Effects of corpuscular radiation on weather and climate

There is no doubt that the antropogenic effect play an important role in the effects of corpuscular radiation on weather and climate. The task, however, is to distinguish between antropogenic effect in the atmosphere due to human activities and natural climatic fluctuations influencing biological systems. The increase in global temperature during the past 100 years is in relatively good coincidence with the increase in geomagnetic (corpuscular) activity. It is concluded that it could have been the increase in temperature on the Northern Hemisphere, due to the processes occurring in the auroral oval under enhanced corpuscular radiation which led to an increased atmospheric concentration of CO2 in the past. Both processes, i.e., antropogenic and solar activity effects, should be therefore intensively studied due to their important role for elucidating the past and present global change mainly in temperature, climate and biological systems

Feasibility Study on the Use of Medium Resolution Satellite Data for the Detection of Forest Cover Change Caused by Clear Cutting of Coniferous Forests in the Northwest of Russia

This feasibility study examines possibilities of identifying and mapping of clear cuts in the boreal coniferous forests of north western Russia based on satellite imagery of medium spatial resolution (MRSD). Different image products obtained from the MODIS and MERIS sensors were visually examined in order to assess their suitability for clear cut detection. MODIS images of 250 m spatial resolution from the years 2001 and 2002 were ultimately selected as the main data source for change analysis. The study compares different detection and mapping approaches, including (i) visual interpretation using principal components, (ii) unsupervised digital classification and (iii) a combination of image differencing and textural analysis, defining statistical thresholds for the identification of clear cuts. The results show that the detection of clear cut locations is feasible by each approach, provided that the size of the clear cut is larger than about 15 ha. For mapping and area estimation the digital approaches are considered more efficient. The best mapping result was achieved based on the combination of image differencing and textural analysis. However, the mapping accuracy is affected by omission and commission errors, mainly caused by the limited spatial resolution of the imagery and by slight geometrical location shifts between different acquisitions. Also atmospheric and seasonal effects can influence the reliability of change indications. Based on a set of reference clear cut areas, delineated from Landsat TM imagery, the best mapping accuracy achieved was at about 65 %.JRC.H.3-Global environement monitorin

'20 days protected learning' - students' experiences of an Overseas Nurses Programme - 4 years on: A retrospective survey

Background From September 2005 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) introduced new arrangements for the registration of non-EU overseas nurses which requires all applicants to undertake '20 days of protected learning' time in the UK and for some, a period of supervised practice. A survey was undertaken at Bournemouth University, which offers a '20 days protected learning only' programme, to elicit overseas nurses' demographic details, experiences in completing the programme and their 'final destinations' once registered. Methods An online survey was devised which contained a mixture of tick box and open ended questions which covered demographic details, views on the programme and final destinations This was uploaded to www.SurveyMonkey.com and sent out to nurses who had completed the Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP) with Bournemouth University (n=1050). Quantiative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were coded and analysed using content analysis . Results There were 251 respondents (27.7% response rate). The typical 'profile' of a nurse who responded to the survey was female, aged 25-40 years and had been qualified for more than 5 years with a bachelors degree. The majority came from Australia on a 2 year working holiday visa and the key final destination in the UK, on registration with the NMC, was working for an agency. There were five key findings regarding experience of the programe. Of those surveyed 61.2% did not feel it necessary to undergo an ONP; 71.6% felt that they should be able to complete the programme on-line in their own country; 64.2% that the ONP should only contain information about delivery of healthcare in UK and Legal and professional (NMC) issues; 57% that European nurses should also undergo the same programme and sit an IELTS test; and 68.2% that the programme was too theory orientated; and should have links to practice (21%). Conclusions The NMC set the admissions criteria for entry to the register and Standards for an ONP. The findings of this survey raise issues regarding the percieved value and use of this approach for overseas nurses, and it may be helpful to take this into account when considering future policy

The understanding of management through entrepreneurship in the degree of Social Communication

Comunicação apresentada no International Journal of Arts&Sciences Annual Multidisciplinary Conference at Rome,Italy, The American University of Rome, 22-25 October, 2013Nowadays, entrepreneurship is a present and active subject in the different societies where the difference lies in the levels attained, namely the social, economical, cultural and political ones. In the more developed societies, entrepreneurship is not only a business concept, but also a concept of life, in so far as it is part of a group of changes that lead on to the building of a certain development that cannot be attained at any price, but should be sustainable, that is, offer more and a better life quality to the human being, who is one of the keys to development. It is important to know how to invest in the learning process of entrepreneurs so that they acquire skills that enable them to understand the importance and the value of management in a sustainable society. In general terms, in order to stay in the market, any organization has to learn to create value to itself as well as to others. The entrepreneurship learning process must be a part of the citizen’s development process, starting off in the early years and continuing throughout the many years of the learning process. The Project has been developed with students of the last year (2012/2013) of a degree of Social Communication, with specialism areas: journalism and cultural communication (Polytechnic Institute of Setubal – Portugal), that have in this year the first approach to the subjects of management, economic and entrepreneurship. The aim is to develop and to dress the management through the entrepreneurship level and the pedagogic method is based in the OFEE ( in portuguese: Oficina de Iniciativas de Empreendedorismo e Empregabilidade) – Workshop of Entrepreneurship and Employability Initiative by Agostinho Inácio Bucha (2009), which has a methodology based on knowledge transmission through the content of six worksheets. An management learning process based on entrepreneurship has been developed, which aims at the explanation of certain knowledge that are often implicit in the performance of these pupils. 3 The worksheets deal with the following areas: - MANAGEMENT: INTERNAL EXTERNAL - ATTITUDE towards MANAGEMENT / MANAGER ATTITUDE - TO KNOW / TO KNOW HOW TO BE / TO KNOW HOW TO DO - MANAGEMENT CULTURE - EDUCATION / TRAINING - MANAGEMENT SKILLS / ENTERPRISING SKILLS / TECHNICAL SKILLS The Management’s level of knowledge conditions his performance and the teacher should assume a pioneer role in his learning process by teaching him to think, to analyse and to act in an autonomous and independent way

The sensitive points in the analysis of an investment project

Comunicação apresentada na International Journal of Arts&Sciences Annual Multidisciplinary Conference at Prague Anglo-American University: Prague June 10 - 13In the business world decision making is of a high importance in a world in permanent change, which implies that the enterprises must learn to be part of that change. This new perspective doesn’t only concern enterprises but also any organization as all of them have to invest in order to stay in the market, that is, there is an implementation of the plotted strategy. The study has been developed with 60 students from the second year (2012/2013) of a degree of Management: Accountancy & Finance (School of Business and Administration – Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal), in the area of Investment Projects and one of the moments of evaluation consists in the construction of a Business Plan. A management learning process has been developed, which aims at the explanation of certain knowledge that is often implicit in the performance of the different Investment Projects. The student’s conditions of the Management level of knowledge is important and the teacher should assume a pioneer role in his learning process by teaching them to analyse and to act in an autonomous and independent way in order to validate the values and to understand the meaning to support the decision of accepting or not accepting an investment. Decision makers at many levels of organizations are frequently confronted with important choices concerning financial aspects of the organization. Increasingly this is the case not only for decision makers in private-sector organizations, but also for those within the public sector. Financial decisions and financial planning are central to the success of any business organization. Any operating plan for business must have alongside it a financial plan which allows implementation of the proposed operational details. The aim of this project is to clarify the most important variables, which are called the Sensitive Points in the Investment Projects. From a group of ten variables, the student considered the most important ones: Sale Price – Value of Investment – Life of Investment

'The Apple Must Fall Far From the Tree'. A Case Study of an Educational School Intervention in Lyari: An Urban Slum in Pakistan.

Partly attributed to the distinguishing effects of poverty on education and effects of education on poverty, the poverty and education nexus is complex. Since poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon deprivation in education, especially in urban slums, is not caused by one factor alone, but is rather stitched to various other related factors such as family structure, a high conflict neighbourhood and quality of school. This thesis aims to study the Kiran School system as a context sensitive educational intervention that is interacting with the urban social context of Lyari, a slum and an area infamous for gang violence in the city of Karachi in Pakistan, in an effort to adapt to and change the social environment in which it is being implemented. This is achieved by conducting qualitative semi-structured life history interviews of mothers, teachers and few members of the school staff who are all locals of the Lyari community for a thick intensive analysis using theoretical concepts of habitus, doxa, institutions, social capital, nepantla and agency and empowerment. As a result, this thesis argues that social relations and networks that disadvantaged people engage with and relate to in their daily lives and mobilize in times of crises reproduce inertiatic institutions. This inertia is perpetuated by: the family through patriarchy and intergenerational contract, the local schools by disseminating poor quality education and a violent/crime afflicted neighbourhood structured through patron-client relationships. Institutions come under stress only when a broker enters into this domain with an educational school intervention that challenges individuals to question taken for granted world views through bridging social capital that provides new forms of institutional fall back. This allows them to take greater control of their lives and has greater potential to transform existing institutions for social change amidst the urban social disadvantage

'A LITTLE LESS HERE, A LITTLE MORE THERE' PAKISTANI WOMEN IN SWEDEN:CONSTRUCTING MEANINGFUL IDENTITIES ACROSS BORDERS

In this study, Pakistani women who have migrated to Sweden, lend their voices to the conflicts they face and the negotiations they have made in their new abodes; in lieu of the changing cultural contexts and its impact on internalizations of significant and generalized others from their early socialization. This has resulted in an evolution of their habitus amid a new cultural field allowing them to construct new meaningful identities through firstly, gender role negotiations within the ‘private patriarchy’; and secondly by competing for space within the ‘public kyriarchy’ that conditions integration on a detachment from the family and an active participation in the labour market. The resistance, reactions and hopes for future life that are analysed through these narratives emphasize the omnipresence of an empowered agency that has been intact throughout the process of migration; that hibernates, evolves into a new habitus and emerges against changing cultural fields

Management of an entrepreneurial school

Trabalho apresentado no International Journal of Arts&Science Annual Multidisciplinary Conference, 11-15 de fevereiro 2018, MaltaThe school that exists today must reflect the society that is in constant change, and the structure of the school has to be flexible, with what it requires of new management models in order to train people, whose knowledge will meet the needs of different transforming organizations in the search for solutions compatible with a sustainable environment. In the more developed societies, entrepreneurship is not only a business concept, but also a concept of life, in so far as it is part of a group of changes that lead on to the building of a certain development that cannot be attained at any price. It is important to know how to invest in the learning process of entrepreneurs so that they acquire skills that enable them to understand the importance and the value of management. The school management has to be effective and efficient in order to check the proper operation and to use this designation, we're building an ecosystem that includes enterprises, schools, town halls and a large number of other organizations that are in society, because their services and products are necessary for the citizen to have quality of life.N/

Associations involving delays (particularly long delays) between certain weather parameters and geomagnetic activity

Four sunspot-minimum periods (1963-1966, 1971-1977, 1983-1987 and 1992-1997) have been examined for the results which are presented. Using several different weather parameters, tropospheric gravity waves, enhanced cold fronts and two rainfall data sets in Eastern Australia, associations at reasonably high levels of significance have been found with enhanced geomagnetic activity (EGA). Statistically this EGA involved either short delays of several days or long delays of about 20 days. The geomagnetic parameters used were (a) the AE index (b) the hourly H component for a number of stations and (c) the daily K-P-sum value. The K-P-sum analyses have shown that the EGA associated with the delays form part of four or five cycles of recurrent geomagnetic activity for 27-day periodicities. Furthermore statistically two recurrent cycles are found to exist concurrently, one apparently related to the short delays and the other to the long delays. Periodicities of 13.5 days are created because the two sets are displaced from each other by approximately this interval. A brief reference is made to the 13.5 periodicity known to exist for geomagnetic activity and the evidence in the literature for active regions on the sun to be displaced by 180 degrees of solar longitude