Deciding How to Decide: Cultural Theory and Rule Making in Collaborative Watershed Organizations

The growing field of collaborative governance has long sought to explain processes of collective decision making. Insights from institutional analysis highlight the influence of rules in shaping collective decisions. Yet, less is known about how such rules are created; in other words, how collaborative organizations decide how to decide. By drawing on concepts from Cultural Theory, we examine the connections between worldviews and decision rules across four collaborative watershed organizations in Ohio, United States. Results from this comparative case analysis indicate correlations between the group dimension of worldview and decision rules about choice, as well as between the grid dimension of worldview and two different types of decision rules, choice and aggregation. These results highlight the explanatory value of integrating aspects of Cultural Theory with the Institutional Analysis and Development framework. Results also suggest how governments might more effectively engage with collaborative organizations.     

Rules for Collaboration: Institutional Analysis of Group Membership and Levels of Action in Watershed Partnerships

This study employs the Institutional Analysis and Development framework across three collaborative watershed partnerships with differing membership profiles (government centered, citizen centered, or mixed) to determine how rules at varying levels of action (operational rules, collective-choice rules, and constitutional rules) affect the formation and implementation of rules-in-use at different levels. Examining trends across group types at varying levels of action helps illuminate how the operational rules produced by different types of partnerships result in outputs that impact watershed management. Results show that the source of rules and their impact on subsequent levels of action vary by group type, with federal and state policies playing a larger role in government-centered and mixed-membership groups than in citizen-centered groups.     

Deletion/Substitution/Addition (DSA) model selection algorithm applied to the study of archaeological settlement patterning

This paper introduces GIS-based statistical methods for the study of settlement patterning in an archaeological context. The main aspect is an improvement over suboptimal stepwise statistical model selection procedures, with the introduction of a Deletion/Substitution/Addition (DSA) algorithm, a systematic model selection algorithm that provides an optimal model choice. The paper also introduces the combined use of Receiving Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves, and variable ranking as key tools aimed at an understanding of settlement patterning causation. An illustrative case study is provided whereby both a purely environmental and a mixed environmental/historical model (based on settlement hierarchy considerations) are investigated.     

SEISMIC RESPONSE CONTROL OF CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE USING DIFFERENT CONTROL STRATEGIES

The goal of this research is to study the effect of cable vibration through a number of control cases of a cable-stayed bridge. In order to consider the complicated dynamic behaviour of the full-scale bridge, a three-dimensional numerical model of the MATLAB-based analysis tool has been developed by the complete simulation of the Gi-Lu bridge. The dynamic characteristics of cables in the cable-stayed bridge are verified between the field experiment and the result from numerical simulation using geometrically nonlinear beam elements in MATLAB program. Three types of control devices are selected to reduce the response of the bridge deck which includes: actuators, viscous-elastic dampers with large capacity, and base isolations. Moreover, two types of control devices, MR dampers and viscous dampers, are installed either between the deck and cables and/or between two neighbouring cables for controlling the cable vibration. A modified bi-viscous model combined with convergent rules is used to describe the behaviour of MR dampers. Finally, through evaluation criteria the control effectiveness on the cable-stayed bridge using different control strategies is examined.     

基于SEA的AGA-SVR节假日客流量预测方法研究

节假日旅游客流量由于游客在短期内大量集中于同一地点、不同节假日休假时间长短、所处季节等不同,呈现复杂非线性特征和明显季节性特点.本文提出一种基于季节指数调整(Seasonal Exponential Adjustment,SEA)的自适应遗传算法(Adaptive Genetic Algorithm,AGA)-支持向量回归 (Support Vector Regression,SVR)预测模型,即基于SEA的AGA-SVR模型,并用国内著名5A级风景区黄山2008~2012年节假日客流量数据对模型进行验证.研究结果表明,基于SEA的AGA-SVR预测模型能够准确处理节假日旅游客流量预测中的非线性和季节性问题,较AGA-SVR和GA-SVR等方法具有更高的预测精度,在旅游预测领域应用前景广阔.     

An Enhanced Finite Element Macro-Model for the Realistic Simulation of Localized Cracks in Masonry Structures: A Large-Scale Application

ABSTRACT

Finite element macro-modeling approaches are widely used for the analysis of large-scale masonry structures. Despite their efficiency, they still face two important challenges: the realistic representation of damage and a reasonable independency of the numerical results to the used discretization. In this work, the classical smeared crack approach is enhanced with a crack-tracking algorithm, originating from the analysis of localized cracking in quasi-brittle materials. The proposed algorithm is for the first time applied to a large-scale wall exhibiting multiple shear and flexural cracking. Discussion covers structural aspects, as the response of the structure under different assumptions regarding the floor rigidity, but also numerical issues, commonly overlooked in the simulation of large structures, such the mesh-dependency of the numerical results.     

Identifying Functional Regions in Australia Using Hierarchical Aggregation Techniques

This paper continues our work focused on developing a new socio-economic geography for Australia such that the chosen spatial aggregation of data is based on an analysis of economic behaviour. The underlying hypothesis is that the development of a geographical classification based on underlying economic behaviour will provide new insights into critical issues of regional performance, including unemployment differentials, the impact of industry, infrastructure and changes in local public expenditure on local labour markets. As a precursor to detailed work on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing data, we establish the proof of concept in this paper of the Intramax methodology using 2001 Journey-to-Work data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the state of New South Wales. The functional regionalisation generated by the Intramax method is then tested using ABS labour force data. We compare 2001 ABS Census of Population and Housing data aggregated by the ABS labour force regions to the same data aggregated using our functional regions. The results demonstrate the potential value of this technique for the development of a new geography.     

Quantifying tomb geometries in resistivity images using watershed algorithms

Quantifying the geometries (defined here as width, height and depth of burial) of archeological structures within resistivity models produced as a result of the regularization constraints used in most inversion algorithms is difficult, especially when structures are closely spaced. Here we apply the watershed by simulated immersion method of boundary detection to smooth 2D resistivity images generated for synthetic and field data over 3D targets. The synthetic studies include a single cavity model, a model for two widely spaced cavities (spacing ? unit electrode spacing) and a model for two closely spaced cavities (spacing < unit electrode spacing). We also examine a single-cavity model where a relatively resistive overburden, common at archaeological sites in Egypt, is included. In the case of the single cavity models, the maximum error for any geometries are 18% for the model without the resistive overburden and 10% for the model where the overburden is included, whereas it increases to 24% for the widely spaced model and 40% for the closely spaced model. Despite, the higher errors in the closely spaced cavity model, application of the algorithm confirms the presence of two features, which is not ascertainable from the smooth resistivity images. Boundaries detected with the watershed algorithm are subsequently used to define a disconnect in the regularization, resulting in a markedly improved estimate of the resistivity structure (particularly for the closely spaced cavity model) in a second inversion step using the model obtained from the smoothness constraint inversion as the starting model. This revised resistivity model also results in a lower root-mean-square (rms) misfit between measured and theoretical data, and between synthetic and inverted models. We demonstrate how the method can be applied on images from the archaeological site at Qurnet Murai, Luxor City Egypt.