Conference Facilities Research Articles

Inter-organizational Collaboration and Partnerships in Health and Social Care

Inter-agency collaboration in the public sector remains chronically difficult, especially in the field of health and social care services; yet governments understandably remain enthusiastic about it. This article critically examines the potential of networked collaboration, which involves IT to facilitate inter-organizational collaboration, with particular reference to health and social care services. Networked collaboration can be implemented by the use of social software such as blogs, wikis and online discussion groups, which have been designed for the purpose of communication and collaboration. As a result of technological innovations it is now possible to engage in synchronous (real time) interactions that are not limited by location. The role of virtual collaborative conference facilities offers open access to shared information in health and social services, a place for collaborative activities and discussion tools. What current developments in social software can do is to offer ways of facilitating and enabling the necessary partnerships in health and social care services to move forward by reducing some of the main barriers to communications between managers and professionals across organizational boundaries.

Computational Neuroscience (CNS*2007)

The international Computational Neuroscience meeting (CNS) has been a premier forum for presenting experimental and theoretical results exploring the biology of computation in the nervous system for the last 16 years. The meeting is organized by the Organization for Computational Neurosciences, a non-profit organization governed by an international executive committee and board of directors. A separate program committee is responsible for the scientific program of the meeting. Participants at the meeting are from academia and industry. The meeting not only provides a venue for research presentation and discussion by senior scientists but actively offers a forum for promoting and supporting young scientists and students from around the world. The papers in this supplemental volume were presented at the 16th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2007) held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from Saturday July 7 to Thursday July 12, 2007. The meeting consisted of a welcome reception, three days of oral and poster sessions, an evening harbor cruise and dinner, and two days of workshops. The main meeting was held at 89 Chestnut, a University of Toronto conference facility and the workshops took place at the University of Toronto downtown campus. Abstracts for the meeting were submitted in early February. Those authors wanting an oral presentation also submitted an extended summary of their work. The abstracts were reviewed by the Program Committee and each extended summary was additionally reviewed and scored by two independent reviewers. In the end 230 papers were accepted for the meeting. The review comments and scores for the extended summaries were used by the Program Committee to construct the final oral and poster programs. Abstracts for oral presentations are given first, in order of presentation at the meeting. Abstracts for poster presentations are grouped by topic according to keywords chosen by the authors in their initial submissions. Clearly some papers could fit under multiple topics, so this classification is by no means precise. Nevertheless, these abstracts represent a sampling of some of the exciting work being done today, often by young researchers, in the field of Computational Neuroscience. CNS*2007 Program Committee Bill Holmes, Chair (Ohio University), Steve Bressler (Florida Atlantic University), Frances Chance (University of California, Irvine), Sharon Crook (Arizona State University), Markus Diesmann (RIKEN), Alex Dimitrov (Montana State University), Sonja Gruen (Free University, Berlin), Tay Netoff (University of Minnesota), Hiroshi Okamoto (RIKEN), Mike Paulin (University of Otago), Astrid Prinz (Emory University), Michelle Rudolph (CRNS) CNS*2007 Reviewers Kurt Ahrens, Athena Akrami, Jose Ambros-Ingerson, Peter Andras, Toru Aonishi, Ildiko Aradi, Francesco Battaglia, Maxim Bazhenov, James Bednar, Jan Benda, Upinder Bhalla, Ingo Bojak, Victoria Booth, Amitabha Bose, Steve Bressler, Romain Brette, Robert Butera, Ronald Calabrese, Carmen Canavier, Jeremy Caplan, Hide Cateau, Michela Chippalone, Thomas Cleland, Albert Compte, Felix Creutzig, Patrick Crotty, Gennady Cymbalyuk, Peter Dayan, Gustavo Deco, Paolo DelGiudice, Michael Denker, Alain Destexhe, Alexander Dimitrov, Mingzhou Ding, Ramana Dodla, Brent Doiron, Chris Eliasmith, Udo Ernst, Gabbiani Fabrizio, Adrienne Fairhall, Jean-Marc Fellous, Roberto Fernandez Galan, Nicolas Fourcaud-Trocme, Erik Fransen, Marc-Oliver Gewaltig, Stan Gielen, Bruce Graham, Lyle Graham, Cengiz Gunay, Christian Hauptmann, J. Michael Herrmann, Yutaka Hirata, Kazuhisa Ichikawa, Hide Ikeno, Dieter Jaeger, Don Johnson, Ranu Jung, Szabolcs Kali, Amir Karniel, Gabriel Kreiman, Linda Larson-Prior, Aurel A Lazar, Maciej Lazarewicz, Tim Lewis, Hualou Liang, Benjamin Lindner, Marja-Leena Linne, Andre Longtin, Niklas Ludtke, William Lytton, Paul Miller, Samat Moldakarimov, Abigail Morrison, Tay Netoff, Ernst Niebur, Haruka Nishimura, Klaus Obermayer, Eckehard Olbrich, Sorinel Oprisan, Stefano Panzeri, Gordon Pipa, Panayiota Poirazi, Bernd Porr, Jennifer Read, Patrick Roberts, Horacio Rotstein, Yasser Roudi, Alex Roxin, Michelle Rudolph, Ko Sakai, Yukata Sakai, Emilio Salinas, Steven Schiff, Shihab Shamma, Harel Shouval, Asya Shpiro, Karen Sigvardt, Leslie Smith, Martin Stemmler, David Sterratt, Benjamin Torben-Nielsen, Horatiu Voicu, Christina Weaver. CNS*2007 Local Organizer and Workshop Chair Frances Skinner (Toronto Western Research Institute and University of Toronto) Government Liaisons Dennis Glanzman (NIMH), Yuan Liu (NINDS), Kenneth Whang (NSF) Supporting Agencies National Institute of Mental Health CNS – Organization for Computational Neuroscience http://www.cnsorg.org Ranu Jung (Arizona State University), President Dieter Jaeger (Emory University), Vice-President Alain Destexhe (CNRS), Vice-President Linda Larson-Prior (Washington University), Treasurer Phillip Ulinski (University of Chicago) Grants Chair Tim Lewis (University of California-Davis), Travel Grants Christiane Linster (Cornell University) Past-President and Communications Chair Jean Marc-Fellous (University of Arizona), Sponsorship Chair CNS Board of Directors James Bednar (University of Edinburgh), Ingo Bojak (Swinburne University), Erik DeSchutter (University of Antwerp), Udo Ernst (University of Bremen), Jean-Marc Fellous (University of Arizona), Mark Goldman (Wellesley College), Leslie Kay (University of Chicago), Tim Lewis (UC Davis), David Redish (University of Minnesota), Patrick Roberts (Oregon Health and Science University), Steven Schiff (Penn State University), Todd Troyer (University of Maryland), Susan Wearne (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine), Christina Weaver (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine) For more information about the organization, please see http://www.cnsorg.org

A Temporal Analysis of Conference Venue Refurbishment Within the U.K. Conference Sector

This paper examines conference venue refurbishments within purpose-built venues, hotels, educational establishments, and visitor attractions across the U.K. conference sector. The main data relate to six refurbishment activities undertaken to create a venue conference product. Additionally, refurbishments undertaken since the conference facilities opened, and future plans for refurbishments across the four venue classifications are examined. The refurbishments examined are those of upgrading furnishings, upgrading décor, complying with health and safety legislation, the implementation of modern conference technologies, converting and/or extending the venue to supply or improve conference facilities and the provision of disabled access. The results show that initial level of initial investment across all venue classifications is not sustained, and a decline in future investment is apparent.

The path less travelled—a road to success

How does the pediatric imager rejoin the team? As my friend Walter Berdon likes to say, “How does the imager cease to be a prisoner in solitary confinement?” Most important, one must realize what was lost (The easier path—a blueprint for failure) and must want to change things. Without a sincere desire to make an effort, pediatric imagers will remain isolated and will become viewed as incidental to patient care, no more valued than any other commodity. However, the costs of rejoining the team are not inconsequential (see below) and, therefore, this decision has to be “top down”; that is, the chief must see the value of the endeavor and support it, not merely with words but by actions. Unfortunately, one cannot wait for the institution or department to suddenly wake up and perceive the value of an active imaging department. At this juncture, only by showing the value of an interactive imaging department in helping the pediatric house staff pass their Boards or improvements in patient care or assisting the hospital in its accreditation will the powers that be aid the imagers in defraying the costs of interaction (see below about monetary value). The chief of imaging must get this done! There must be a game plan of what the department is going to do, adequate consensus-building within the department and with the appropriate clinical services. Everyone will gain, but it will take a substantial effort so that the “value added” must be real. The imaging department and hospital administration must agree on appropriate rounds and conference facilities—be it PACS in the ICUs, teleconferencing for some areas, or merely appropriate material for lectures and conferences in rooms throughout the hospital. Administration must provide these resources. They are not expensive but make a world of difference so everything goes smoothly. However, waiting for the perfect facility is not a prerequisite for starting our emergence from “solitary confinement.” The imager should have specific goals for these rounds and conferences. For rounds, it is most important that one:

A not so brief history of the Oncogene Meeting and its Cartoons

A not so brief history of the Oncogene Meeting and its Cartoons

Conservation Values, Climate Change and Modern Architecture

The Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) Tower in Manchester is part of an office and conference facility of 1959–62 considered by Pevsner to be the best commercial office building in Manchester. In 1995 it was listed at Grade II. It has recently seen the completion of a major project to overclad the concrete service tower with the largest vertical array of photovoltaic cells in the UK. The scheme was, at least in part, a response to the failure of the original mosaic cladding, which has now been secured in situ under the new overcladding. The project has been controversial: its proponents have argued in terms of its environmental sustainability and the reversibility of the cladding; its detractors have made the case that the scheme goes beyond the accepted conservation principle of minimum intervention and has claimed exaggerated green credentials. The paper uses the CIS Tower as a case study to explore the relationship between architectural conservation values and those of the climate change agenda.

A MOO-Based Virtual Training Environment

We have implemented a virtual environment to support the training of engineers in Panels of Experts (POE), a vehicle for gathering customer data. The environment, which is implemented using multi-user domain (MUD) technology, simulates a hotel conference facility, the context in which POEs generally take place. Within the environment, simulated customer data gathering activities support training through practice. We describe the environment, discuss some issues of communication and interaction raised by the technology, and relay the experiences of new users within this environment.

Experiments in speech localization using headphones and loudspeakers

This experiment studies the ability of humans to localize sound as recording and playback methods are varied. Further, because subjects are asked to indicate personal preference, we are able to determine the importance of localization in setting personal preference. The stimulus used in this experiment was speech (6 stanzas of a poem, each recorded at a different location). Three recording methods were used: monaural, stereo, and stereo through an artificial head. Two playback methods were used: stereo speakers and stereo headphones. Results of the work are applicable to the design of conference facilities and the design of headphones and speakers. [This work is a Wise Women project. Wise Women partners high school students from Garrison Forest School with Johns Hopkins engineering faculty.]

Development of a new multi-professional clinical simulation centre at the University of Hertfordshire.

Simulation training at the University of Hertfordshire has developed through our experience with the “Hertfordshire Intensive Care & Emergency Simulation Centre” (HICESC) that opened in 1998. Recently we have emphasised Inter-professional education as it is expected to help trainees from different disciplines gain more insight into each other’s roles, abilities and enable their working together in clinical practice. Following on from the very positive feedback from students and external participants regarding realistic inter-professional scenario-based learning, the University team have designed a new facility that is currently being built. This will provide a central and modern training facility for our wide range of professional student groups (over 5000 students on pre and post registration programmes) as well as local hospital staff. This major development is due to be completed in September 2006 and will be one of the largest multi-professional clinical simulation centres in Europe with a flexible environment and conference facilities. In its first developmental phase, it will include a fully integrated audio and visual system with 24 cameras, 3 observation rooms, 2 control rooms, a modern pharmacy linked to the different wards, a Paediatric ITU/Theatre, an Adult ITU/Theatre, an Accident and Emergency room, a community area, and a clinical skills/screen-based simulation room. This 500m2 simulated clinical environment will open new training opportunities for our students and make a positive contribution to improved patient care.

A Canonical Correlation Analysis on Importance Ratings between the Host Country Evaluation Attributes and the Convention Service Evaluation Attributes

This study aims to examine the relationships between the host country evaluation attributes and the convention service evaluation attributes by using a canonical correlations analysis on importance ratings. The data that used for this study are based on the international convention attendees’ perceptions, asking their importance ratings on international convention service attributes. The results indicate that there is a correlation between two sets of variables: (1) pre-convention service, such as communicating information in advance, quick response to the request, individual concerns, quickness and correctness of registration, transportation service (.717) and physical factor represented by accommodation, transportation, security, and conference facilities (.705), and (2) peripheral convention service, such as linked and incident/sub event, travel and cultural information, and offering business center services (.590) and environmental factor, such as natural scenery and climate, and exotic culture (.738). With the results, this study can contribute to the package convention product design, destination management, and convention planning based on the international convention attendees’ perceptions.

Introduction

The 46th annual Sanibel Symposium, organized by the faculty, students, and staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida, was held February 26–March 3, 2006. About 250 scientists gathered at the King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on St. Simons Island, Georgia. For the second consecutive year, this venue offered excellent conference facilities and an ambiance that resembled the original conference site on Sanibel Island, Florida. The 2006 symposium followed the established format with plenary lectures and poster sessions and offered a compact six-day program of quantum chemistry, theoretical biological chemistry, and condensed matter physics, with lively cross-disciplinary discussions. The topics of the various plenary sessions covered by these proceedings include Metals in Biology, Advanced Methods in Biosimulation, Theory in Structural Biology, Radiation Damage in Biosystems, Ligand Docking, Molecular Electronics, DFT Methods for Large Molecules, Prospects for OEP Methods in DFT, Grid Chemistry, Fundamentals and Generalizations of DFT, Molecular Propagator Theory, Applications of Couple Cluster Theory to Large Molecules, Many-Body Theory of Nuclear Motion, and Quantum Dynamics at Solid Surfaces. Participating students were introduced to the conference subjects dealing with biomolecules by well-attended tutorials offered by Professors Kennie Merz and Nigel Richards on the evening of the opening Saturday, February 25. The articles in these proceedings have been subjected to the standard refereeing procedures of the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. The organizers acknowledge the following sponsors for their support of the 2006 Sanibel Symposium: U. S. Office of Naval Research (contract grant number N00014-06-1-0238), the IBM Corporation, and the University of Florida. Very special thanks go to the staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida for handling the numerous administrative, clerical, and practical details. The organizers are proud to recognize the contributions of Mrs. Judy Parker, Mrs. Coralu Clements, Mr. Jim Folks, and Mr. Josh McClellan. All the graduate students of the Quantum Theory Project, who served as “gofers,” are gratefully recognized for their contributions to the 2006 Sanibel Symposium.

Collaboration fosters Kearney scientific achievements

UC ’s Kearney Research and Extension Center (KREC) lies at the heart of one of the most productive and diverse agricultural regions in the world. Also an area of environmental challenges, Kearney’s fi eld sites have supported decades of landmark research, addressing issues as diverse as air pollution effects, the development of exotic specialty crops, and the rapid molecular diagnosis of plant disease. First dedicated as the Kearney Horticultural Field Station in 1965, KREC is one of nine UC Research and Extension Centers (RECs). All are strategically located in key agricultural regions of the state, but Kearney is unique among them in its size and scope. Functioning as a small research campus, KREC encompasses 33 specialized laboratories and hosts the UC Kearney Agricultural Center (KAC), with 24 permanent resident faculty. In addition, 20 to 25 faculty from UC campuses and county UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) offi ces conduct research at KREC each year. The center currently supports 90 research and extension projects in 130 different fi eld and laboratory locations. KREC also houses the UCCE Central Valley regional offi ce. The cutting-edge and practical research conducted at Kearney has helped San Joaquin Valley agriculture become a $16 billion industry, yielding roughly half of California’s farm production. This issue of California Agriculture commemorates the 40th anniversary of KREC with reviews and reports on recently completed research, much of which has immediate relevance to farmers, packers and shippers. Kearney has seen steady expansion, modernization and diversifi cation over its 40-year history. Its laboratories and greenhouse facilities rival those found on the UC campuses, and its postharvest facility is state-of-the-art. The center encompasses a variety of alluvial soil types, and more than 50 different crops are cultivated under commercial growing conditions. This combination of land, laboratories and greenhouses enables UC scientists to conduct studies in a carefully managed setting. Professional staff monitor cultivated crops and continually check the operation of sophisticated laboratory facilities. Collaborative environment. Located in the center of a remarkable agricultural region, Kearney fosters interactions with industry, government agencies, environmental and public policy groups, and university scientists. Whether on small research plots, in laboratories or on-site conference facilities, growers and scientists meet here daily in the collaborative spirit envisioned by the creators of the land-grant university system. Collaboration fosters Kearney scientifi c achievements

Introduction

The 45th annual Sanibel Symposium, organized by the faculty, students, and staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida, was held on March 5–11, 2005. More than 300 scientists gathered at a new site, the King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on St. Simons Island, Georgia. This venue provided excellent conference facilities, and its location on the beach brought back some of the ambiance of the original conference site on Sanibel Island, Florida. The 2005 symposium followed the established format with plenary and poster sessions. A compact six-day integrated program of quantum biology, quantum chemistry, and condensed matter physics provided for intense and lively cross-disciplinary interactions. The meeting honored Enrico Clementi and his scientific contributions. Three sessions on the final day of the symposium were specially dedicated to this celebration and featured as speakers past and present collaborators of Dr. Clementi. The topics of the sessions covered by these proceedings include Protein Design, Large-Scale Simulations of Condensed Phase Systems, Biomolecular NMR, Metals in Biology, DFT and Magnetic Fields, Dynamical Mean Field Theory, High-Level Electron Correlation Theory, Semiempirical Electronic Structure, Coupled-Cluster Theory, Explicitly Correlated and Multi-Resolution Quantum Chemical Calculations, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, Multi-Reference CC, and MBPT Theory. Participating students were introduced to the conference subjects by well-attended tutorials offered in the evening of the opening Saturday by Professors A. Roitberg and Nigel Richards, and on Monday evening by Professors S. B. Trickey, and So Hirata. The articles in these proceedings have been subjected to the ordinary refereeing procedures of The International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. The organizers acknowledge the following sponsors for their support of the 2005 Sanibel Symposium: US Army (ARO), grant W911NF-05-1-0080; IBM Corporation; and the University of Florida. Very special thanks go to the staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida for handling the numerous administrative, clerical, and practical details. The organizers are proud to recognize the contributions of Mrs. Judy Parker, Ms. Coralu Clements, Mr. Jim Folks, and Dr. Ashley Alford. All the graduate students of the Quantum Theory Project, who served as “gofers” are gratefully recognized for their contributions to the 2005 Sanibel Symposium.

A cochlear implant user's guide to assistive devices and telephones

A cochlear implant user's guide to assistive devices and telephones

Measured Impact of a Rooftop Photovoltaic System

A 35-kW rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system has been installed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The system, located on the flat roof that connects NIST’s Administration Building to its adjoining conference and cafeteria facilities, produced NIST’s first site-generated renewable energy on September 14, 2001. In addition to providing electrical energy and reducing monthly peak electrical loads, the rear surface of each module is laminated to 51 mm of extruded polystyrene enhancing the thermal performance of the roof. A unique ballast system secures the photovoltaic system, eliminating the need for roof penetrations. An instrumentation and data acquisition package was installed to record the ambient temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, and the electrical energy delivered to the grid. Additional solar radiation instruments were installed after determining that the original solar radiation sensor was influenced by reflections from the south-facing wall of the Administration Building’s tower. NIST’s electric utility billing schedule includes energy and peak demand charges. The generation charges vary significantly depending upon the time interval—off-peak, intermediate, and on-peak—during which the energy is consumed. The schedule is divided into summer billing months (June–October) and winter billing months (November–May). During the winter billing months, the distribution, transmission, and generation peak demand charges are based on the greatest power demand imposed by the site on the grid. During the summer billing months, an additional demand charge is imposed to capture electrical demand during the on-peak time interval. This paper summarizes the monthly and annual measured performance of the photovoltaic system. The monthly energy produced by the system is tabulated. The system has provided 35676 kWh of electrical energy during its first year of operation. Conversion efficiencies—computed using solar radiation measurements from a single photovoltaic cell radiation sensor, four thermopile-based radiation sensors located around the perimeter of the photovoltaic array, and a remotely located thermopile-based radiation sensor—are presented. Annual conversion efficiencies of 10.8%, 8.8%, and 7.4% were achieved using cell, module, and foot print areas, respectively. Using the electric utility’s rate schedule, the monetary savings credited to the photovoltaic system is determined by combining the cost of the displaced energy with the reduction in peak demand charges attributable to the photovoltaic system. During its first year of operation, the system has saved $2678 with savings in demand charges, essentially equivalent to savings as a result of displaced energy. Finally, using utility provided data and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Benefits Calculator, estimates are made of the avoided emissions of the photovoltaic system over its projected life span.

Estimating Demand for a Conference Center in a Rural Community

ABSTRACT Conducting feasibility and market demand studies can be a problem in rural areas. Local data is often not available and information in published reports is usually not comparable due to differences in market areas. This article describes a step-by-step procedure that was used in a rural market to estimate the demand for a proposed conference facility. A specific example of how the procedure was used to estimate demand for one of the market segments that could potentially be served by a conference center is provided.

Views of oral cancer prevention and early detection: Maryland physicians

The purpose of this study was to obtain in-depth information on Maryland physicians' knowledge, opinions and practices about oral cancer examinations. The qualitative descriptive study used one focus group conducted in a conference facility and nine one-on-one interviews at private medical offices. A criterion-purposeful sampling was used for selection of participants. Generally, we found low awareness of, and surprise about, Maryland's high oral cancer mortality rates. Physicians were not surprised that they detect more lesions than dentists, although most physicians did not provide oral cancer examinations on a routine basis. Physicians were interested in attending continuing medical education (CME) courses on oral cancer prevention and early detection but only if worked into other CME programs on cancer. They were very interested in having hands-on training on performing an oral cancer examination. These findings will be used to implement educational interventions for Maryland physicians to help increase early detection of oral cancers.

Professional U.K. Conference Organizers' Perceptions of Important Selection and Quality Attributes of the Meetings Product

ABSTRACT The U.K. conference and meetings industry has developed dramatically over the last decade. Interest in the industry has grown and competition has intensified. Hotels are no longer the sole venue provider-other types of businesses are diversifying and offering conference facilities. Alternative venues available include universities, purpose built conference centers, castles, and sports stadia. The quality of provision is becoming increasingly important to customers when differentiating between venues. This study's research forms part of a larger study which proposes to ascertain whether gaps exist between conference organizers and conference delegates when assessing the quality and selection criteria of a conference venue. It presents the findings of a quantitative study of 413 professional U.K. conference organizers. Then the conference organizers' perceptions of service quality attributes are compared and contrasted by importance of individual attributes and attribute subsets. The results from t...

Unusual Venues as Conference Facilitites

Abstract The following paper investigates the use of unusual venues as conference facilities within the United Kingdom and identifies the current and future management issues. Unusual venues include such diverse properties as castles, visitor attractions, boats, sports stadiums, and galleries able to accommodate from ten to one thousand delegates. Reduced government funding has encouraged many of these venues to diversify their revenue generation activities, with conference activity providing lucrative and innovative opportunities. This paper provides a market analysis of this sector within the United Kingdom, with particular reference to market demand, the motivations for investment, and future influences on their management.

VAMAS TWA 20 workshop held in Abingdon

The eighth and final formal meeting of the VAMXS TWA 20 working group was held at The Cosener's House, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire (UK) from July 13–14, 2000. The Cosener's House is the conference facility of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, home of the ISIS pulsed neutron source. The meeting was very well attended with 36 participants representing 25 organizations from Europe, North America, and Asia.