Capita (United Kingdom)

We reviewed 148 assessments of animal source food ( ASF ) production for livestock, aquaculture, and capture fisheries that measured four metrics of environmental impact (energy use, greenhouse‐gas emissions, release of nutrients, and acidifying compounds) and standardized these per unit of protein production. We also examined additional literature on freshwater demand, pesticide use, and antibiotic use. There are up to 100‐fold differences in impacts between specific products and, in some cases, for the same product, depending on the production method being used. The lowest impact production methods were small pelagic fisheries and mollusk aquaculture, whereas the highest impact production methods were beef production and catfish aquaculture. Many production methods have not been evaluated, limiting our analysis to the range of studies that have been published. Regulatory restrictions on ASF production methods, as well as consumer guidance, should consider the relative environmental impact of these systems, since, currently, there appears to be little relationship between regulatory restrictions and impact in most developed countries.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe UK contractors' perceptions of collaborative relationships in construction. Design/methodology/approach Based on a UK wide postal questionnaire survey, the opinions of contractors were assessed on reasons for collaborative relationships and the factors that are responsible for the success and failure of collaborative relationships in construction development. The respondents were split into two groups (SME's and large) based on their number of employees, to determine whether their responses varied with size as part of the analysis. Statistical analyses, based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and factor analysis technique were used to investigate the cluster of relationships. Findings The research shows that UK contractors are positive about collaboration and are engaged in collaborative relationships for construction developments. Factor analysis shows that the principal reasons why contractors are involved in collaborative relationships are for risk sharing, access to innovation and technology, response to market, resource efficiency and client requirements. The principal success factors are commitment of adequate resources from the partners, equity of relationship, recognition of the importance of non‐financial benefits and clarity of objectives while the principal failure factors are lack of trust and consolation and lack of experience and business fit. Practical implications Drawing from the findings, the study confirms that construction collaborative relationships are customer driven with very little consideration for competitors, suppliers and subcontractors although a a true collaborative relationship should take into account all the parties involved in construction development supply and demand chains to reap the full benefits. Originality/value The paper makes an original contribution of exploring the area of relationships in construction in the UK from the contractors point‐of‐view. The contents within the paper will be of interest to those working within the field.

Purpose While it is commonly recognised that Big Data have an immense potential to generate value for business organisations, appropriating value from Big Data and, in particular, Big Data-enabled analytics is still an open issue for many organisations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a maturity model to support organisations in the realisation of the value created by Big Data. Design/methodology/approach The maturity model is developed following a qualitative approach based on literature analysis and semi-structured interviews with domain experts. The completeness and usefulness of the model is evaluated qualitatively by practitioners, whereas the applicability of the model is evaluated by Big Data maturity assessments in three real-world organisations. Findings The proposed maturity model is considered exhaustive by domain experts and has helped the three assessed organisations to develop a more critical understanding of the next steps to take. Originality/value The maturity model integrates existing industry-developed maturity models into one single coherent Big Data maturity model. The proposed model answers the call for research on Big Data to abstract from technical issues to focus on the business implications of Big Data initiatives.

A new genetic algorithm based system is presented and applied to the task of predicting the future performances of individual stocks. The system in its most general form can be applied to any inductive machine learning problem given a database of examples the system will return a general description applicable to examples both within and outside the database. This differs from traditional genetic algorithms which perform optimization The genetic algorithm system is compared to an established neural network system in the domain of financial fore casting using the results from over 1600 stocks and roughly 5000 experiments. Synergy between the two systems is also examined.

Traditionally, customer value has been examined from the perspective of the firm. New understandings of customer value from the customer-dominant logic perspective of services emphasise the need to move away from the service-dominant perspective and adopt a customer-based approach that considers value within the broader context of a customer’s lifeworld. This article explores how individual customers make sense of their participation in an extraordinary, commercially-driven consumption experience. A phenomenological approach is taken to understand the lived experience of these participants. The findings of this exploratory study reveal the highly complex nature of value in the experience in the chosen context of luxury driving experience days. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The concept of an organism's niche is central to ecological theory, but an operational definition is needed that allows both its experimental delineation and interpretation of field distributions of the species. Here we use population growth rate (hereafter, pgr) to define the niche as the set of points in niche space where pgr > 0. If there are just two axes to the niche space, their relationship to pgr can be pictured as a contour map in which pgr varies along the axes in the same way that the height of land above sea level varies with latitude and longitude. In laboratory experiments we measured the pgr of Daphnia magna over a grid of values of pH and Ca2+, and so defined its "laboratory niche" in pH-Ca2+ space. The position of the laboratory niche boundary suggests that population persistence is only possible above 0.5 mg Ca2+/L and between pH 5.75 and pH 9, though more Ca2+ is needed at lower pH values. To see how well the measured niche predicts the field distribution of D. magna, we examined relevant field data from 422 sites in England and Wales. Of the 58 colonized water bodies, 56 lay within the laboratory niche. Very few of the sites near the niche boundary were colonized, probably because pgr there is so low that populations are vulnerable to extinction by other factors. Our study shows how the niche can be quantified and used to predict field distributions successfully.

Abstract Stream power can be an extremely useful index of fluvial sediment transport, channel pattern, river channel erosion and riparian habitat development. However, most previous studies of downstream changes in stream power have relied on field measurements at selected cross‐sections, which are time consuming, and typically based on limited data, which cannot fully represent important spatial variations in stream power. We present here, therefore, a novel methodology we call CAFES (combined automated flood, elevation and stream power), to quantify downstream change in river flood power, based on integrating in a GIS framework Flood Estimation Handbook systems with the 5 m grid NEXTMap Britain digital elevation model derived from IFSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar). This provides a useful modelling platform to quantify at unprecedented resolution longitudinal distributions of flood discharge, elevation, floodplain slope and flood power at reach and basin scales. Values can be resolved to a 50 m grid. CAFES approaches have distinct advantages over current methodologies for reach‐ and basin‐scale stream power assessments and therefore for the interpretation and prediction of fluvial processes. The methodology has significant international applicability for understanding basin‐scale hydraulics, sediment transport, erosion and sedimentation processes and river basin management. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, we are motivated by the problem of semantic web services composition. We first present a typical example requiring services composition, give a definition of an automated services composition approach and outline its main requirements. We then discuss existing techniques and their limitations with regards to those requirements. Finally, we present our proposal for web services composition based on autonomous services interactions.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to avoid forest conversion to alternative land-uses through financial incentives. Oil-palm has high opportunity costs, which according to current literature questions the financial competitiveness of REDD+ in tropical lowlands. To understand this more, we undertook regional fine-scale and coarse-scale analyses (through carbon mapping and economic modelling) to assess the financial viability of REDD+ in safeguarding unprotected forest (30,173 ha) in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain in Malaysian Borneo. Results estimate 4.7 million metric tons of carbon (MgC) in unprotected forest, with 64% allocated for oil-palm cultivations. Through fine-scale mapping and carbon accounting, we demonstrated that REDD+ can outcompete oil-palm in regions with low suitability, with low carbon prices and low carbon stock. In areas with medium oil-palm suitability, REDD+ could outcompete oil palm in areas with: very high carbon and lower carbon price; medium carbon price and average carbon stock; or, low carbon stock and high carbon price. Areas with high oil palm suitability, REDD+ could only outcompete with higher carbon price and higher carbon stock. In the coarse-scale model, oil-palm outcompeted REDD+ in all cases. For the fine-scale models at the landscape level, low carbon offset prices (US $3 MgCO2e) would enable REDD+ to outcompete oil-palm in 55% of the unprotected forests requiring US $27 million to secure these areas for 25 years. Higher carbon offset price (US $30 MgCO2e) would increase the competitiveness of REDD+ within the landscape but would still only capture between 69%-74% of the unprotected forest, requiring US $380-416 million in carbon financing. REDD+ has been identified as a strategy to mitigate climate change by many countries (including Malaysia). Although REDD+ in certain scenarios cannot outcompete oil palm, this research contributes to the global REDD+ debate by: highlighting REDD+ competitiveness in tropical floodplain landscapes; and, providing a robust approach for identifying and targeting limited REDD+ funds.

BACKGROUND: The transition from medical school to the workplace can be demanding, with high expectations placed on newly qualified doctors. The provision of up-to-date and accurate information is essential to support doctors at a time when they are managing increased responsibility for patient care. In August 2012, the Wales Deanery issued the Dr.Companion© software with five key medical textbooks (the iDoc app) to newly qualified doctors (the intervention). The aim of the study was to examine how a smartphone app with key medical texts was used in clinical workplace settings by newly qualified doctors in relation to other information sources and to report changes over time. METHODS: Participants (newly qualified - Foundation Year 1 - doctors) completed a baseline questionnaire before downloading the iDoc app to their own personal smartphone device. At the end of Foundation Year 1 participants (n = 125) completed exit questionnaires one year later. We used Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to analyse matched quantitative data. RESULTS: We report significant changes in our participants' use of workplace information resources over the year. Respondents reduced their use of hard-copy and electronic versions of texts on PCs but made more use of senior medical staff. There was no significant difference in the use of peers and other staff as information sources. We found a significant difference in how doctors felt about using a mobile device containing textbooks in front of patients and senior medical staff in the workplace. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that a mobile app enabling timely, internet-free access to key textbooks supports the learning and practice of newly qualified doctors. Although participants changed their use of other resources in the workplace, they continued to consult with seniors. Rather than over-reliance on technology, these findings suggest that the app was used strategically to complement, not replace discussion with members of the medical team. Participants' uncertainty about using a mobile device with textbook app in front of others eased over time.

The distribution of subsurface temperature beneath London (with emphasis on the depth interval between 60 and 100 m below ground level) has been estimated from fluid temperature logs run in boreholes and water wells during the 1980s to the 2000s. Although the temperature distribution in the Lea Valley–New River area may have been disturbed as a result of artificial recharge–abstraction trials and operation, one can elsewhere identify a clear trend of increasing temperature from east (>11 °C) to SW (>15 °C). The observed pattern is speculatively explained by: (1) the thick Tertiary sequence and low transmissivity of the Chalk in the SW resulting in a temperature at depth compatible with that expected from conduction of the prevailing geothermal flux; (2) recharge of cooler water through Chalk–Basal Sands subcrop and down-dip towards abstraction centres in central London potentially modifying the geothermal gradient via advective processes.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the health risk from a medium-sized waste incinerator and develop a single comparable figure to quantify overall risk. METHOD: We used a prospective health risk assessment utilizing US Environmental Protection Agency Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol (HHRAP) for Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities and UK coefficients for the impact of sulphur dioxide and particulates. Calculations were based on a resident population of 25,398 living within 5.5 km of the site. RESULTS: Anxiety, employment, noise, occupational risks, road accidents, and reduced use of landfill were all considered to have a potential, but unquantifiable, effect on health. Stack emissions over 25 years in a population of 25,398 within 5.5 km of the stack would result in an additional 0.018 cancers, 0.46 deaths brought forward due to sulphur dioxide and 0.02 deaths due to fine particles. The overall risk of dying due to emissions in any one year was 2.49 x 10(-7) or 1 in 4 million. CONCLUSION: To facilitate better public understanding of the comparative risk of incinerator emissions, we propose a simple method of deriving a single annual risk figure allowing comparison with the risk of dying from other causes with which the public is more familiar.

Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is a key technology in the domain of transportation which serves as a platform for vehicles to communicate with each other and intelligently exchange critical information, such as collision avoidance messages. Given that potentially life critical information could be exchanged in real time among network entities, it is paramount that this information is authentic (from a legitimate source), reliable and accurate. Moreover, mobility of vehicles creates different contexts in VANET resulting in a diversity of requirements for trust management. This work focuses on the effective modelling and management of trust both as a prerequisite to inter-vehicle communication and as a security measure. To this end, we propose a comprehensive set of criteria which work towards the effective modelling and management of trust in VANET to ensure that the unique characteristics of the network (such as high mobility, dispersion of vehicles, and lack of central architecture) are considered. The contribution of this paper is twofold. (1) We propose 16 criteria for effective trust management in VANET, and (2) evaluate various available trust models based on these proposed criteria.

AIM: To assess the impact of educational interventions on primary health care workers' knowledge of management of occupational exposure to blood or body fluids. METHODS: Cluster-randomized trial of educational interventions in two National Health Service board areas in Scotland. Medical and dental practices were randomized to four groups; Group A, a control group of practices where staff received no intervention, Group B practices where staff received a flow chart regarding the management of blood and body fluid exposures, Group C received an e-mail alert containing the flow chart and Group D practices received an oral presentation of information in the flow chart. Staff knowledge was assessed on one occasion, following the educational intervention, using an anonymous postal questionnaire. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifteen medical and dental practices were approached and 114 practices participated (response rate 53%). A total of 1120 individual questionnaires were returned. Face to face training was the most effective intervention with four of five outcome measures showing better than expected knowledge. Seventy-seven percent of staff identified themselves as at risk of exposure to blood and body fluids. Twenty-one percent of staff believed they were not at risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses although potentially exposed and 16% of exposed staff had not been immunized against hepatitis B. Of the 856 'at risk' staff, 48% had not received training regarding blood-borne viruses. CONCLUSIONS: We found greater knowledge regarding management of exposures to blood and body fluids following face to face training than other educational interventions. There is a need for education of at risk primary health care workers.

Many advances, theoretical developments and discussions can be found in recent literature regarding important concepts such as customer value, loyalty and satisfaction, on one hand, and on ways of setting goals and measuring business results, on the other hand. The main goal of this study was to analyse and integrate the above concepts from a practical point of view in order to get a better understanding about them, their mutual relationships and how they are applied in Portugal. To achieve such a goal, visits and interviews based upon a written survey (combining closed and openended questions) were carried out on site at the companies selected for the final evaluation phase in the 1994 edition of the Portuguese Quality Award (PEX). Then, we concentrated on one particular company (PEX winner) where additional visits, contacts and data collection steps took place. The results obtained show that there is quite a large gap between available models and current company practices in this field, although enterprises believe that more sound and structured approaches may indeed be tested and applied in the future. Therefore, it seems to be the case that there is a favourable environment for acceptance and applications of the European Customer Satisfaction Index or similar frameworks.

Abstract Open-graded friction course (OGFC) asphalt mixture, usually used to construct porous pavements, represents one of the materials supporting low-impact development (LID) philosophy due to its use of coarse aggregate gradation. Using such mixtures brings several benefits related to safety, environment and economy. Alas, coarse, open-graded skeleton of OGFC mixtures is prone to failure, particularly raveling and stripping. Continuous traffic loading and the environmental impacts give hand in hand to further increase the potential for failure, hence higher pavement maintenance and rehabilitation costs. Application of different types of modifiers has proved effective in mitigating failure potential. The most common modifiers are polymers, fibers and anti-stripping agents. Aiming at minimizing the costs and maximizing the lifespan while considering sustainability, the study was to investigate the effect of using a recycled stabilizing material as an asphalt modifier on the performance of OGFC asphalt mixtures. Recycled Low-Density Polyethylene (R-LDP) was adopted in this investigation. Changes in mixture air void, porosity, draindown, permeability, rut depth, moisture damage and abrasion loss were observed to evaluate the effect. Compared with unmodified asphalt samples, R-LDP modification increased mixture air void, porosity and permeability by 15%, 10% and at least 40%, respectively. Also, it noticeably contributed to reducing rut depth, moisture damage and abrasion loss (both unaged and aged) by 31%, 20% and at least 40%, respectively. More significantly, it almost eliminated the draindown problem. Incorporating R-LDP proved effective in upgrading OGFC mixture properties to an acceptable level required by most specifications.

Abstract Napoleon Bonaparte was, in 1798, the first general to include geologists as such on a military operation. Within the UK, the following century saw geology taught, and national geological mapping initiated, as a military science. Nevertheless, military geologists were not deployed on a battlefield until World War I, first by the German and Austro-Hungarian armies and later and less intensively those of the UK and USA. Geologists were used primarily to guide abstraction of groundwater, construction of ‘mine’ tunnels and dug-outs, development of fortifications and quarrying of natural resources to enhance or repair supply routes. Only the USSR and Germany entered World War II with organized military geological expertise, but the UK and later the USA made significant use of military geologists, albeit far fewer than the c. 400 in total used by German forces. Military geologist roles in World War II included most of those of World War I, but were extended to other aspects of terrain evaluation, notably the rapid construction of temporary airfields and factors affecting cross-country vehicular movement (‘going’). After 1945, more military geologists were used in the USA than Germany or the UK, in these and wider roles, but mostly as civilians or reservists.

This article considers two educational strategies that serve to empower students by responding more authentically to student needs. We begin by defining our terms and then move to a tiny school deep in the jungles of Central America. This school, like many schools in developing nations, struggles to educate students for an uncertain future. At issue are contradictions extant in a postmodern, globalized world, where colonial domination has been replaced by post-colonialism, which is not free from issues of domination and power. This article offers culturally relevant education and critical pedagogy, in tandem or separately, as a way to forge new links with a society that is attempting to become a more developed nation. Culturally relevant education allows for teaching and learning that is responsive to student needs, while critical pedagogy offers a means of devolving as much power to the students as possible. In this way, students may become empowered to foster meaningful change within their lives and within the societies in which they live.Keywords: Critical theory, Culturally relevant education, Public education, Student empowerment, Teacher empowerment. Este artículo considera dos estrategias educativas para capacitar a los estudiantes y responder a sus auténticas necesidades. Comenzamos por definir nuestros términos para dar paso a una pequeña escuela situada en la selvas de América Central. Esta escuela, como muchas escuelas en naciones en vías de desarrollo, se esfuerza por educar a los estudiantes para un futuro incierto. El problema es la contradiccióm existente en un mundo globalizado y postmoderno, donde la dominación colonial ha sido reemplazada por el post-colonialismo, que no está libre de problemas de dominación y poder. En este artículo se ofrece una alternativa de educación culturalmente relevante y pedagogía crítica, que, en conjunto o por separado, son medios para crear nuevos vínculos en una sociedad que trata de convertirse en una nación más desarrollada. La Educación Culturalmente Relevante permite que la enseñanza y el aprendizaje responda a las necesidades de los estudiantes, mientras que la pedagogía crítica ofrece un medio de dar el poder a los estudiantes. De esta manera, los estudiantes pueden tener el poder para fomentar un cambio significativo en sus vidas y dentro de las sociedades en las que viven.Descriptores: Teoría crítica, Educación culturalmente relevante, Educación pública, Empoderamiento del estudiante, Empoderamiento del docente.Este artigo considera duas estratégias educacionais para capacitar alunos e responder às suas reais necessidades. Começamos por definir os nossos termos de abrir caminho para uma pequena escola localizada nas selvas da América Central. Esta escola, como muitas escolas em países em desenvolvimento, se esforça para educar os alunos para um futuro incerto. O problema é a contradiccióm existente em um mundo globalizado e pós-moderno, onde o domínio colonial foi substituído pelo pós-colonialismo, que não está livre de problemas de dominação e poder. Este artigo oferece uma alternativa na educação culturalmente relevante e pedagogia crítica, que, em conjunto ou separadamente, são um meio para criar novos elos de uma sociedade que está se tornando uma nação mais desenvolvida. A educação culturalmente relevante permite que o ensino ea aprendizagem atende às necessidades dos estudantes, enquanto a pedagogia crítica fornece um meio de dar poder aos estudantes. Assim, os alunos podem ter o poder de promover mudanças significativas em suas vidas e nas sociedades em que vivem.Palavras-chave: Teoria crítica, Educação culturalmente relevante, Educação pública, Capacitação dos alunos, Capacitação de professores.

Relatively few studies have examined the parasite fauna of British reptiles, partly due to the cryptic nature and low population density of these hosts. Here we examined 12 populations of the slow worm Anguis fragilis which, unlike other UK lizards, occurs at locally high population densities. Morphological examination of non-invasively collected faecal samples revealed the presence of Neoxysomatium brevicaudatum and a second unidentified nematode species. Although previously unrecorded from slow worms in the UK, N. brevicaudatum was present in 38% of animals (mean intensity 70.9, range 1-686). Morphological identification was confirmed by sequencing the 18S ribosomal gene. The use of the species-specific, cytochrome oxidase I mitochondrial gene primers proved an efficient alternative to conventional, microscope screening for parasites, although the original identification of N. brevicaudatum was dependent upon morphological characters. Sequencing also identified the second, smaller nematode as belonging to the Rhabdiasidae family: this species was even more common at a prevalence of 83% (mean intensity 102.8, range 1-2000). While increasing our knowledge of the UK macroparasite fauna, this work demonstrates the benefits of a combined morphological-molecular approach.

Transport is currently responsible for around one-quarter of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the United Kingdom, and this proportion is projected to increase. The transport sector will undoubtedly need to play a significant role in achieving carbon reductions if the government is to meet its ambitious long-term goal of a 60% reduction by 2050. This article examines current carbon use by households for personal land-based transport and considers how feasible it would be to change that use over the period up to 2050 in the United Kingdom. It provides a unique insight into how much and in what way households and individuals may be willing to adapt their transport behavior to achieve carbon reductions. A computer-based transport carbon calculator was developed to investigate the CO2 emissions of individual households from various modes based on travel diary information. This formed the focus of a series of interactive interviews in which participants were asked to consider how their future low carbon transport strategy could look. Views of households on various abatement measures were explored, including technological change in vehicle design or fuel source and behavioral change through, for instance, traffic restraint and investment in public transport. Overall, a 40% reduction in carbon emissions was seen to be feasible through a combination of behavioral change measures and a realistically achievable degree of technological improvement, falling well short of the UK government's goal of a 60% reduction. Through changes in behavior alone, the households involved could only achieve around a 20% cut in carbon emissions —seemingly a threshold beyond which further reductions will be difficult and may necessitate significant lifestyle change.