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Electricity systems are shifting from being based on fossil fuels towards renewable sources to enhance energy security and mitigate climate change. However, by introducing high shares of variable renewables - such as wind and solar - dispatchable power plants are required to vary their output to fulfill the remaining electrical demand, potentially increasing their environmental impacts [1,2]. In this study the environmental impacts of potential short-term future electricity systems in Ireland with high shares of wind power (35-50% of total installed capacity) were evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA). Cycling emissions from dispatchable generators due to part-load operation and start-ups [3] were included for the first time in LCA. Part-load operations significantly affected the average power plant efficiency, with all units seeing an average yearly efficiency 1-11% lower than optimal. Given that similar penalties were seen for power plant with the same role in the system (i.e. load following, mid merit, and base load), it is suggested that only power plants within the same category should be compared. Since power production technologies are typically modeled in LCA assuming steady-state operation at full load [4], the efficiency reduction would result in a large underestimation of emissions, especially for load following power plants. With regards to the entire electricity system, cycling emissions accounted for less than 10% of lifecycle CO2, NOx and SO2 emissions in the scenarios considered: while not outweighing the benefits from increasing wind energy, cycling emissions are not negligible and should thus be systematically included (i.e. by using emission factors per unit of fuel input rather than per unit of power generated). Cycling emissions increased with the installed wind capacity, and decreased with the addition of storage. However, a consequence of adding storage was the increased use of base load coal power plants, ultimately leading to a

Sustainable practices are more than ever on the radar screen of organizations, triggered by a growing demand of the wider population towards approaches and practices that can be considered "green" or "sustainable". Our specific intent with this call for action is to immerse deeper into the role of business processes, and specifically the contributions that the management of these processes can play in leveraging the transformative power of information systems (IS) in order to create environmentally sustainable organizations. Our key premise is that business and information technology (IT) managers need to engage in a process-focused discussion to enable a common, comprehensive understanding of process, and the process-centered opportunities for making these processes, and ultimately the organization as a process-centric entity, "green". Based on a business process lifecycle model, we propose possible avenues for future research.

A guide to managing and coordinating educational institution articulation for strategic benefit. This approach encompasses a key facilitator at senior management level in both vocational and higher education to negotiate articulation and credit transfer arrangements. The approach embeds articulation and credit transfer in the strategic direction and 'business model' of the institution and is more effective and efficient for all stakeholders. Corporate Strategy utilises tools such as Memoranda of Understanding which outline a governance structure; typically joint committees or advisory groups, to support curriculum mapping and course design. The resource is of specific interest to education and training executives and government bodies.

The Integrated Articulation and Credit Transfer (IACT) project was instigated in response to Australian Government efforts to address Australia's workforce and skills shortage issues by strengthening the connection between industry, the higher education (HE) sector and the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Concern about the lack of connection, or 'articulation', between the VET and HE sectors has been expressed for some thirty years and arises from issues about access and equity, efficiency, views about the roles of the different sectors, and providing pathways between them. The aim of the IACT project was to find ways to remove barriers to articulation between the VET and HE education sectors, and to assist VET, HE and industry stakeholders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness (or 'seamlessness') of articulation pathways for all stakeholders. This report provides an overview of the project, its research findings and the resources which have been developed as a result.

Geboorte is een potentieel risico voor zowel moeder als jong dier. De meeste dieren sterven in de eerste dagen na de geboorte., Birth is an intrinsically risky process for both mother and young: half of all preweaning mortalities in cattle and sheep, for example, occur within the first day or so life and maternal mortalities and health problems also peak around parturition. Prolonged or difficult deliveries are associated with increased offspring mortality in cattle, sheep and pigs. Thus, optimizing the parturition process can have important impacts on health, welfare and productivity in all farmed species. Some of the effects of a difficult delivery on the mother and neonate are discussed, and future opportunities are suggested to reduce the incidence of difficult deliveries.

At the 2009 Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, COP15, so many contradictory demands were apparent that it is doubtful whether it produced many useful outcomes. In this paper we question whether it, and summits like it, may be inherently doomed to fall short of expectations. With its experience of the intrinsic contradictions within socio-technical systems, the Information System’s profession may provide some insights into complex issues such as climate change. IS research has often demonstrated that imposed top-down solutions rarely provide the most promising way to approach highly complex problems. On the other hand, bottom-up emergent processes, though less politically acceptable, may take us in the direction we need to go. This paper reviews and reports Green IS research to make a case for a multifaceted approach to the climate change problem, with the suggestion that the IS experience may inform global approaches to finding bottom-up solutions to climate change.

A Mandate to Share: The 9/11 Commission Report and related Presidential directives have highlighted the need to share information between different government agencies, military services, and international allies. With sponsorship from the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), NRL provided the technical leadership for the Comprehensive Maritime Awareness (CMA) Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) aimed specifically at developing and demonstrating effective means for sharing maritime intelligence to improve interdiction of suspicious or threatening vessels, cargo, and people. To accomplish sharing in an effective manner, we need to enable humans and computers to understand situation intelligence so that they can respond quickly to significant events. As the number of sensors and internetworked systems increase, the data volumes continue to soar, so people will need to rely on the machines to assess and filter more and more of the data. Human attention will need to focus on key events and making important judgments., Published in NRL Review, p169-170 2009.

The Comprehensive Maritime Awareness (CMA) Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) is a program to improve Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The CMA JCTD vision is to share maritime shipping information throughout the world to deter use of commercial maritime shipping for terrorism, WMD proliferation, drugs, piracy, and human trafficking. CMA serves as an exemplar for a "culture of sharing" of maritime information between the U.S. and international partners. The project takes advantage of ongoing efforts, proven technologies, and current information-sharing agreements. CMA has two main focus areas: (1) demonstrate the importance of interagency and international information-sharing for improved maritime awareness; and (2) demonstrate improved information management techniques - such as application of the U.S. Department of Defense Net-Centric Data Strategy - to enable effective management of large volumes of shared data. CMA is working cooperatively with the Republic of Singapore. Singapore's position as a nexus for shipping in Southeast Asia provides a unique opportunity for sharing information., Published in Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Review, p165-167, 2007.