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This article is a summary of recent Open Access activity in Canada, focusing on policies and mandates, repositories, and initiatives in libraries.

The development of a cost structure for energy storage systems (ESS) has received limited attention. In this study, we developed data-intensive techno-economic models to assess the economic feasibility of ESS. The ESS here includes pump hydro storage (PHS) and compressed air energy storage (CAES). The costs were developed using data-intensive bottom-up models. Scale factors were developed for each component of the storage systems. The life cycle costs of energy storage were estimated for capacity ranges of 98-491 MW, 81-404 MW, and 60-298 MW for PHS, conventional CAES (C-CAES), and adiabatic CAES (A-CAES), respectively, to ensure a market-driven price can be achieved. For CAES systems, costs were developed for storage in salt caverns hard rock caverns, and porous formations. The results show that the annual life cycle storage cost is $220-400 for PHS, $215-265 for C-CAES, and $375-480 per kW-year for A-CAES. The levelised cost of electricity is $69-121 for PHS, $58-70 for C-CAES, and $96-121 per MWh for A-CAES. C-CAES is economically attractive at all capacities, PHS is economically attractive at higher capacities, and A-CAES is not attractive at all. The developed information is helpful in making investment decision related to large energy storage systems.

Biodiversity can dampen the effects of ecosystem variability through diversification of portfolio assets providing the environmental stability that supports economies and cultures. We examined how elements of salmon biodiversity affect interannual catch stability and within-year season length (opportunity) of First Nations fisheries in the Fraser River watershed from 1983 to 2012 across 5 different species of salmon. Stability and opportunity increased in fisheries with access to increasing richness, as fisheries were closer to the ocean, in mainstem fisheries relative to tributary fisheries, and in fisheries downstream of a partial barrier. The importance of different elements of salmon biodiversity on catch stability varied by species. Richness was the most ubiquitous explanatory variable of fishing opportunity across all species. Through a novel application of spatial portfolio theory, this research quantifies the portfolio effect in fisheries across the Fraser and links basic diversity-stability theory to First Nations food security.

The Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imager System (OSIRIS) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) have been taking measurements from space since 2001 and 2003, respectively. This paper presents intercomparisons between ozone and NO2 measured by the ACE and OSIRIS satellite instruments and by ground-based instruments at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), which is located at Eureka, Canada (80° N, 86° W) and is operated by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC). The ground-based instruments included in this study are four zenith-sky differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments, one Bruker Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and four Brewer spectrophotometers. Ozone total columns measured by the DOAS instruments were retrieved using new Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) guidelines and agree to within 3.2%. The DOAS ozone columns agree with the Brewer spectrophotometers with mean relative differences that are smaller than 1.5%. This suggests that for these instruments the new NDACC data guidelines were successful in producing a homogenous and accurate ozone dataset at 80° N. Satellite 14–52 km ozone and 17–40 km NO2 partial columns within 500 km of PEARL were calculated for ACE-FTS Version 2.2 (v2.2) plus updates, ACE-FTS v3.0, ACE-MAESTRO (Measurements of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation) v1.2 and OSIRIS SaskMART v5.0x ozone and Optimal Estimation v3.0 NO2 data products. The new ACE-FTS v3.0 and the validated ACE-FTS v2.2 partial columns are nearly identical, with mean relative differences of 0.0 ± 0.2% and −0.2 ± 0.1% for v2.2 minus v3.0 ozone and NO2, respectively. Ozone columns were constructed from 14–52 km satellite and 0–14 km ozonesonde partial columns and compared with the ground-based total column measurements. The satellite-plus-sonde measurements agree with the ground-based ozone total columns with mean relative differences of 0.1–7.3%. For NO2, partial columns from 17 km upward were scaled to noon using a photochemical model. Mean relative differences between OSIRIS, ACE-FTS and ground-based NO2 measurements do not exceed 20%. ACE-MAESTRO measures more NO2 than the other instruments, with mean relative differences of 25–52%. Seasonal variation in the differences between NO2 partial columns is observed, suggesting that there are systematic errors in the measurements and/or the photochemical model corrections. For ozone spring-time measurements, additional coincidence criteria based on stratospheric temperature and the location of the polar vortex were found to improve agreement between some of the instruments. For ACE-FTS v2.2 minus Bruker FTIR, the 2007–2009 spring-time mean relative difference improved from −5.0 ± 0.4% to −3.1 ± 0.8% with the dynamical selection criteria. This was the largest improvement, likely because both instruments measure direct sunlight and therefore have well-characterized lines-of-sight compared with scattered sunlight measurements. For NO2, the addition of a ±1° latitude coincidence criterion improved spring-time intercomparison results, likely due to the sharp latitudinal gradient of NO2 during polar sunrise. The differences between satellite and ground-based measurements do not show any obvious trends over the missions, indicating that both the ACE and OSIRIS instruments continue to perform well.

A cocomparability graph is a graph whose complement admits a transitive orientation. An interval graph is the intersection graph of a family of intervals on the real line. In this paper we investigate the relationships between interval and cocomparabil-ity graphs. This study is motivated by recent results [5, 13] that show that for some problems, the algorithm used on interval graphs can also be used with small modifications on cocomparability graphs. Many of these algorithms are based on graph searches that preserve cocomparability orderings. First we propose a characterization of cocomparability graphs via a lattice structure on the set of their maximal cliques. Using this characterization we can prove that every maximal interval subgraph of a cocomparability graph G is also a maximal chordal subgraph of G. Although the size of this lattice of maximal cliques can be exponential in the size of the graph, it can be used as a framework to design and prove algorithms on cocomparability graphs. In particular we show that a new graph search, namely Local Maximal Neighborhood Search (LocalMNS) leads to an O(n + mlogn) time algorithm to find a maximal interval subgraph of a cocomparability graph. Similarly we propose a linear time algorithm to compute all simplicial vertices in a cocomparability graph. In both cases we improve on the current state of knowledge. Il s'agit d'une recherche sur les relations entre les graphes d'intervalles et les graphes de cocomparabilité

Haptic technology has been utilized since 1952 in various industries. This technology is based on providing feedback, mainly force feedback, to users performing various tasks. For instance, in the video gaming industry, where haptic technology has been utilized widely, a player can feel the reaction of his actions when playing the game. They can feel how hard it is to kick a soccer ball or turn a racing car. This business plan, developed for Intelligent Hap Solutions Inc., a start-up company, investigates the application of haptic technology in the education industry. A product, HapChem is proposed, which will enable chemistry students, both in high school and university, to build compounds and form reactions using a robotic arm with haptic technology. Using HapChem, students can feel the weight, and other properties of compounds as well as the reaction characteristics. The business will require initial private capital investment from both the founders and from angel investors. The venture is projected to break-even with 4 years and produce a stage appropriate risk-adjusted return on investment for its investors.

According to recent analyst reports, merger / acquisition (M&A) and technology licensing activity in the pharmaceutical industry is not going to see any slow downs in the next few years (The Boston Globe, 2008). With patents of high revenue drugs expiring, risk of development increasing and changes in the global landscape, M&A and licensing remain key strategies that companies use to improve their competitive position in the industry. Managing these processes is incredibly resource intensive for companies. Understanding competition, locating partners, and maintaining ongoing communication is resource intensive and there remains an unmet need to improve services for organizations embarking on this aspect of business development.

Almost all research output includes tables, diagrams, photographs and even sketches, and papers within HCI typically take advantage of including these figures in their files. However the space given to non-diagrammatical or tabular figures is often small, even in papers that primarily concern themselves with visual output. The reason for this might be the publishing models employed in most proceedings and journals: Despite moving to a digital format which is unhindered by page count or physical cost, there remains a somewhat arbitrary limitation on page count. Recent moves by ACM SIGCHI and others to remove references from the maximum page count suggest that there is movement on this, however images remain firmly within the limits of the text. We propose that images should be celebrated – not penalised – and call for not only the adoption of the Pictorials format in CHI, but for images to be removed from page counts in order to encourage greater transparency of process in HCI research.

This paper addresses indicators of the performance of the Vancouver human health biotechnology cluster.