuits with hand-held detectors), and may have reduced activity to a perceived threat. This result suggests that broadcasted aircraft noise is no more disturbing than researcher presence during playback trials. Evidence for a site × playback stimuli interaction (P = 0.054) suggests that bats at the site with high aircraft activity may have habituated to aircraft noise. Both correlative and experimental data suggests that aircraft activity and noise may not have major impacts on long-tailed bat activity.

year: 2012

title: Waikato Taniwharau: Prioritising competing needs in the management of the Waikato River

authors: Morgan, Te Kipa Kepa Brian

subjects: Mauri

abstract: The Waikato River system is New Zealand’s longest river and has significant spiritual relevance for the Waikato-Tainui people and other river iwi, who regard it as an indicator of their mauri or well-being, and central to their identity. The Waikato has also been the focus of on-going tensions between Māori cultural and spiritual values and beliefs, and national engineering objectives. The Waikato River was the primary source of food, transportation and communications link for the region and of pivotal military significance in the New Zealand land wars of the 19th Century. The river system is also a strategic asset for power generation and the flow has been extensively modified with the engineering of dams, lakes, tunnels and canals used to generate one sixth of New Zealand's total electrical generating capacity via the Waikato and Tongariro Power schemes. 
Large scale deforestation in combination with altered hydrologic characteristics have resulted in siltation of the once navigable river. The Waikato is impacted upon by numerous sources of pollution including; Arsenic from a Geothermal Power Station; nutrient enrichment from fertilizer and effluent spreading practices in dairy farming; more than 80 point source discharges to the main stem; and 1,600 discharges to its tributaries. 
The river system contains numerous fish types and has an international reputation for fishing. More than twenty communities extract and treat its waters for potable use including Auckland City. Historic practices resulted in significant adverse impacts on water quality and the mauri of the Waikato. The river is now administered by a regional council. These attributes make the Waikato River a complex management challenge: a contemporary relevance of the widely known metaphor; Waikato Taniwharau (Waikato with hundreds of guardians). 
Aotearoa New Zealand is currently resolving policy issues for the effective management of its fresh water resource. A national survey of opinion in 2005 distilled public priorities for fresh water management. The Freshwater for a Sustainable Future consultation identified many concerns and that the management of these resources is not being carried out in a sustainable manner. The Land and Water forum acknowledged many of these issues in the National Policy on Fresh Water (2010). The New Zealand government is currently preparing to sell down its 100% control of the hydro generation assets on the river, through a sale of shares in the State owned Enterprises that manage these assets. 
During the initial public consultation, responses from Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, indicated that there existed significant dissatisfaction with past management and a lack of confidence in future policy and water management decision making. The dissatisfaction manifested as broad opposition to and indifference towards participation in consultation. In subsequent years, some Māori groups have nevertheless chosen to engage in research processes seeking improvements on past practice. A Decision Making Framework (DMF) developed in 2004 has been adopted in several of these proposals due to its ability to balance the competing priorities of engineers representing the dominant western worldview and Māori, the Tangata Whenua (people of the land). 
The Mauri Model DMF is unique in its approach to the management of water resources as the framework offers a transparent and inclusive approach to considering the environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of decisions being contemplated. The Mauri Model DMF is unique because it is capable of including multiple-worldviews and adopts mauri (intrinsic value or well-being) in the place of money based assessments of pseudo sustainability using Cost Benefit Analysis. 
The Mauri Model DMF does this using a two stage process that first identifies participants’ worldviews and inherent bias regarding water resource management, and then facilitates transparent assessment of selected sustainability performance indicators. The assessment can then be contemplated as the separate environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the decision, collectively as an overall result; or the priorities associated with different worldviews can be applied to determine the sensitivity of the result to different cultural contexts or worldviews. 
A sustainability assessment for the Waikato River is presented within the context of new co-management aspirations that require decision making to reflect the values of both the Government and the Waikato-Tainui peoples. How might the Mauri Model contribute in the complex context of co-management of the Waikato River? Three existing resource uses are assessed to illustrate the contribution that alternative frameworks can make to an enhanced understanding of the challenges that the new co-management regime will need to overcome.

text: Waikato Taniwharau: Prioritising competing needs in the management of the Waikato River The Waikato River system is New Zealand’s longest river and has significant spiritual relevance for the Waikato-Tainui people and other river iwi, who regard it as an indicator of their mauri or well-being, and central to their identity. The Waikato has also been the focus of on-going tensions between Māori cultural and spiritual values and beliefs, and national engineering objectives. The Waikato River was the primary source of food, transportation and communications link for the region and of pivotal military significance in the New Zealand land wars of the 19th Century. The river system is also a strategic asset for power generation and the flow has been extensively modified with the engineering of dams, lakes, tunnels and canals used to generate one sixth of New Zealand's total electrical generating capacity via the Waikato and Tongariro Power schemes. 
Large scale deforestation in combination with altered hydrologic characteristics have resulted in siltation of the once navigable river. The Waikato is impacted upon by numerous sources of pollution including; Arsenic from a Geothermal Power Station; nutrient enrichment from fertilizer and effluent spreading practices in dairy farming; more than 80 point source discharges to the main stem; and 1,600 discharges to its tributaries. 
The river system contains numerous fish types and has an international reputation for fishing. More than twenty communities extract and treat its waters for potable use including Auckland City. Historic practices resulted in significant adverse impacts on water quality and the mauri of the Waikato. The river is now administered by a regional council. These attributes make the Waikato River a complex management challenge: a contemporary relevance of the widely known metaphor; Waikato Taniwharau (Waikato with hundreds of guardians). 
Aotearoa New Zealand is currently resolving policy issues for the effective management of its fresh water resource. A national survey of opinion in 2005 distilled public priorities for fresh water management. The Freshwater for a Sustainable Future consultation identified many concerns and that the management of these resources is not being carried out in a sustainable manner. The Land and Water forum acknowledged many of these issues in the National Policy on Fresh Water (2010). The New Zealand government is currently preparing to sell down its 100% control of the hydro generation assets on the river, through a sale of shares in the State owned Enterprises that manage these assets. 
During the initial public consultation, responses from Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, indicated that there existed significant dissatisfaction with past management and a lack of confidence in future policy and water management decision making. The dissatisfaction manifested as broad opposition to and indifference towards participation in consultation. In subsequent years, some Māori groups have nevertheless chosen to engage in research processes seeking improvements on past practice. A Decision Making Framework (DMF) developed in 2004 has been adopted in several of these proposals due to its ability to balance the competing priorities of engineers representing the dominant western worldview and Māori, the Tangata Whenua (people of the land). 
The Mauri Model DMF is unique in its approach to the management of water resources as the framework offers a transparent and inclusive approach to considering the environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of decisions being contemplated. The Mauri Model DMF is unique because it is capable of including multiple-worldviews and adopts mauri (intrinsic value or well-being) in the place of money based assessments of pseudo sustainability using Cost Benefit Analysis. 
The Mauri Model DMF does this using a two stage process that first identifies participants’ worldviews and inherent bias regarding water resource management, and then facilitates transparent assessment of selected sustainability performance indicators. The assessment can then be contemplated as the separate environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the decision, collectively as an overall result; or the priorities associated with different worldviews can be applied to determine the sensitivity of the result to different cultural contexts or worldviews. 
A sustainability assessment for the Waikato River is presented within the context of new co-management aspirations that require decision making to reflect the values of both the Government and the Waikato-Tainui peoples. How might the Mauri Model contribute in the complex context of co-management of the Waikato River? Three existing resource uses are assessed to illustrate the contribution that alternative frameworks can make to an enhanced understanding of the challenges that the new co-management regime will need to overcome.

year: 2013