scholarly journals Influence of Historical Climate Patterns on Streamflow and Water Demand in Wales, UK

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1684
Author(s):  
Richard J. H. Dallison ◽  
Sopan D. Patil ◽  
A. Prysor Williams
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Value Range ◽  
Hydroclimatic Factors ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Ensuring reliable drinking water supplies is anticipated to be a key future challenge facing water service providers due to fluctuations in rainfall patterns and water demand caused by climate change. This study investigates historical trends and relationships between precipitation, air temperature and streamflow in five catchments in Wales, before correlating these with actual total abstraction data provided by the water company, to give insight into the supply-demand balance. Changes in seasonal and annual averages, as well as extreme events, are assessed for a 34-year period (1982–2015) and a breakpoint analysis is performed to better understand how climate has already changed and what this might mean for the future of water supply. Results show a north-south divide in changes in extreme temperature and streamflow; a strong warming trend in autumn average temperatures across Wales (Sen’s slope range: 0.38–0.41, p <0.05), but little change in precipitation. Abstraction, as a proxy for overall water demand, is shown to be positively correlated to temperature (Spearman’s ρ value range: 0.094–0.403, p <0.01; Pearson’s r value range 0.073–0.369, p <0.01) in four of five catchments. Our study provides new insight into the relationship between abstraction volume and hydroclimatic factors and highlights the need for catchment-scale water resource planning that accounts for hydroclimatic variations over small spatial distances, as these nuances can be vital.

Aligning Supply Chain Logistics Costs via ERP Coordination

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Muscatello ◽  
Diane H. Parente ◽  
Matthew Swinarski
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Erp Implementation ◽  
Supply Chain Logistics ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems address the problem of disparate information in an organization and coordinates mechanisms to eliminate supply chain sub-optimization. Logistics costs are a substantial part of an operation and this research provides insights into the relationship between ERP implementations and logistics costs. The research uses a two-step approach, conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the psychometric properties of our measures and then conducting an independent sample t-test between two groups, one which experienced decreased logistic costs and the second which experienced the same or increasing logistic costs. By examining the effects of ERP implementations on a specific area of the firm, logistics costs, this research has provided insight into the areas of ERP implementation and firm impact.

scholarly journals Characterizing hillslope-stream connectivity with a joint event analysis of stream and groundwater levels

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Beiter ◽  
Markus Weiler ◽  
Theresa Blume
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract. Hillslope-stream connectivity controls runoff generation, both during events and baseflow conditions. However, assessing subsurface connectivity is a challenging task, as it occurs in the hidden subsurface domain where water flow cannot be easily observed. We therefore investigated if the results of a joint analysis of rainfall event responses of near-stream groundwater levels and stream water levels could serve as a viable proxy for hillslope-stream connectivity. The analysis focuses on the extent of response, correlations, lag times and synchronicity. A newly developed data analysis scheme of separating the aspects of (a) response timing and (b) extent of water level change provides new perspectives on the relationship between groundwater and stream responses. In a second step we investigated if this analysis can give an indication of hillslope-stream connectivity at the catchment scale. Stream- and groundwater levels were measured at five different hillslopes over 5 to 6 years. Using a new detection algorithm we extracted 706 rainfall response events for subsequent analysis. Carrying out this analysis in two different geological regions (schist and marls) allowed us to test the usefulness of the proxy under different hydrological settings while also providing insight into the geologically-driven differences in response behaviour. For rainfall events with low initial groundwater level, groundwater level responses often lag behind the stream with respect to the start of rise and the time of peak. This lag disappears at high antecedent groundwater levels. At low groundwater levels the relationship between groundwater and stream water level responses to rainfall are highly variable, while at high groundwater levels, above a certain threshold, this relationship tends to become more uniform. The same threshold was able to predict increased likelihood for high runoff coefficients, indicating a strong increase in connectivity once the groundwater level threshold was surpassed. The joint analysis of shallow near-stream groundwater and stream water levels provided information on the presence or absence and to a certain extent also on the degree of subsurface hillslope-stream connectivity. The underlying threshold processes were interpreted as transmissivity feedback in the marls and fill-and-spill in the schist. The value of these measurements is high, however, time series of several years and a large number of events are necessary to produce representative results. We also find that locally measured thresholds in groundwater levels can provide insight into catchment-scale connectivity and event response. If the location of the well is chosen wisely, a single time series of shallow groundwater can indicate if the catchment is in a state of high or low connectivity.

Skeletal elements of crinoid echinoderms: High-resolution structural and microanalytical results

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 194-195
Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
High Resolution Tem ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.

On Metaphysics and the Political: A Polemics of Reading Baudelaire in the 1930s

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259
Author(s):  
Joseph Acquisto
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Progressive Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This essay examines a polemic between two Baudelaire critics of the 1930s, Jean Cassou and Benjamin Fondane, which centered on the relationship of poetry to progressive politics and metaphysics. I argue that a return to Baudelaire's poetry can yield insight into what seems like an impasse in Cassou and Fondane. Baudelaire provides the possibility of realigning metaphysics and politics so that poetry has the potential to become the space in which we can begin to think the two of them together, as opposed to seeing them in unresolvable tension. Or rather, the tension that Baudelaire animates between the two allows us a new way of thinking about the role of esthetics in moments of political crisis. We can in some ways see Baudelaire as responding, avant la lettre, to two of his early twentieth-century readers who correctly perceived his work as the space that breathes a new urgency into the questions of how modern poetry relates to the world from which it springs and in which it intervenes.

The Annual Reports of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland and Religion, 1903–1931

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Cameron McKay
Keyword(s):  
Annual Report ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
Drinking Habits ◽  
Parental Neglect ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century penologists began to explore the possibility that environment and upbringing, as opposed to individual choice, were the causes criminality. The Prison Commissioners for Scotland, the devolved body who administered prisons north of the border, were not immune to this wider trend. Smith has argued that from the 1890s onwards the Commissioners began to accept that criminality was caused by social problems, namely alcoholism, but also parental neglect, poor education and poverty. In their efforts to test these new criminological theories, the Commissioners began to make more careful enquiries into the backgrounds of their charges. From 1896 to 1931 the Commissioners interviewed a sample of prisoners each year and included the findings in their annual report. Although the main focus of these interviews was on the upbringing and drinking habits of prisoners; by the 1900s the Commissioners seem to have added irreligion to the growing list of etiological causes of crime, and from 1903 onwards prisoners were asked to give details on their religious habits. Although it is debateable how much the Prison Commissioners revealed about the relationship between religion and crime, they did however provide a useful insight into the religiosity of the average prisoner.

The Relationship between Seeker and Spiritual Guide as portrayed in contemporary Western Sufi Autobiographies

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-332
Author(s):  
Kate Zebiri
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
New Age ◽  
The Self ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity

This article aims to explore the Shaykh-mur?d (disciple) or teacher-pupil relationship as portrayed in Western Sufi life writing in recent decades, observing elements of continuity and discontinuity with classical Sufism. Additionally, it traces the influence on the texts of certain developments in religiosity in contemporary Western societies, especially New Age understandings of religious authority. Studying these works will provide an insight into the diversity of expressions of contemporary Sufism, while shedding light on a phenomenon which seems to fly in the face of contemporary social and religious trends which deemphasize external authority and promote the authority of the self or individual autonomy.

Empathy as moderator of gender differences in Chinese insurance agents' business ethical sensitivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Insurance Agents ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

To expand the business ethics research field, and to increase society's understanding of Chinese insurance agents' business ethics, we investigated how gender differences are related to agents' business ethical sensitivity and whether or not these relationships are moderated by empathy. Through a regression analysis of the factors associated with the business ethical sensitivity of 417 Chinese insurance agents, we found that gender played an important role in affecting business ethical sensitivity, and empathy significantly affected business ethical sensitivity. Furthermore, empathy had a moderating effect on the relationship between gender and business ethical sensitivity. Both men and women with strong empathy scored high on business ethical sensitivity; however, men with strong empathy had higher levels of business ethical sensitivity than did women with little empathy. The findings add to the literature by providing insight into the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of empathy in increasing business ethical sensitivity.

AI Narratives

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Intelligent Machines ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imaginative Thinking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real artificial intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed, and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing prehistory of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerged alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they offer a rich source of insight into how we might live with these revolutionary machines. Through their close textual engagements, these chapters explore the relationship between imaginative narratives and contemporary debates about AI’s social, ethical, and philosophical consequences, including questions of dehumanization, automation, anthropomorphization, cybernetics, cyberpunk, immortality, slavery, and governance. The contributions, from leading humanities and social science scholars, show that narratives about AI offer a crucial epistemic site for exploring contemporary debates about these powerful new technologies.

Die klingende Ferne; Walter Braunfels’ Opera Die Vögel after Aristophanes’ Birds

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-371
Author(s):  
Michael Ewans
Keyword(s):  
Central Theme ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Greek Comedy ◽  
Human Understanding ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract This article explores the opera Die Vögel (1920) by Walter Braunfels (1882–1954), and its reception of Aristophanes' Birds. The Introduction is substantial, as the work is little known. It is followed by an Overview of each of the two Acts, which discusses in Act I the relationship to Aristophanes (Braunfels discarded the second half of the original Greek comedy and struck out on a completely new path). Then the article analyses the development during Act II of insight into die klingende Ferne (‘the music of far away') by Hopeful, who is the principal human character in Braunfels' adaptation. It is shown that Hopeful's quest for spiritual values almost beyond human understanding is the central theme of the opera; the superiority of the life of birds, which Aristophanes treats humorously in the two parabaseis, is taken seriously in Braunfels' mystical second Act.

scholarly journals Exploring the Impact of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Its Relationship with Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Study on Experts’ Perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339362110281
Author(s):  
Renee Fiolet ◽  
Cynthia Brown ◽  
Molly Wellington ◽  
Karen Bentley ◽  
Kelsey Hegarty
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Specialist Service ◽  
Data Coding ◽  
Integral Role ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Inductive Thematic Analysis

Technology-facilitated abuse can be a serious form of domestic violence. Little is known about the relationship between technology-facilitated abuse and other types of domestic violence, or the impact technology-facilitated abuse has on survivors. The aim of this interpretative descriptive study is to understand domestic violence specialist service providers’ perspectives on the impact of technology-facilitated abuse, and the link between technology-facilitated abuse and other forms of domestic violence. A qualitative approach using 15 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Australian domestic violence specialist practitioners, and three themes were identified through data coding using inductive thematic analysis. Another form of control describes technology-facilitated abuse behaviors as enacting controlling behaviors using new mediums. Amplifies level of fear characterizes the impact of technology-facilitated abuse. A powerful tool to engage others describes opportunities technology offers perpetrators to abuse through engaging others. Findings highlight technology-facilitated abuse’s complexity and integral role in domestic violence and can assist clinicians to understand the impact and harm that can result from technology-facilitated abuse.

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