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Conference on Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes VI -- JUN 26-JUL 01, 2016 -- Edinburgh, SCOTLAND WOS: 000387731100107 In this paper, we describe in detail the optical design of DAG, a new 4 m telescope for Turkey. DAG is an "adaptive optics friendly" telescope, in a sense that each design decision is taken considering the potential impact on the AO performance (vibrations, static aberrations etc.) The objective is to make this telescope fully ready for AO at first light. It is designed as a Ritchey-Chretien combination, 56 m focal length, with Nasmyth foci only, and active optics. Its total RMS error is expected to be 45 nm up to Zernike mode 78, and 26 nm for the higher, non AO corrected modes. A final design optimization has been done by the telescope manufacturers, demonstrating that our AO-based requirements can be satisfied, without much difficulty. SPIE

During the summer of 2015, four Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) surveys were carried out over a mussel farm in the Venetian (Italy) littoral zone at night-time hours. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the soundscape was carried out. The high frequencies component of the soundscape (i.e above 2 kHz) was dominated by snapping shrimps sounds, while the low frequency component (i.e. below 2 kHz) was characterized by fish vocalization, mainly emitted by Sciaena umbra (Sciaenidae), with less frequent occurrences emitted by Gobidae spp. S. umbra highest vocal activity was recorded from June to August inside the mussel farm. The low frequency component of the soundscape was dominated by boat noise; in particular, low frequency noise (i.e. below 4 kHz) emitted by commercial ships and passenger cruises. The Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) was found to increase concurrently with the number of S. umbra vocalizations: ACI highest values corresponded with S. umbra chorus recorded during July. The results of this study suggest that the mussel farm may function as a Fishery Aggregated Device (FAD), where fish might utilize it for different ecosystem services. Despite this, man-made noise was present in most of the acoustic samples, suggesting a potential impact on the local fauna.

With the supply mix evolving to incorporate more and more uncontrollable renewable energy sources there is a need for more storage and demand response solutions. Aggregated demand response flexibility has been investigated in the past years as one of the potential solution this problem. This paper will investigate the potential impact on risks and gains for stakeholders using aggregated residential flexibility for smart grid services.

With the supply mix evolving to incorporate more and more uncontrollable renewable energy sources there is a need for more storage and demand response solutions. Aggregated demand response flexibility has been investigated in the past years as one of the potential solution this problem. This paper will investigate the potential impact on risks and gains for stakeholders using aggregated residential flexibility for smart grid services.

In this paper, we discuss the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Gulf region. We examine the importance of providing state-of-the-art ASD interventions, and highlight social robots as therapeutic tools that have gained popularity for their use in ASD therapy in the West. We also elaborate on the features of social robots that make them effective and describe how they can be used in such settings. We then emphasize the significance of taking cultural context into account in order to develop indigenous tools for ASD therapy, and explain the different ways in which social robots can be made culturally adaptive to maximize their potential impact on children with ASD. Springer International Publishing AG 2016. The work is supported by an NPRP grant from the Qatar National Research Fund under the grant No. NPRP 7-673-2-251. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Scopus

A recent editorial in this journal provides a summary of key economic, social, and public health considerations of the forthcoming legislation to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana in Canada. As our government plans to implement an evidence-based public health framework for marijuana legalization, we reflect and expand on recent discussions of the public health implications of marijuana legalization, and offer additional points of consideration. We select two commonly cited public concerns of marijuana legalization – adolescent usage and impaired driving – and discuss how the underdeveloped and equivocal body of scientific literature surrounding these issues limits the ability to predict the effects of legalization. Finally, we discuss the potential for some potential public health benefits of marijuana legalization – specifically the potential for marijuana to be used as a substitute to opioids and other risky substance use – that have to date not received adequate attention.

Ilorin is one of the major cities in Nigeria today and its growing capacity in both socio-economic affiliations is commendable. However, the city is potently polluted with heaps of refuse that are occasionally caused traffic hold-up in places in the urban centre. A lot of health incidence resulting from water, air and pest borne diseases are not uncommon within areas where prevalence of effluents prevailed. Current problems of poor waste management upon the government efforts is as a result of the potential impacts of climate change on the natural world, and with wide effects resulting from these changes has its implications in Ilorin city. This work examines the management of waste in city of Ilorin which has been the sole responsibility of the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA) and other health management sectors. Worldly wise, there are evidences that climate change and its due,at least in part to human activities , gives rise to emissions of Green house gases (GHG,s) which invariably is disturbing the world (Wilby,2003). Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth´s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius (0.74 ± 0.18°C, or 1.3 ± 0.32° Fahrenheit). Does not seem all that much? These changes could have significant impacts on a range of social, economic and environmental processes as well as waste management in the areas selected for this study. Two hundred (200) questionnaires were randomly distributed to member of households on wards basis in Ilorin. An addition of Fifty (50) questionnaires was also distributed to agencies that control and manage waste, while their contributions to waste control in the state were assessed. Suggestions were put forward for all to remain alert, and that in the future we may experience higher temperatures,extreme decay and more environmental problems except if proper precautions are taken.Keywords: Climate Change, Potential impacts, Green house gases, Effluents, Waste management

In the oil & gas industry there is a trend towards more subsea activities. To improve gas recovery from existing and new fields at greater depths, the produced gas will be compressed, processed and transported via subsea templates and underwater networks (pipelines, flexible risers, etc.). Besides the huge consequences for the subsea installation itself (reliability, maintenance, etc.), it also has consequences for underwater wildlife through the underwater source vibrations leading to sound radiation. Regulations aimed at managing the impact of underwater sound on marine life have been put in place by different nations [e.g. 1,2]. Many offshore operations require an assessment of the potential impact of underwater noise on the environment, which requires knowledge of the sound transmitted by the subsea components. Until now very little is known about the underwater source mechanisms, the acoustic strength of these underwater networks, the coupling of the emitted source sound to the surrounding medium and the impact of the sound on the underwater wildlife. The dynamic behavior of networks for compressing and transporting gas, and the translation into emitted noise into air are rather well understood. However, due to the presence of the water the dynamic behavior from such subsea installation is very different than in air. To predict the dynamic behavior, the presence of the water cannot be neglected and has to be taken into account. This paper presents a simplified model for a subsea high speed turbo-compressor coupled to the KrakenC normal mode propagation model. With this combined model the noise at remote locations can be predicted and compared with the ambient noise and other anthropogenic noise sources such as for instance shipping, dredging and wind farm operation noise.

In the oil & gas industry there is a trend towards more subsea activities. To improve gas recovery from existing and new fields at greater depths, the produced gas will be compressed, processed and transported via subsea templates and underwater networks (pipelines, flexible risers, etc.). Besides the huge consequences for the subsea installation itself (reliability, maintenance, etc.), it also has consequences for underwater wildlife through the underwater source vibrations leading to sound radiation. Regulations aimed at managing the impact of underwater sound on marine life have been put in place by different nations [e.g. 1,2]. Many offshore operations require an assessment of the potential impact of underwater noise on the environment, which requires knowledge of the sound transmitted by the subsea components. Until now very little is known about the underwater source mechanisms, the acoustic strength of these underwater networks, the coupling of the emitted source sound to the surrounding medium and the impact of the sound on the underwater wildlife. The dynamic behavior of networks for compressing and transporting gas, and the translation into emitted noise into air are rather well understood. However, due to the presence of the water the dynamic behavior from such subsea installation is very different than in air. To predict the dynamic behavior, the presence of the water cannot be neglected and has to be taken into account. This paper presents a simplified model for a subsea high speed turbo-compressor coupled to the KrakenC normal mode propagation model. With this combined model the noise at remote locations can be predicted and compared with the ambient noise and other anthropogenic noise sources such as for instance shipping, dredging and wind farm operation noise.

Odours emitted by multi-source facilities, like industrial complexes, have become a major concern for local authorities because the resulting annoyance in the neighbourhood is generally high compex compared to a single source one. In the case of such multi-source odour emissions especially, common chemical analyses or odour concentration measurement methods are not often applicable. This paper describes the methodology adopted for assessing the odour impact on the industrial area of the city of Salerno (Italy), caused by the co-presence of two strategic plants: wastewater treatment plant and composting plant of organic fraction of solid waste. The combination of olfactometric analyses and dispersion modelling allowed both the quantification of the odour emissions and the evaluation of their potential impact on the surrounding areas. Odour impact criteria, input parameters and emissive rate were evaluated. Results discuss and compare different emissive scenarios to assessment odour impacts in the industrial area.

This Cifre PHD developed in the field of industrial engineering deals with taking into account individuals during organisational change projects of a major aeronautical company (Turbomeca, Safran Group). We propose in this work to design an individual change management method. The end users of this method are the middle managers who assume the responsibility of the projects, in order to accompany the impacted employees. Our investigations are focused on: * Organisational change appropriation by operational employees, * Organisational capacity to change In order to: * Take into account individual's advices and reaction during the project * Improve the global change management level of the different projects. Our method is structured according to project phases, and individual appropriation process. It's based on increasing cooperation between projects leaders and impacted populations. Based on analysis and planning tools, we propose to design and implement a communication strategy, trainings, and individual accompaniment. This method has been designed by a new team, dedicated to global change management approach. Our work also deals with the strategies used by this team to disseminate the method in the company, and with the organisation of its activities toward the other departments of the company. Our results prove a decrease of appropriation's duration when our method is used, and we present evidence of an improvement of the organisational change capacity of the company., Cette thèse Cifre, réalisée dans le domaine du génie industriel, traite de la prise en compte de l'Homme dans les projets de changement organisationnel d'un grand groupe aéronautique (Turbomeca, groupe Safran). La piste explorée dans ce travail est celle de l'élaboration d'une méthode d'accompagnement du changement individuel. Cette méthode est à destination des managers chargés de la gestion des projets, afin d'accompagner les personnels qu'ils impactent. Notre terrain de recherche se situe au niveau de : * l'appropriation des changements organisationnels par les employés, * la capacité organisationnelle à changer de l'entreprise. Nous recherchons ainsi : * une évolution des pratiques relatives à la prise en compte des individus tout au long des projets, * une amélioration de la gestion globale de l'accompagnement du changement réalisé dans le cadre des différents projets de l'entreprise. Notre méthode, structurée par rapport au séquencement des projets et par rapport à la logique d'appropriation d'une nouveauté, est basée sur une augmentation des coopérations entre managers en charge des changements et populations impactées par ces changements. A partir d'un ensemble d'outils d'analyse et de planification, nous proposons d'élaborer puis de mettre en œuvre une stratégie de communication, de formation et d'accompagnement de terrain. La conception de cette méthode s'est inscrite dans l'activité d'une nouvelle équipe, dédiée à la gestion globale de l'accompagnement du changement dans les projets de l'entreprise. Nos travaux traitent également des stratégies utilisées par cette équipe pour la diffusion de la méthode dans l'entreprise, et par la structuration de ses activités vis-à-vis des autres services concernés par les projets. Nos résultats démontrent une diminution de la durée d'appropriation d'une nouveauté, et que les chefs de projets comme les personnels impactés ont perçu l'utilisation de notre méthode comme une amélioration de l'accompagnement réalisé dans le cadre des projets. Nous présentons également un ensemble d'éléments relatifs à l'amélioration de la capacité à changer de l'entreprise dans laquelle nous sommes intervenus.

A multidisciplinary research project for cyclonic crisis management assistance Nowadays the methodology for the tropical cyclones trajectory and intensity forecasting still includes important uncertainties, hardly compatible with the contemporary socio-economical constraints. It is more precisely what happens in the Lesser Antilles where proper crisis management difficulties occur when a hurricane approaches, due to the 24 hours forecasts’ territorial uncertainties that are larger than the small dimensions of these territories. The purpose of this article is to present a multidisciplinary research program intending to better anticipate the cyclonic impacts according to scales adapted to small insular territories. This program includes several components : cyclonic trajectory and intensity meso-scale model applications for the emergency pre-cy clonic period, the evaluation of stakes vulnerability to cyclonic winds, the anticipation of their potential impacts on an insular exposed territory (the example of Guadeloupe)., Les modes de prévisions des trajectoires et de l’intensité des cyclones tropicaux laissent encore de nos jours d’importantes marges d’incertitudes difficilement compatibles avec les contraintes socio-économiques actuelles. C’est le cas plus particulièrement sur les îles des Petites Antilles, qui sont exposées à des difficultés spécifiques de gestion prévisionnelle des crises en phase d’approche cyclonique et ce, notamment, du fait des marges d’incertitude des prévisions à 24 h d’échéance, qui dépassent les dimensions modestes de leurs territoires. L’objet de cet article consiste en la présentation d’un programme de recherche pluridisciplinaire destiné à une meilleure anticipation des impacts cycloniques à des échelles appropriées aux spécificités des espaces insulaires exigus. Il comporte plusieurs volets : la modélisation de la trajectoire et du potentiel dynamique de cyclones en phase d’urgence pré-cyclonique à méso-échelle, l’évaluation des enjeux vulnérables aux vents cycloniques, l’anticipation de leurs impacts potentiels sur un territoire insulaire exposé (le cas de la Guadeloupe)., Pagney Bénito-Espinal Françoise,Asselin de Beauville Christian,Bonneton A.,Dudon B.,Enée G.,Gandrille B.,Hicks E.,Moula M.,Péroumalnaïk Mathias,Pontikis Constantin,Sarant P.-M. Un projet de recherche pluridisciplinaire pour l'aide à la gestion de crise cyclonique. In: Natures tropicales : enjeux actuels et perspectives. XIIes Journées de Géographie Tropicale du Comité National Français de Géographie - 16-18 novembre 2008. Bordeaux : Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2011. pp. 529-540. (Espaces tropicaux, 20)

This study was undertaken to determine the possibility of potential impact of PAHs on the aquatic biota. First, we had developed a new method for measuring 13 different priority pollutant PAHs in waste water samples. Then, eight different water samples collected from different sites along the Menderes River were analysed by this method involving SPE extraction and reverse-phase HPLC. The method presented here is suitable for rapid and accurate determination of PAH in surface waters and the PAH recoveries are practically quantitative. The levels of PAH in the analyzed samples range from 1.8 μg/L to 24.9 μg/L and industrialized areas were found to be highly polluted. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

This document includes a letter from the Alaska State Historic Preservation Officer regarding potential impacts to cultural resources on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson based on the privatization housing project.

Wind Energy Facility (WEF) development in Canada is progressing rapidly, as indicated by recent government initiatives. Financial incentives such as tax breaks for farmers who own land deemed desirable for wind turbines illustrate the joint promotion of WEFs between government and private industry, yet local public opposition to WEFs is common. Although recent studies show that most people generally support the idea of renewable energy sources, public perception is a significant factor in determining how and where WEFs are developed. This study used in-depth interviews and resident cognitive mapping to identify how local community members perceive potential impacts of WEFs with specific emphasis on what the community identifies as valued or important. Insights gained include the vital link between the intimate rural social network and lack of vocal opposition.

Potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems and the environment are generally assessed by summarizing climate change scenarios for broad regions (for example countries), or by specific modelling exercises. This paper presents an alternative approach for summarizing climate change impacts on the European environment, by linking climate change scenarios to recognized environmental divisions. Sixteen climate scenarios from four general circulation models were therefore linked to 84 statistically derived strata sharing common environmental features. In this way, the future distribution of the strata, as defined by their climate characteristics, were quantified and mapped. The results show that Europe is likely to experience major environmental shifts, with pronounced regional variations. As expected, environmental strata shift northwards. In particular the southern Mediterranean strata are projected to expand, whereas Atlantic environments remain much more stable. Alpine and Mediterranean mountain environments decline dramatically. However, the Scandinavian zones show no consistent pattern of change. More detailed analysis of four sample regions shows that the impacts of the projected shifts will largely depend on regional characteristics. Environmental conservation, regional assessments and scenario development could therefore be facilitated by combining relevant regional datasets (for example for vegetation, land cover and species distribution) with the shifting environmental strata.

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change in multiple ways. Here, we use the northern region of the Netherlands as a case study to explore how risk assessments for climate change impacts on crop production can address multiple vulnerabilities. We present a methodology, which we call agro climate calendar (ACC) that (i) includes potential yield losses, as well as loss of product quality, and (ii) assesses the risks of a variety of climate factors including weather extremes and the emergence and abundance of pests and diseases. Climate factors are defined for two time slices: 1990 (1976–2005) and 2040 (2026–2055); the frequency of occurrence of the factors is compared for the two periods, and the resulting frequency shifts are presented in a crop calendar on a monthly basis. This yields an indication of the magnitude and direction of changes in climatic conditions that can lead to damage by extreme events and pests and diseases. We present results for the two most important crops in the region, seed potato, and winter wheat. The results provide a good overview of risks from climate factors, and the most important threats and opportunities are identified. This semi-quantitative approach is firmly rooted in farm management, which is the level where operational and strategic decisions are made. Thus, the approach is well suited to assist local stakeholders such as farmers and policy makers to explore farm-level adaptation. This work is complementary to previous modeling work that focused mainly on the relation between mean climate change factors (i.e., temperature) and crop yield.

The solar chimney power facility has the potential to become a valuable technology for renewable energy production. Its financial viability depends on a thorough understanding of the processes affecting its performance, particularly because of the large startup costs associated with facility design and construction. This paper describes the potential impacts on plant capacity resulting from cloud formation within or downwind of the solar chimney. Several proposed modifications to the basic concept of the solar chimney power facility have the potential to cause significant additions of water vapor to the air passing through the collector. As the air continues up through and out of the chimney, this excess water can condense to form cloud. This possibility is explored using a cloud parcel model initialized to simulate the range of expected operating conditions for a proposed solar chimney facility in southwestern Australia. A range of temperatures and updraft velocities is simulated for each of four seasonal representations and three levels of water vapor enhancement. Both adiabatic environments and the effects of entrainment are considered. The results indicate that for very high levels of water vapor, enhancement cloud formation within the chimney is likely; at more moderate levels of water vapor enhancement, the likelihood of plume formation is difficult to fully assess as the results depend strongly on the choice of entrainment rate. Finally, the impacts of these outcomes on facility capacity are estimated. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.