Documents published in 2011 : Scipedia

TimeDistance Helioseismology Data-Analysis Pipeline for Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager Onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/HMI) and Its Initial Results
J. Zhao, S. Couvidat, R. Bogart, K. Parchevsky, A. Birch, T. Duvall, J. Beck, A. Kosovichev, P. Scherrer

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 42

Abstract
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/HMI) provides continuous full-disk observations of solar oscillations. We develop a data-analysis pipeline based on the time-distance helioseismology method to measure acoustic travel times using HMI Doppler-shift observations, and infer solar interior properties by inverting these measurements. The pipeline is used for routine production of near-real-time full-disk maps of subsurface wave-speed perturbations and horizontal flow velocities for depths ranging from 0 to 20 Mm, every eight hours. In addition, Carrington synoptic maps for the subsurface properties are made from these full-disk maps. The pipeline can also be used for selected target areas and time periods. We explain details of the pipeline organization and procedures, including processing of the HMI Doppler observations, measurements of the travel times, inversions, and constructions of the full-disk and synoptic maps. Some initial results from the pipeline, including full-disk flow maps, sunspot subsurface flow fields, and the interior rotation and meridional flow speeds, are presented. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/HMI) provides continuous full-disk observations of solar oscillations. We develop a data-analysis [...]
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The air connectivity index : measuring integration in the global air transport network
B. Shepherd, J. Arvis

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 41

Abstract
The authors construct a new measure of connectivity in the global air transport network, covering 211 countries and territories for the year 2007. It is grounded in network analysis methods, and is based on a gravity-like model that is familiar from the international trade and regional science literatures. It is a global measure of connectivity, in the sense that it captures the full range of interactions among all network nodes, even when there is no direct flight connection between them. The best connected countries are the United States, Canada, and Germany; the United States' score is more than two-thirds higher than the next placed country's, and connectivity overall follows a power law distribution that is fully consistent with the hub-and-spoke nature of the global air transport network. The measure of connectivity is closely correlated with important economic variables, such as the degree of liberalization of air transport markets, and the extent of participation in international production networks. It provides a strong basis for future research in areas such as air and maritime transport, as well as international trade. Document type: Book
Abstract
The authors construct a new measure of connectivity in the global air transport network, covering 211 countries and territories for the year 2007. It is grounded in network [...]
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The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity1
F. Ferreira, J. Gignoux

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 40

Abstract
This paper proposes two related measures of educational inequality: one for educational achievement and another for educational opportunity. The former is the simple variance (or standard deviation) of test scores. Its selection is informed by consideration of two measurement issues that have typically been overlooked in the literature: the implications of the standardization of test scores for inequality indices, and the possible sample selection biases arising from the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) sampling frame. The measure of inequality of educational opportunity is given by the share of the variance in test scores that is explained by pre-determined circumstances. Both measures are computed for the 57 countries in which PISA surveys were conducted in 2006. Inequality of opportunity accounts for up to 35 percent of all disparities in educational achievement. It is greater in (most of) continental Europe and Latin America than in Asia, Scandinavia, and North America. It is uncorrelated with average educational achievement and only weakly negatively correlated with per capita gross domestic product. It correlates negatively with the share of spending in primary schooling, and positively with tracking in secondary schools. Document type: Book
Abstract
This paper proposes two related measures of educational inequality: one for educational achievement and another for educational opportunity. The former is the simple variance [...]
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User characteristics of transit oriented developments the case of kelvin grove urban village
D. Muley, J. Bunker, L. Ferreira

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 38

Abstract
Transit oriented developments are high density mixed use developments located within short and easily walkable distance of a major transit centre. These developments are often hypothesised as a means of enticing a mode shift from the private car to sustainable transport modes such as, walking, cycling and public transport. However, it is important to gather evidence to test this hypothesis by determining the travel characteristics of transit oriented developments users. For this purpose, travel surveys were conducted for an urban transit oriented development currently under development. This chapter presents the findings from the preliminary data analysis of the travel surveys. Kelvin Grove Urban Village, a mixed use development located in Brisbane, Australia, has been selected as the case for the transit oriented developments study. Travel data for all groups of transit oriented development users ranging from students to shoppers, and residents to employees were collected. Different survey instruments were used for different transit oriented development users to optimise their response rates, and the performance of these survey instruments are stated herein. The travel characteristics of transit oriented development users are reported in this chapter by explaining mode share, trip length distribution, and time of day of trip. The results of the travel survey reveal that Kelvin Grove Urban Village users use more sustainable modes of transport as compared to other Brisbane residents. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Transit oriented developments are high density mixed use developments located within short and easily walkable distance of a major transit centre. These developments are often [...]
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Burkina faso s infrastructure a continental perspective
C. Briceño-Garmendia, C. Dominguez-Torres, C. Briceño-Garmendia, C. Domínguez-Torres

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 37

Abstract
Infrastructure contributed 1.3 percentage points to Burkina Faso's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the past decade, much of it due to improvements in information and communication technology (ICT). Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries (MICs) could boost annual growth by more than 3 percentage points per capita.Today, Burkina Faso's infrastructure indicators look relatively good when compared with other low-income countries (LICs) in Africa. Burkina Faso has made significant progress in developing its infrastructure in recent years. The rapid modernization of the ICT sector, around 60 percent of the population lives within range of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) cell-phone signal. The expansion of safe water and sanitation technologies in urban areas since the late 1990s and the establishment of a system for funding road maintenance (by reducing the cost of road travel) should pay long-term dividends to the economy. The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) has gathered and analyzed extensive data on infrastructure across almost all African countries, including Burkina Faso. The results have been presented in reports covering different areas of infrastructure including ICT, irrigation, power, transport and water and sanitation and various policy areas, including investment needs, fiscal costs, and sector performance. Document type: Book
Abstract
Infrastructure contributed 1.3 percentage points to Burkina Faso's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the past decade, much of it due to improvements [...]
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Cameroon's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective
C. Dominguez-Torres, V. Foster

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 36

Abstract
Better access to improved infrastructure services is an important engine for economic growth. The poor state of infrastructure is a key bottleneck to growth in African countries, and Cameroon is no exception. Between 2000 and 2005, improvements in information and communication technologies boosted Cameroon's growth performance by 1.26 percentage points per capita, while deficient power infrastructure held growth back by 0.28 percentage points. If Cameroon could improve its infrastructure to the level of the middle-income countries of Africa, the growth effect could be on the order of 3.3 percentage points. Cameroon has made significant progress in many aspects of infrastructure. Across a broad range of sectors, the country has made serious efforts to implement institutional reforms with a view to attracting private sector investment. Private sector concessions have been awarded for the Port of Douala, the CAMRAIL railway, the national power utility, and the national water utility (CDE). These arrangements have generally led to performance improvements and attracted significant volumes of finance. Power supply remains expensive and unreliable. Cameroon needs to accelerate the development of some of its prime hydropower sites, which would greatly improve the domestic power situation and potentially allow Cameroon to play its natural role as hydropower exporter to the Central African Power Pool. Cameroon's information and communication technology (ICT) reform remains frozen at an early stage. The telecom incumbent, CAMTEL, remains state-owned and receives substantial public subsidy. The mobile sector is relatively uncompetitive, operating as a duopoly. Moreover, while Cameroon enjoys access to a submarine cable, CAMTEL's monopoly control over the international gateway has prevented consumers from benefiting. Document type: Book
Abstract
Better access to improved infrastructure services is an important engine for economic growth. The poor state of infrastructure is a key bottleneck to growth in African countries, [...]
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Review of Urban Air Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa Region
D. Schwela

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2012). Vol. 2012, 20

Abstract
In Africa, urban outdoor air pollution is responsible for an estimated 49,000 premature deaths annually with indoor use of solid fuels being responsible for eight times this value, the main burden being borne by Sub Saharan African countries. Air pollution, outdoor and indoor, affects the health and life chances of millions of people in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)every day. There is a link between air pollution and poverty since poor people are exposed to higher concentrations of air pollutants and tend to suffer disproportionately from the effects of deteriorating air quality (AQ). Children in cities exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants will more often develop respiratory ailments which prevent them from developing and learning well. As a consequence they will suffer in adult life from low levels of qualifications and skills. The implication of poorly educated children is not only a reduction of quality of their lives but also an obstacle for the economic development of a country as a whole. Rapid urbanization means increase in motorization and economic activity which in turn leads to increased air pollution if countermeasures are not taken. In view these linkages addressing urban AQ in SSA is particularly important. Air pollution in Sub Saharan cities appears to be on the rise with respect to many key pollutants. In some cities where monitoring has been performed levels of air pollution exceed World Health Organization recommended guidelines. The main cause of urban air pollution is the use of fossil fuels in transport, power generation, industry and domestic sectors. In addition, the burning of firewood, agricultural and animal waste also contributes to pollution levels. Pollutant emissions have direct and indirect effects with a wide range of impacts on human health, ecosystems, agriculture and materials. There is a growing need to determine the state of urban AQ and the challenges posed to solve it and identify the most effective measures to protect human health and the environment. Learning from experience and successes in urban AQ management (AQM) from other countries can assists in the formulation and implementation of strategies to achieve better AQ in Sub Saharan Africa. This report compiles the information provided by the 25countries in a harmonized way and gives an in-depth review of AQ in SSA with AQ profile of each country, presenting the country's main current urban AQ issues, emissions standards, ongoing projects, lessons learned from good/bad practices. It was attempted to compile this information also for additional SSA countries from available publications and internet sources. Document type: Book
Abstract
In Africa, urban outdoor air pollution is responsible for an estimated 49,000 premature deaths annually with indoor use of solid fuels being responsible for eight times this [...]
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South sudan s infrastructure a continental perspective
C. Briceño-Garmendia, R. Ranganathan, R. Ranganathan, C. Briceno-Garmendia

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 35

Abstract
This study is a product of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world's knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. AICD provides a baseline against which future improvements in infrastructure services can be measured, making it possible to monitor the results achieved from donor support. It also offers a solid empirical foundation for prioritizing investments and designing policy reforms in Africa's infrastructure sectors. The AICD is based on an unprecedented effort to collect detailed economic and technical data on African infrastructure. The project has produced a series of original reports on public expenditure, spending needs, and sector performance in each of the main infrastructure sectors, including energy, information and communication technologies, irrigation, transport, and water and sanitation. This report presents the key AICD findings for South Sudan, allowing the country's infrastructure situation to be benchmarked against that of its African peers. South Sudan is a newly independent country, affected by conflict, endowed with oil, but poor in terms of infrastructure and economic development. Because of these factors, both low-income, fragile states and resource-rich benchmarks will be used to evaluate its performance. Detailed comparisons will also be made with immediate regional neighbors in the East African Community (EAC). Document type: Book
Abstract
This study is a product of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world's knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. AICD [...]
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Mining approximate frequent closed flows over packet streams
P. Poncelet, S. Yahia, P. Poncelet, I. Brahmi, S. Ben Yahia, I. Brahmi

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 34

Abstract
International audience Due to the varying and dynamic characteristics of network traffic, the analysis of traffic flows is of paramount importance for net- work security, accounting and traffic engineering. The problem of ex- tracting knowledge from the traffic flows is known as the heavy-hitter issue. In this context, the main challenge consists in mining the traffic flows with high accuracy and limited memory consumption. In the aim of improving the accuracy of heavy-hitters identification while having a reasonable memory usage, we introduce a novel algorithm called ACL- Stream. The latter mines the approximate closed frequent patterns over a stream of packets. Carried out experiments showed that our proposed algorithm presents better performances compared to those of the pioneer known algorithms for heavy-hitters extraction over real network traffic traces. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
International audience Due to the varying and dynamic characteristics of network traffic, the analysis of traffic flows is of paramount importance for net- work security, [...]
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A hazards based correctness statement for pipelined circuits
M. Aagaard

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 32

Abstract
The productivity and scalability of verifying pipelined circuits can be increased by exploiting the structural and behavioural characteristics that distinguish pipelines from other circuits. This paper presents a formal model of pipelines that augments a state machine with information to describe the transfer of parcels between stages, and reading and writing state variables. Using our model, we created a definition of correctness that is based on the well-established principles of structural, control, and data hazards. We have proved that any pipeline that satisfies our hazards-based definition of correctness is guaranteed to satisfy the conventional correctness statement of Burch-Dill style flushing. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
The productivity and scalability of verifying pipelined circuits can be increased by exploiting the structural and behavioural characteristics that distinguish pipelines from [...]
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A Preliminary Investigation of Training Order for Introducing NextGen Tools
G. Morales, T. Strybel, C. Morgan, A. Kiken, C. Morgan, T. Strybel, V. Battiste, K. Monk, S. Billinghurst, K. Monk, K. Vu, R. Rorie

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 30

Abstract
Eleven students enrolled in a 16-week radar simulation course were trained on current-day and NextGen tools. The order of the training was manipulated so that half of the students received current-day training first, followed by the training on NextGen tools, while the remaining students received training on the NextGen tools first, followed by current-day training. This paper reports data from the debriefing sessions following the conclusion of the course, with the intent of determining students' reaction to the training order and their comments and suggestions for future training schedules. Results indicated that future training should start with current-day procedures and delay the introduction of NextGen tools until trainees have established fundamental air traffic management skills. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Eleven students enrolled in a 16-week radar simulation course were trained on current-day and NextGen tools. The order of the training was manipulated so that half of the [...]
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Zambia's infrastructure : a continental perspective
V. Foster, C. Dominguez, V. Foster, C. Dominguez

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 29

Abstract
Infrastructure improvements contributed 0.6 percentage points to the annual per capita growth of Zambia's gross domestic product (GDP) over the past decade, mostly because of the exponential growth of information and communication technology (ICT) services. Poor performance of the power sector reduced the per capita growth rate by 0.1 percentage point. Simulations suggest that if Zambia's infrastructure platform could be improved to the level of the African leader, Mauritius, per capita growth rates could increase by two percentage points per year. Zambia's high generation capacity and relatively high power consumption are accompanied by fewer power outages than its neighbors. But Zambia's power sector is primarily oriented toward the mining industry, while household electrification, at 20 percent, is about half that in other resource-rich countries. Zambia's power tariffs are among the lowest in Africa and are less than half the level needed to accelerate electrification and keep pace with mining sector demands. Meeting future power demands and raising electrification rates will be difficult without increasing power tariffs. Zambia's infrastructure situation is more hopeful than that of many other African countries. Infrastructure spending needs, though large, are not beyond the realm of possibility, and Zambia's resource wealth and relatively well-off population provide a more solid financing basis than is available to many other countries. Zambia's infrastructure funding gap, though substantial, can be dramatically reduced through measures to stem inefficiencies and lower costs. Document type: Book
Abstract
Infrastructure improvements contributed 0.6 percentage points to the annual per capita growth of Zambia's gross domestic product (GDP) over the past decade, mostly because [...]
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Computer vision systems for context aware active vehicle safety and driver assistance
X. Yang, P. Boyraz, J. Hansen, X. Yang

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 28

Abstract
Recent developments of information technology and mobile lifestyle have forced drivers to multitask while they drive. The in-vehicle infotainment technology is already taking its place in the transformation of vehicles towards more intelligent and interactive devices rather than staying as mere transportation convenience. This transformation has several advantages such as easy route navigation, real-time traffic information, and staying connected with work or people while traveling. However, it has several drawbacks concerning the impact on driver cognitive load and attention sources. Therefore, it is crucial to take advantage of state-of-the-art in-vehicle technology to produce counter-measure systems that monitor the driver status and reduce driver workload adaptively depending on the context. In recognition and analysis of the driving context together with driver status monitoring, computer vision applications supply crucial information both in the vehicle (i.e., driver head and eye tracking) and out of the vehicle (i.e., lane, pedestrian, and vehicle detection and tracking, and road sign recognition). In this chapter, we provide a broad range of computer vision applications for CA-IVS from the literature and our previous studies, and we report our current research efforts. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Recent developments of information technology and mobile lifestyle have forced drivers to multitask while they drive. The in-vehicle infotainment technology is already [...]
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The scope for mdb leverage and innovation in climate finance
P. Basu, L. Finneran, V. Bishop, T. Sundararaman

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 27

Abstract
This note, prepared as background for the G20 submission, explores the potential for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to increase the volume of climate financing by leveraging and intermediating resources, through two main avenues: leveraging shareholder capital through the MDBs non-concessional windows, by raising debt from capital markets to finance climate investment; and mobilizing and 'pooling' concessional flows to support climate investment beyond the MDBs own balance sheets. The note is organized along these two lines, with the aim of providing some insights into the feasibility for MDBs to mobilize resources to leverage a significantly larger volume of climate financing assistance. The next section of this note provides information on how MDBs can support concessional flows to climate investments through pooling of external concessional flows beyond traditional balance-sheet capital. Leveraging shareholder capital and mobilizing and-pooling concessional flows are two potential avenues through which MDBs can leverage and intermediate resources to ultimately increase the volume of climate financing. The experience gained by the MDBs and their clients and donors from implementing these financing arrangements should provide helpful lessons for the development community as it considers how to develop the green climate fund and other future climate change initiatives. Document type: Book
Abstract
This note, prepared as background for the G20 submission, explores the potential for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to increase the volume of climate financing by leveraging [...]
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Ethiopia's Infrastructure : A Continental Perspective
E. Morella, E. Morella, V. Foster, V. Foster

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 25

Abstract
Infrastructure contributed 0.6 percentage points to Ethiopia's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the last decade. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment level to that of the region's middle-income countries could lift annual growth by an additional 3 percentage points. This will represent a significant boost over the growth performance of the mid-2000s, which averaged around 5 percent. The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) has collected and analyzed extensive infrastructure data for more than 40 Sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia. The results are presented in reports on various infrastructure sectors Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), irrigation, power, transport, water and sanitation and policy areas, including investment needs, fiscal costs, and sector performance. This country report presents the key AICD findings for Ethiopia. This will allow its infrastructure situation to be benchmarked against that of other African nations that, like Ethiopia, are low-income countries, with particular emphasis on immediate regional neighbors in East Africa. Several methodological issues should be borne in mind. First, the cross country nature of the data collection creates an inevitable time lag. The period covered by the AICD runs from 2001 to 2006. Most technical data are presented for 2006 (or the most recent year available), while financial data typically are averaged over the available period to smooth out the effect of short term fluctuations. Second, cross country comparisons require standardization of the indicators and the analysis to ensure consistency. Therefore, some of the indicators may be slightly different from those that are routinely reported and discussed at the country level. During the 2000s, Ethiopia's annual economic growth has averaged 4.8 percent, compared with only 0.5 percent in the previous decade. Notwithstanding this improvement, current annual growth levels still fall short of the sustained 7 percent needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Improved structural and stabilization policies generated an estimated 4.2 percent of Ethiopia's improved per capita growth performance during the 2000s, and improvements in the country's infrastructure platform over that period contributed up to 0.6 percentage points to growth. This was due almost entirely to the introduction of mobile telephony in Ethiopia. Simulations suggest that if Ethiopia's infrastructure platform could be improved to the level of the African leader, Mauritius, annual per capita growth rates could increase by 3.8 percent. This potential impact would come equally from improvements to transport, power, and ICT infrastructure. Document type: Book
Abstract
Infrastructure contributed 0.6 percentage points to Ethiopia's annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the last decade. Raising the country's infrastructure [...]
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Kenya's infrastructure: A continental perspective
C. Briceño-Garmendia, M. Shkaratan

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 24

Abstract
This study is a product of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world's knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. The AICD provides a baseline against which future improvements in infrastructure services can be measured, making it possible to monitor the results achieved from donor support. It also offers a solid empirical foundation for prioritizing investments and designing policy reforms in Africa's infrastructure sectors. The AICD is based on an unprecedented effort to collect detailed economic and technical data on African infrastructure. The project has produced a series of original reports on public expenditure, spending needs, and sector performance in each of the main infrastructure sectors, including energy, information and communication technologies, irrigation, transport, and water and sanitation. The focus of the AICD country reports is on benchmarking sector performance and quantifying the main financing and efficiency gaps at the country level. These reports are particularly relevant to national policy makers and development partners working on specific countries. This report presents the key AICD findings for Kenya, allowing the country's infrastructure situation to be benchmarked against that of its African peers. Given that Kenya is a relatively well-off low-income country that aspires to become a middle-income country, two sets of African benchmarks will be used to evaluate Kenya's situation. Detailed comparisons will also be made with immediate regional neighbors in the East African community. Document type: Book
Abstract
This study is a product of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world's knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. The [...]
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Transport Emissions and Savings in Health Costs
R. Kok, R. Kok, R. Molemaker, O. Widerberg, O. Widerberg, R. Molemaker

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2012). Vol. 2012, 13

Abstract
The paper aims to provide the basis for an estimation equation and will focus on the relation between transport emissions and air quality in an urban environment. This is directly related to the fact that most health impacts are related to local air quality levels. The aim of the paper is to create an understanding of the factors that play a role in the causal relation between transport emissions and health effects and provides approximations from existing studies that can be used to assess these health impacts and related costs. The paper focuses on the translation of air pollution levels into health impacts and health costs. The overall structure of the paper follows the two key steps and elaborates on the inherent challenges: (1) identify and measure the health effects of air pollution, and (2) to estimate the costs of the health effects. The paper is divided into four chapters: chapter one is introduction- outlining the goals and background to the project; chapter two gives impacts of air pollution from transport on health; chapter three presents valuation of health impacts- reviews the literature on how to value the impacts on health associated with air pollution; and chapter four gives guidelines for calculating the health effects of air pollution from traffic. Document type: Book
Abstract
The paper aims to provide the basis for an estimation equation and will focus on the relation between transport emissions and air quality in an urban environment. This is [...]
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Angola on the move : transport routes, communications and history = Angola em movimento / Beatrix Heintze ; Achim von Oppen (eds.)
B. Heintze

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 23

Abstract
TABLE OF CONTENTS (here without authors) Introduction 1. Em Busca dos Sítios do Poder na África Centro Ocidental. Homens e Caminhos, Exércitos e Estradas (1483-1915) 2. The Supply and Deployment of Horses in Angolan Warfare (17th and 18th Centuries) 3. Wagon Technology, Transport and Long-distance Communication in Angola 1885-1908 4. Trade, Slavery, and Migration in the Interior of Benguela: The Case of Caconda, 1830-1870 5. The Economics of the Kwango Rubber Trade, c. 1900 6. As Vias de Comunicação e Meios de Transporte como Factores de Globalização, de Estabilidade Política e de Transformação Económica e Social: Caso do Caminho-de-ferro de Bengela (Benguela) (1889-1950) 7. Nas Malhas da Rede: Aspectos do impacto económicoe social do transporte rodoviário na região do Huambo c. 1920-c. 1960 8. Communications between Angola and East Central Africa Before c. 1700 9. Long-distance Caravans and Communication beyond the Kwango (c. 1850-1890) 10. A Escrita em Angola: Comunicação e Ruído entre as Diferentes Sociedades em Presença 11. Escrever o Poder: Os Autos de Vassalagem e a Vulgarização da Escrita entre as Elites Africanas Ndembu 12. Do Passado ao Presente: Tráfego Comercial e Redes de Comunicação, Factores Privilegiados de Modernidade 13. Refugees on Routes. Congo / Zaire and the War in Northern Angola (1961-1974) 14. Crossing the River: Myth and Movement in Central Africa 15. From Group Mobility to Individual Movement: The Colonial Effort to Turn Back History Notes on Contributors Angaben aus der Verlagsmeldung: Dieses Buch trägt zu einem besseren Verständnis der Bedeutung und Dynamik von Transport- und Kommunikationswegen in Afrika bei. Angola und sein Hinterland werden als herausragendes Beispiel dafür betrachtet, wie nachhaltig solche Verbindungen die Geschichte und Lebensbedingungen einer Region geprägt haben, die in vieler Hinsicht wie ein Mikrokosmos Afrikas insgesamt erscheint. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit richtet das Buch darauf, wie aus Routen und Verbindungen eine Landschaft in Bewegung, aber auch mit Begrenzungen und Blockaden entstand, und wie die Beteiligten diese wahrnahmen und mit ihr umgingen. Das Buch behandelt eine beachtenswerten Aspekt der Geschichte Afrikas, der zugleich ein konstitutiver Bestandteil von Weltgeschichte war. Es bezieht dazu eine Vielfalt sich ergänzender Ansätze und Perspektiven ein. Document type: Book
Abstract
TABLE OF CONTENTS (here without authors) Introduction 1. Em Busca dos Sítios do Poder na África Centro Ocidental. Homens e Caminhos, Exércitos e Estradas (1483-1915) 2. [...]
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Sustainable transportation development a framework to determine transportation disadvantaged
K. Rashid, T. Yigitcanlar, J. Bunker

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 22

Abstract
Urban sprawl combined with low density development causes unsustainable development patterns including accessibility and mobility problems, especially for those who do not have the capacity to own a vehicle or access to quality public transport services. Sustainable transportation development is crucial in order to solve transport disadvantage problems in urban settlements. People who are affected by these problems are referred to as transportation disadvantaged. Transportation disadvantage is a multi-dimensional problem that combines socio-economics, transportation and spatial characteristics or dimensions. However, a substantial number of transportation disadvantage studies so far only focus on the socio-economic and transportation dimensions, while the latter dimension of transportation disadvantage has been neglected. This chapter investigates the spatial dimension of transportation disadvantage by comparing the travel capabilities of residents and their accessibility levels with land use characteristics. The analysis of the study identifies significant land use characteristics with travel inability, and is useful for identifying the transportation disadvantaged population. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Urban sprawl combined with low density development causes unsustainable development patterns including accessibility and mobility problems, especially for those who do not [...]
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Zimbabwe's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective
C. Briceño-Garmendia, N. Pushak, N. Pushak, C. Briceno-Garmendia

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 21

Abstract
Despite general economic decline and power supply deficiencies, infrastructure made a modest net contribution of less than half a percentage point to Zimbabwe's improved per capita growth performance in recent years. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by about 2.4 percentage points. Zimbabwe made significant progress in infrastructure in its early period as an independent state. The country managed to put in place a national electricity network and establish regional interconnection in the power sector; to build an extensive network of roads for countrywide accessibility and integration into the regional transport corridors; to lay the water and sewerage system; and to make progress on building dams and tapping the significant irrigation potential. Unfortunately, at present the cross-cutting issue across all these sectors is Zimbabwe's inability to maintain and rehabilitate the existing infrastructure since the country became immersed in economic and political turmoil in the late 1990s. Neglect of all sectors due to the crisis has resulted in a generalized lack of new investment (in the power and water sectors in particular), and the accumulation of a huge rehabilitation agenda. Quality of service has declined across the board. The power system has become unjustifiably costly, inefficient, and unreliable. The condition of roads has deteriorated to the point that Zimbabwe became a bottleneck on the North-South transport corridor. Rural connectivity hardly exists. Failure to treat potable water, along with the deterioration of the water, sanitation, and garbage disposal systems, was responsible for the spread of cholera in 2008. By 2010 cholera affected most areas of the country and posed a health threat to neighboring countries. Looking ahead, Zimbabwe faces a number of important infrastructure challenges. Zimbabwe's most pressing challenges lie in the power and water sectors. Inefficient and unreliable power supply poses major risks to the economy, while the maintenance and upgrading of existing power infrastructure no longer looks to be affordable. At the same time, overhauling the water and sewerage system is imperative for curbing the public health crisis. Document type: Book
Abstract
Despite general economic decline and power supply deficiencies, infrastructure made a modest net contribution of less than half a percentage point to Zimbabwe's improved per [...]
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A Conceptual Model for Integrating Transport Planning: MRP IV
J. Mula, M. Díaz-Madroñero, D. Peidro

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 19

Abstract
In this article, a conceptual model, called MRP IV, is proposed in order to serve as a reference to develop a new production technology that integrates material planning decisions, production resource capacities and supply chain transport for the purpose of avoiding the suboptimization of these plans which, today, are usually generated sequentially and independently. This article aim is twofold: (1) it identifies the advances and deficiencies in the MRP calculations, mainly based on the dynamic multi-level capacitated lot-sizing problem (MLCLSP); and (2) it proposes a conceptual model, defining the inputs, outputs, modeling and solution approaches, to overcome the deficiencies identified in current MRP systems and act as a baseline to propose resolution models and algorithms required to develop MRP IV as a decision-making system. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing. Mula, J.; Díaz-Madroñero Boluda, FM.; Peidro Payá, D. (2012). A conceptual model for integrating transport planning: MRP IV. En IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. Springer. (384):54-65. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-33980-6_7 Senia 54 65 384 Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
In this article, a conceptual model, called MRP IV, is proposed in order to serve as a reference to develop a new production technology that integrates material planning decisions, [...]
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A multi agent simulation of collaborative air traffic flow management
S. Wolfe, P. Jarvis, F. Enomoto, M. Sierhuis, B. Putten

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 18

Abstract
Todays air traffic management system is not expected to scale to the projected increase in traffic over the next two decades. Enhancing collaboration between the controllers and the users of the airspace could lessen the impact of the resulting air traffic flow problems. The authors summarize a new concept that has been proposed for collaborative air traffic flow management, the problems it is meant to address, and our approach to evaluating the concept. The authors present their initial simulation design and experimental results, using several simple route selection strategies and traffic flow management approaches. Though their model is still in an early stage of development, these results have revealed interesting properties of the proposed concept that will guide their continued development, refinement of the model, and possibly influence other studies of traffic management elsewhere. Finally, they conclude with the challenges of validating the proposed concept through simulation and future work. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Todays air traffic management system is not expected to scale to the projected increase in traffic over the next two decades. Enhancing collaboration between the controllers [...]
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Green transport infrastructure from motorways to bikeways
K. Davidson, N. Lukies, D. Lehtonen

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 17

Abstract
In an age when escalating fuel prices, global warming and world resource depletion are of great concern, sustainable transport practices promise to define a new way of mobility into the future. With its comparatively minimal negative environmental impacts, non reliance on fuels and positive health effects, the simple bicycle offers significant benefits to humankind. These benefits are evident worldwide where bicycles are successfully endorsed through improved infrastructure, supporting policies, public education and management. In Australia, the national, state and local governments are introducing measures to improve and support green transport. This is necessary as current bicycle infrastructure is not always sufficient and the longstanding conflict with motorized transport still exists. The aim for the future is to implement sustainable hard and soft bicycle infrastructure globally; the challenges of such a task can be illustrated by the city of Brisbane, Australia. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
In an age when escalating fuel prices, global warming and world resource depletion are of great concern, sustainable transport practices promise to define a new way of mobility [...]
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Workload balancing and throughput optimization for heterogeneous systems subject to failures
L. Philippe, J. Nicod, A. Dobrila, J. Nicod, L. Philippe, A. Dobrila, A. Benoit, A. Benoit

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 16

Abstract
In this report, we study the problem of optimizing the throughput of applications for heterogeneous platforms subject to failures. The considered applications are composed of a sequence of consecutive tasks linked as a linear graph (pipeline), with a type associated to each task. The challenge is to specialize the machines of a target platform to process only one task type, given that every machine is able to process all the types before being specialized, to avoid costly context or setup changes. Each instance can thus be performed by any machine specialized in its type and the workload of the system can be shared among a set of specialized machines. For identical machines, we prove that an optimal solution can be computed in polynomial time. However, the problem becomes NP-hard when two machines can compute the same task type at different speeds. Several polynomial time heuristics are presented for the most realistic specialized settings. Experimental results show that the best heuristics obtain a good throughput, much better than the throughput obtained with a random mapping, and close to the optimal throughput in the particular cases on which the optimal throughput can be computed.; Dans ce rapport, nous étudions le problème de l'optimisation du débit d'applications de type pipeline dans un environnement hétérogène sujet à des pannes. Les applications sont constituées d'un ensemble de tâches consécu\\-tives typées et organisées selon une chaîne linéaire ou pipeline. Le but est ici de spécialiser les machines de la plate-forme d'exécution afin qu'elles ne traitent qu'un seul type de tâches, sachant qu'au départ elles peuvent exécuter tous les types. Cela permet d'éviter des reconfigurations coûteuses entre tâches de types différents sur une même machine. Ainsi, les instances d'une même tâche peuvent être distribuées sur plusieurs machines spécialisées pour le type de cette tâche, ce qui permet une répartition de la charge du système sur un ensemble de machines spécialisées. Lorsque la plate-forme est composée de machines identiques, nous prouvons qu'une solution optimale peut être trouvée en temps polynomial. Par contre, le problème devient NP-complet dès lors que deux machines peuvent traiter une même tâche à des vitesses différentes. Ce faisant, plusieurs heuristiques sont présentées dans le cas le plus réaliste d'un système spécialisé. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que les meilleures heuristiques obtiennent de bons résultats en terme de débit, meilleurs qu'avec une allocation aléatoire, et que les débits atteints sont très proches des débits optimaux dans les cas particuliers pour lesquels une solution optimale peut être calculée. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
In this report, we study the problem of optimizing the throughput of applications for heterogeneous platforms subject to failures. The considered applications are composed [...]
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Aktionsräume in polyzentrischen Stadtregionen - ein Abbild räumlicher Entgrenzung?
J. Kühl, S. Wörmer

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2012). Vol. 2012, 10

Abstract
"In polyzentralen Stadtregionen erfährt das aktionsräumliche Handeln durch eine hohe Dichte von Aktivitätsorten bei ubiquitär guter Erreichbarkeit eine ausgeprägte Angebotsvielfalt. Diese 'Multioptionalität' steht in Wechselbeziehung zu raum-zeitlich entgrenzten Handlungsweisen. Es bestehen sowohl immer weniger eindeutige Zeitpunkte und -räume als auch Orte für bestimmte Aktivitäten. Insbesondere im Erwerbsleben kommt es zu einer komplexen Vielfalt raum-zeitlicher Konfigurationen der Arbeits- und Lebensorganisation. Der Aktionsraum weitet sich auf die regionale Maßstabsebene zu regionalisierten Lebensweisen aus. Hierzu trägt insbesondere die räumliche Konfiguration von Wohnort und Arbeitsort bei. Die Distanz zum Arbeitsort weitet den Aktionsraum und synthetisiert somit eine Regionalisierung alltäglicher Lebensweisen. Jedoch zeigen empirische Annäherungen, dass sich im Wesentlichen eine Ausweitung des Radius alltäglicher Wegeketten vollzieht. Die Zahl verschiedener (administrativ abgegrenzter) Orte, die in das aktionsräumliche Handeln eingebunden sind, bleibt gering." (Autorenreferat) "Due to the high density of places of activity which are easily accessible at the same time, polycentric city regions provide multi-facetted offers for its inhabitants. This multioptionality correlates with actions that are spatio-temporally flexible. Traditional periods of time as well as socially defined dates and places lose significance. In particular with regard to working life there is a complex variety of possibilities how to organise the everyday life in terms of time and space. The space of activity is extended to the regional scale and turns into a regionalised way of life. The spatial configuration of living and working places significantly contributes to this phenomenon. The distance to the employment location increases the area of activity, thus synthesising regionalised ways of life. However, empirical surveys illustrate that mainly the radius of everyday mobility extends while the number of the various (administratively defined) places which are frequented remains low." (author's abstract) Document type: Book
Abstract
"In polyzentralen Stadtregionen erfährt das aktionsräumliche Handeln durch eine hohe Dichte von Aktivitätsorten bei ubiquitär guter Erreichbarkeit eine ausgeprägte Angebotsvielfalt. [...]
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Networking of vehicles applications challenges and some recent results
V. Leung

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 14

Abstract
Recent advances in wireless communication technologies are making it possible for automobiles to be integrated into the global network. Intelligent Transportation Systems with vehicles in the loop are expected to significantly improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion and cut greenhouse gas emissions. This is made possible in the USA by Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), which employs the IEEE 802.11p standard over the 75MHz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band allocated by the FCC for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. DSRC is expected to revolutionize road transportation by making possible many real-time safety applications. However, global deployment of DSRC is not expected to materialize in the near term due to regulatory and financial challenges. In the meantime, vehicles and their passengers are increasingly equipped with different forms of wireless networking capabilities, e.g., cellular, WiFi and WiMAX. Thus there is also a growing interest in supporting applications like infotainment, travel advisory, route planning, etc., using heterogeneous wireless networks. In this presentation, I shall describe several applications that leverage the wireless communications to put vehicles in the loop. Different applicants impose different requirements on the wireless network for data routing, transfer latency, etc. I shall review the technical challenges that need to be overcome to meet some of these requirements, and describe solutions developed in our recent research to meet these challenges. I shall conclude the presentation by discussing some future research directions. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Recent advances in wireless communication technologies are making it possible for automobiles to be integrated into the global network. Intelligent Transportation Systems [...]
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Mobility in collaborative alert systems building trust through reputation
M. Gil Pérez, F. Gómez Mármol, G. Martínez Pérez, . Antonio, G. Skarmeta

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 13

Abstract
Part 3: - WCNS 2011 Workshop; International audience; Collaborative Intrusion Detection Networks (CIDN) are usually composed by a set of nodes working together to detect distributed intrusions that cannot be easily recognized with traditional intrusion detection architectures. In this approach every node could potentially collaborate to provide its vision of the system and report the alarms being detected at the network, service and/or application levels. This approach includes considering mobile nodes that will be entering and leaving the network in an ad hoc manner. However, for this alert information to be useful in the context of CIDN networks, certain trust and reputation mechanisms determining the credibility of a particular mobile node, and the alerts it provides, are needed. This is the main objective of this paper, where an inter-domain trust and reputation model, together with an architecture for inter-domain collaboration, are presented with the main aim of improving the detection accuracy in CIDN systems while users move from one security domain to another. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Part 3: - WCNS 2011 Workshop; International audience; Collaborative Intrusion Detection Networks (CIDN) are usually composed by a set of nodes working together to detect distributed [...]
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Transport over Heterogeneous Networks Using the RINA Architecture
E. Trouva, E. Grasa, J. Day, I. Matta, L. Chitkushev, S. Bunch, M. Leon, P. Phelan, X. Hesselbach-Serra

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 12

Abstract
Part 6: Quality through Routing, Naming and Control; International audience; The evolution of various wireless technologies has greatly increased the interest in heterogeneous networks, in which the mobile users can enjoy services while roaming between different networks. The current Internet architecture does not seem to cope with the modern networking trends and the growing application demands for performance, stability and efficiency, as the integration of different technologies faces many problems. In this paper, we focus on the issues raised when attempting to provide seamless mobility over a hybrid environment. We highlight the shortcomings of the current architecture, discuss some of the proposed solutions and try to identify the key choices that lead to failure. Finally, we introduce RINA (Recursive Inter-Network Architecture), a newly-proposed network architecture that achieves to integrate networks of different characteristics inherently and show a simple example that demonstrates this feature. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Part 6: Quality through Routing, Naming and Control; International audience; The evolution of various wireless technologies has greatly increased the interest in heterogeneous [...]
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A Conceptual Framework and a Review of Conflict Sensing, Detection, Awareness and Escape Maneuvering Methods for UAVs
N. A., N. Rahim, B. Albaker, B. M.

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 11

Abstract
Because of the key characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), removal of pilot, UAVs will be highly suited for repetitive, dirty, and dangerous operations. A wide range of civil and military applications are being explored in the community (Clapper et al., 2007). As a result, UAVs are given serious considerations in worldwide, making them the next step in evolution of aviation. Whatever missions are chosen for UAVs, their number and use will significantly increase in future. Currently, UAVs do not have convenient access to civil and military operation theatres due to their inability to provide an equivalent level-of-safety comparable to see-and-avoid requirements for manned aircraft. The current procedure requires a certificate of authorization be applied for every mission. Obtaining such an authorization may take more than a month. This lengthy process is not in line with increasing number of UAVs development. Therefore, an autonomous collision sensing, detection, awareness and avoidance system will be a key enabler for the integration of unmanned with manned aircraft in a shared airspace. The main objective of the Collision Avoidance System (CAS) is to allow UAVs to operate safely within non segregated civil and military airspace on a routinely basis. For this purpose, the UAV must be able to identify and be identified by the surrounding traffic. The diversity of UAVs and their missions involve a wide-range of system operating concept. Current unmanned aircraft range in size from small hand launch vehicles to large fixed-wing UAV with a wing span similar to Boeing 737. In addition, some UAV autonomously, semiautonomous or completely guided by ground pilot. Furthermore, unmanned vehicles cruise speed, climb/dive rate, turn rate and operating altitudes are similarly varied. Therefore, many CAS methods were proposed to account for that variation and to ensure that the unmanned aircraft efficiently avoids other cooperative traffic while also avoids fixed and moving obstructions such as terrain, obstacles and no flying zones. Numerous technologies are being explored in the community addressing CAS systems. Much of the research in collision avoidance methods for UAVs had been imparted from the air traffic management, maritime and mobile ground robot research communities. However, aircraft complicates the avoidance problem by added dynamic constraints that must be fulfilled for Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Because of the key characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), removal of pilot, UAVs will be highly suited for repetitive, dirty, and dangerous operations. A wide [...]
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The 'Equivalent Cable Bundle Method' : an Efficient Multiconductor Reduction Technique to Model Industrial Cable Networks
G. Andrieu, X. Bunlon, L. Koné, J. Parmantier, B. Démoulin, A. Reineixl

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 10

Abstract
In automotive electromagnetic (EM) compatibility (EMC), the cable bundle network study is of great importance. Indeed, a cable network links all the electronic equipment interfaces included the critical ones and consequently can be assimilated both to a reception antenna and to an emission antenna at the same time. On the one end, as far as immunity problem is concerned, where an EM perturbation illuminates the car, the cable network acts as a receiving antenna able to induce and propagate interference currents until the electronic equipment interfaces and potentially induce dysfunction or in the worst case destruction of the equipment. At low frequency, the interference signal propagating on the cable network is generally considered as more significant than the direct coupling between the incident field and the equipment. On the other end, as far as emission problem is concerned, the EM field emitted by the cable network may disturb itself the electronic equipments by direct coupling. To avoid these problems, automotive manufacturers have to perform normative tests before selling vehicles. These tests are applied on electronic equipments outside and inside the car first to verify that the equipments are not disturbed by an EM perturbation of given magnitude and second to ensure that the EM emission of each equipment does not exceed a limit value at a given distance. Obviously, these tests are not exhaustive and fully representative of real conditions. For example, in immunity tests, two polarizations (vertical and horizontal polarizations) of the EM perturbation are generally tested in free space conditions. In reality, the EM perturbation due for example to a mobile phone outside the car could happen from any direction of space and be reflected by all the scattering objects located in the close environment of the vehicle (ground, other vehicles, buildings,...). Consequently, the contribution of EM modelling is a great tool for automotive manufacturers in order to proceed to numerical normative, additional and also parametric tests at early stages of the car development on numerical models and for a reasonable cost. Moreover, numerical modelling will reduce the number of prototypes built during the Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
In automotive electromagnetic (EM) compatibility (EMC), the cable bundle network study is of great importance. Indeed, a cable network links all the electronic equipment interfaces [...]
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Angola s infrastructure a continental perspective
V. Foster, N. Pushak, N. Pushak, V. Foster

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 7

Abstract
The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) has gathered and analyzed extensive data on infrastructure in more than 40 Sub-Saharan countries, including Angola. The results have been presented in reports covering different areas of infrastructure-information and communication technology (ICT), irrigation, power, transport, water and sanitation-and different policy areas, including investment needs, fiscal costs, and sector performance. This report presents the key AICD findings for Angola, allowing the country's infrastructure situation to be benchmarked against that of its African peers. Given that Angola is a low-income resource-rich country, two sets of African benchmarks will be used to evaluate Angola's situation: fragile low-income countries and resource-rich countries. Detailed comparisons will also be made with immediate regional neighbors in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Several methodological issues should be borne in mind. First, because of the cross-country nature of data collection, a time lag is inevitable. The period covered by the AICD for Angola runs from 2005 to 2009. But financial data for comparator countries typically cover an earlier period, 2001-06, and are averaged to smooth out fluctuations, while technical data are reported for 2006. In recent years, Angola's economy has been among the fastest growing in Africa. Looking ahead, the country's gross development product (GDP) is projected to rise by 6.5 percent in 2011, with oil-sector growth of 3.8 percent and nonoil- sector growth of 8.1 percent (IMF 2011). A 27-year war that ended in 2002 ravaged the country and destroyed most of its economic infrastructure. Many roads, rails, and bridges were mined and obliterated; surviving infrastructure is dilapidated after years of neglect. Document type: Book
Abstract
The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) has gathered and analyzed extensive data on infrastructure in more than 40 Sub-Saharan countries, including Angola. The [...]
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Fast vision based road tunnel detection
A. Broggi, L. Mazzei, M. Bertozzi, G. Boccalini

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 6

Abstract
When a vehicle equipped with an artificial vision system enters or exits a tunnel, the camera may temporarly suffer from reduced visibility, or even get completely blind due to quick changes in enviromental illumination.\r \r This paper presents a vision-based system that detects approaching tunnels entrances or exits. The proposed system allows other ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) to act on camera parameters to effectively avoid the tunnel blindness effect. Information regarding approaching tunnel entrance can be helpful for other sensors as well and for sensor fusion systems. In terms of path planning, this system can also inform GNSS-based systems (Global Navigation Satellite System), which usually do not receive any signal in tunnels, and trigger dead reckoning techniques.\r \r The proposed system is noticeably fast and therefore well fit to be used as a background process to support other ADAS applications. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
When a vehicle equipped with an artificial vision system enters or exits a tunnel, the camera may temporarly suffer from reduced visibility, or even get completely blind due [...]
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The central african republic s infrastructure a continental perspective
C. Domínguez-Torres, V. Foster, C. Dominguez-Torres, V. Foster

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 5

Abstract
Between 2000 and 2005, infrastructure contributed less than 1 percentage point to the Central African Republic's annual per capita GDP growth, despite substantial spending in the road sector. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by about 3.5 percentage points. The CAR has made significant progress in the transport, water, power, and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. But the high cost of fuel, which raises transportation and energy costs, has been a vexing issue across all infrastructure sectors. The CAR's most pressing infrastructural challenge lies in the transport sector, which relies heavily on neighboring countries and could benefit from improved road conditions and enhanced performance at the port of Douala in Cameroon. In the power sector, the country suffers from a deteriorating infrastructure stock that it can no longer afford to maintain, and an inefficient and unreliable power supply. Additional challenges include a need for improved infrastructure in the water and sanitation and ICT sectors. Addressing the CAR's infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of $346 million per year over the next decade. The nation already spends around $134 million per year on infrastructure, with $37 million a year lost to inefficiencies of various kinds. If those inefficiencies were fully eliminated, the country's annual infrastructure funding gap would be $183 million per year. Improvements in funding, coupled with the prospect of an economic rebound and prudent policies, could lift the country from its fragile state back to and beyond the prosperity standards it once enjoyed. Document type: Book
Abstract
Between 2000 and 2005, infrastructure contributed less than 1 percentage point to the Central African Republic's annual per capita GDP growth, despite substantial spending [...]
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Evaluation of a new coarse to fine strategy for fast semi global stereo matching
S. Hermann, R. Klette

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 4

Abstract
The paper considers semi-global stereo matching in the context of vision-based driver assistance systems. The need for real-time performance in this field requires a design change of the originally proposed method to run on current hardware. This paper proposes such a new design; the novel strategy first generates a disparity map from half-resolution input images. The result is then used as prior to restrict the disparity search space for full-resolution computation. This approach is compared to an SGM strategy as employed currently in a state-of-the-art real-time FPGA solution. Furthermore, trinocular stereo evaluation is performed on ten real-world traffic sequences with a total of 4,000 trinocular frames. An extension to the original evaluation methodology is proposed to resolve ambiguities and to incorporate disparity density in a statistically meaningful way. Evaluation results indicate that the novel SGM method is up to 40% faster when compared to the previous strategy. It returns denser disparity maps, and is also more accurate on evaluated traffic scenes. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
The paper considers semi-global stereo matching in the context of vision-based driver assistance systems. The need for real-time performance in this field requires a design [...]
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Traffic Congestion Management as a Learning Agent Coordination Problem
K. Tumer, Z. Welch, A. Agogino

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2020). Vol. 2011, 3

Abstract
Traffic management problems provide a unique environment to study how multi-agent systems promote desired system level behavior. In particular, they represent a special class of problems where the individual actions of the agents are neither intrinsically “good” nor “bad” for the system. Instead, it is the combinations of actions among agents that lead to desirable or undesirable outcomes. As a consequence, agents need to learn how to coordinate their actions with those of other agents, rather than learn a particular set of “good” actions. In this chapter, the authors focus on problems where there is no communication among the drivers, which puts the burden of coordination on the principled selection of the agent reward functions. They explore the impact of agent reward functions on two types of traffic problems. In the first problem, the authors study how agents learn the best departure times in a daily commuting environment and how following those departure times alleviates congestion. In the second problem, the authors study how agents learn to select desirable lanes to improve traffic flow and minimize delays for all drivers. In both cases, they focus on having an agent select the most suitable action for each driver using reinforcement learning, and explore the impact of different reward functions on system behavior. Their results show that agent rewards that are both aligned with and sensitive to, the system reward lead to significantly better results than purely local or global agent rewards. They conclude this chapter by discussing how changing the way in which the system performance is measured affects the relative performance of these rewards functions, and how agent rewards derived for one setting (timely arrivals) can be modified to meet a new system setting (maximize throughput). Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
Traffic management problems provide a unique environment to study how multi-agent systems promote desired system level behavior. In particular, they represent a special class [...]
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Senegal's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective
C. Briceño-Garmendia, C. Briceno-Garmendia, C. Torres, C. Dominguez, C. Torres, C. Dominguez

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2011). Vol. 2011, 2

Abstract
Between 2000 and 2005 infrastructure made a contribution of 1 percentage point to Senegal's improved per capita growth performance, placing it in the middle of the distribution among West African countries during the period. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries (MICs) could boost annual growth by about 2.7 percentage points. Senegal has made significant progress in some areas of its infrastructure. In the transport sector, road standards are adequate and their quality average. Senegal has also strengthened the road institutional framework with the creation of the Second Generation Road Fund (FERA) and the Road Maintenance Executing Agency. It has also managed to have a toll road concession granted for the Dakar-Diamniadio Toll Highway. The tariffs in the railway sector are internationally competitive, and there has been improvement in the financial viability of ports. After Nigeria, the country stands as an emerging hub and a major player in air transport. Also, Senegal has managed to introduce private participation in electricity generation, and the unbundling of the electricity sector is under way even as the country actively participates in the regional power market. The country is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in improved water. In the information and communication technology (ICT) sector there has been an impressive expansion of the mobile and Internet markets. Senegal already spends around $911 million per year on infrastructure, equivalent to about 11 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Almost $312 million a year is lost to inefficiencies of various kinds, associated mainly with under-pricing in the power and water sectors, poor financial management of utilities, and inefficient allocation of resources across sectors. If Senegal could raise tariffs to cost-recovery levels and reduce operational inefficiencies in line with reasonable developing-country benchmarks, it could substantially boost its infrastructure sector. Document type: Book
Abstract
Between 2000 and 2005 infrastructure made a contribution of 1 percentage point to Senegal's improved per capita growth performance, placing it in the middle of the distribution [...]
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Historische evolutie van zeescheldehabitats:kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve analyse van invloedsfactoren
A. Van Braeckel, L. Coen, P. Peeters, Y. Plancke, J. Hinsch Mikkelsen, E. Van den Bergh

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2020). Vol. 2012, 4

Abstract
In een eerste historische analyse van de ingreep-effectrelaties op de Zeeschelde (Van Braeckel et al., 2006) werden data verzameld, geëvalueerd naar kwaliteit en continuïteit en ecologisch geïnterpreteerd. De eerste analyse van ingrepen, getij en evolutie van Zeescheldehabitats was vooral kwalitatief. Eenduidige oorzaak-gevolg relaties waren moeilijk te leggen omdat verschillende ingrepen gelijktijdig plaatsvonden en het relatief belang van autonome processen moeilijk in te schatten was. Kennishiaten werden geïdentificeerd en een aantal onderzoeksvragen werden als stelling geformuleerd."br/"In dit vervolgproject werd de systeemkennis verder uitgediept met nieuw verworven informatie: de tij-analyse werd meer in detail doorgevoerd en het historisch beeld van de ecotopen werd vervolledigd. Het doel van deze vervolgstudie was vooral om ingreep-effect relaties beter te kwantificeren."br/"Met betrekking tot arealen werd vastgesteld dat slik- en schoroppervlakten langs de Zeeschelde en haar getijgebonden zijrivieren respectievelijk met 66% en 82% verminderden tussen 1850 en 2003. Sinds 1930 verdween ook 40% van het ondiep subtidaal. Zowel rechtstreekse habitatvernietiging als hydrodynamische en morfologische ontwikkelingen die voortschrijdende erosie veroorzaken, liggen hier aan de basis. Meer bepaald rechttrekkingen, inpolderingen, dijkwerken, zeespiegelstijging, wijziging en manipulatie van het debiet van de bovenafvoer, verruiming en verdieping van de vaargeul, vaargeulonderhoud en"br/"baggerstortwerken, zandwinning en morfologische aanpassingen worden steeds in die context vermeld."br/"In deze studie wordt met behulp van numerieke modelleringen (1D en 2D modellen) getracht het effect van de verschillende ingrepen te kwantificeren. Het doel is om de relatieve bijdrage van rechttrekkingen, debietwijzigingen van de bovenafvoer, inpolderingen, verruimingen, zandwinning en de algemene zeespiegelstijging op de getij-indringing in het Schelde-estuarium te bepalen. Omdat de morfologische veranderingen van het Middelgat en het Gat van Ossenisse eveneens het getij beïnvloedden werden ook deze gemodelleerd in enkele bagger/stort-scenario‟s. Vertrekkend van modellen die de huidige topo-bathymetrie"br/"weergeven worden de ingrepen uit het verleden schematisch ongedaan gemaakt. Het resultaat is dus niet echt een reconstructie van het verleden maar eerder een „hindcast‟ vanuit het heden. Door de resultaten van verschillende simulaties te vergelijken kunnen richting en grootteorde van het aandeel van de ingrepen op wijzigingen in de getij-variabelen begroot worden. Via deze getijkenmerken werd dan de potentiële impact op areaal en kwaliteit van habitats ingeschat."br/"Een laagwater daling heeft de potentie in zich de slikoppervlakte te vergroten, althans indien de hoogtegradiënt niet te steil is. Op dezelfde wijze kan stijging van hoogwater potentieel schoruitbreiding met zich meebrengen op voorwaarde dat de zijdelingse ruimte voorhanden is. De werkelijke ontwikkeling van slikken en schorren ten gevolge van toenemend getijverschil is echter ook nog afhankelijk van sedimentvracht, hydro- en morfodynamiek en topografie. In de Zeeschelde is de beschikbaarheid van sediment geen beperkende factor. Door gebrek aan zijdelingse ruimte en luwten echter zal toename in het getijverschil zelden in duurzame slik- en schorwinst resulteren. Document type: Book
Abstract
In een eerste historische analyse van de ingreep-effectrelaties op de Zeeschelde (Van Braeckel et al., 2006) werden data verzameld, geëvalueerd naar kwaliteit en continuïteit [...]
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Social aspects of place experience in mobile work/life practices
L. Ciolfi, B. Gray, A. D’Andrea

Collection of open chapters of books in transport research (2020). Vol. 2012, 3

Abstract
eer-reviewed\nThis chapter examines the importance of “where” mobile work/life practices\noccur. By discussing excerpts of data collected through in-depth interviews\nwith mobile professionals, we focus on the importance of place for mobility, and\nhighlight the social character of place and the intrinsically social motivations of\nworkers when making decisions regarding where to move. In order to show how\nthe experience of mobility is grounded within place as a socially significant construct,\nwe concentrate on three analytical themes: place as an essential component\nof social/collaborative work, place as expressive of organizational needs and characteristics,\nand place as facilitating a blending of work/life strategies and relationships.\nACCEPTED\nPeer reviewed Document type: Part of book or chapter of book
Abstract
eer-reviewed\nThis chapter examines the importance of “where” mobile work/life practices\noccur. By discussing excerpts of data collected through in-depth interviews\nwith [...]
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Análisis del método para calificación de software QSOS para la selección de software aplicable a procesos educativos
G. Ramos, J. Páez

Enfoque UTE - Scientific Engineering Journal (2011). Vol. 2, (4), 45

Abstract
Español:En
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Los valores morales en la conducta personal
B. Aguirre Palma

Enfoque UTE - Scientific Engineering Journal (2011). Vol. 2, (4), 44

Abstract
Español:¿Cómo
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Disponibilidad de infraestructura y recursos tecnológicos en el sistema escolar de educación básica del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito
J. Coronel

Enfoque UTE - Scientific Engineering Journal (2011). Vol. 2, (4), 43

Abstract
Español:La combinación curricular de los medios tecnológicos (informáticos, audiovisuales y de la comunicaciónen general) y el aprovechamiento de las ventajas didácticas no resulta una labor sencilla. Eldocente necesita determinadas destrezas e ideas técnicas, ha de estar enterado sobre los materialesdisponibles y sobre cómo usarlos didácticamente, y precisa recursos e infraestructura para desarrollarlas actividades educativas con sus estudiantes. También es necesario tiempo para: preparar todasestas actividades, planificar, evaluar su uso, etc.El problema que presume el uso de los medios informáticos y audiovisuales en los procesos de enseñanzay aprendizaje, las instituciones educativas que quieren iniciar o ampliar su utilización porparte del cuerpo docente han de procurar una buena organización de estos recursos. Esta organizacióngeneralmente supone el montaje de aulas de recursos que faciliten la utilización, el control y elalmacenamiento de estos materiales.En la distribución de los recursos tecnológicos de un centro logramos diferenciar tres tipos de elementosmateriales:La infraestructura física. Se considera:- El área física adecuada para el uso y almacenamiento de los recursos: aulas, almacenes, bodegas,etc.- Las instalaciones: iluminación, enchufes, ventilación, aislamiento, sistemas de seguridad.- Los materiales adicionales: mesas, armarios, sillas...Los aparatos tecnológicos. Son aquellos aparatos obligatorios para poder usar los materiales curricularesque se presentan como soporte tecnológico. Por ejemplo:- Computadoras, impresoras, conexiones y otros recursos informáticos.- Televisión, Televisión por cable, Televisión satelital.- Retro-proyectores, proyectores de diapositivas, cámaras fotográficas.- Casetes, cadenas musicales, altavoces, micros.Materiales curriculares. Son los materiales que, en conjunto con sus guías didácticas, contienen lainformación. Su aplicación requiere el uso de algunos aparatos tecnológicos. Entre los materialescurriculares que necesitan soporte tecnológico se puede destacar:- Software informático.- Diapositivas, transparencias.- Programas de vídeo.- Discos compactos.Esta investigación tiene como objetivo fundamental realizar una descripción de la situación de lasEscuelas del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito en el año 2011, en los siguientes ámbitos de estudio:infraestructura y recursos tecnológicos. Una parte importante de este estudio es determinar los contrastesexistentes entre las Instituciones Educativas de este territorio.English:The curricular combination of the technological resources (computer, audiovisuals and the communicationsin general) and the didactics aids provided by them, seems not to be an easy task. Theteachers need certain skills as well as technical ideas. They need to be well trained on the uses of theavailable materials and have a wide knowledge about the didactic use of them. It is also mandatoryto provide the institutions with an appropriate infrastructure to develop the educative activitiesalong with the students. So forth in order to prepare, plan and asses the correct application of suchactivities time is required.The problem comes out in the uses of the computer and audiovisuals means during the teaching –learning process. The educative institutions, in an attempt to initiate or increase the use of thesemeans, should provide teachers with a rightful organization of these resources. Such organization isrelated to the provision of source rooms which facilitate the utilization, control and storage of thesematerials.In the distributions of the technological resources of an institution there are three types of materialelements.The physic infrastructure: it is considered:- The physic area arranged for the use and storage of the resources: classrooms, stores, shops,etc.- The facilities: illumination, plugs, air condition, security systems- The additional materials: tables, chairs, closets, etc.The technological apparatus. They are the mandatory apparatus in order to utilize the curricular materialspresented as technological support. For instance:- Computers, printers, connections, and any other informatics resources.- TV, cable TV, satellite TV.- LCD projectors, overhead projectors, camera.- Cassettes, devises to store music, speakers, microphones.Curricular materials. They are materials that together with their didactic guides contain the information.Its application requires the use of technological apparatus. For instance:- Informative software.- Slides.- Compact discs.- Video programsThe aim of this research is to map the current situation of the schools within the Metropolitan Districtof Quito in the year 2011 in both infrastructure and technological resources fields. A very importantcomponent of this study is to determine the existent contrast among the Educative Institutionslocated within this territory.
Abstract
Español:La combinación curricular de los medios tecnológicos (informáticos, audiovisuales y de la comunicaciónen general) y el aprovechamiento de las ventajas didácticas [...]
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Estudio de la construcción de índices integrales para el apoyo al control de gestión empresarial
A. Medina León, N. Piloto Fleitas, D. Nogueira Rivera, A. Hernández Nariño, A. Ricardo Alonso, J. Viteri Moya

Enfoque UTE - Scientific Engineering Journal (2011). Vol. 2, (4), 42

Abstract
Español:El
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Estimation of the dispersion error in the numerical wave number of standard and stabilized finite element approximations of the Helmholtz equation
L. Steffens, N. Parés, P. Diez

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. (2011). Vol. 86 (10), pp. 1197-1224

Abstract
An estimator for the error in the wave number is presented in the context of finite element approximations of the Helmholtz equation. The proposed estimate is an extension of the ideas introduced in [28]. In the previous work, the error assessment technique was developed for standard Galerkin approximations. Here, the methodology is extended to deal also with stabilized approximations of the Helmholtz equation. Thus, the accuracy of the stabilized solutions is analyzed, including also their sensitivity to the stabilization parameters depending on the mesh topology. The procedure builds up an inexpensive approximation of the exact solution, using post-processing techniques standard in error estimation analysis, from which the estimate of the error in the wave number is computed using a simple closed expression. The recovery technique used in [28] is based in a polynomial least squares fitting. Here a new recovery strategy is introduced, using exponential (in a complex setup, trigonometric) local approximations respecting the nature of the solution of the wave problem.
Abstract
An estimator for the error in the wave number is presented in the context of finite element approximations of the Helmholtz equation. The proposed estimate is an extension [...]
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Numerical modeling of the Double Punch Test for plain concrete
A. Pros, P. Diez, C. Molins

Int. J. Solids and Structures (2011). Vol. 48 (7-8), pp. 1229-1238

Abstract
Double punch test is used to indirectly assess the tensile strength of plain concrete, ft. For this normalized test, the tensile strength is obtained as a function of the failure load, P, which is expressed as ft = F(P). Different authors have proposed different expressions for the relation F(.), yielding scattered values of ft. None of these alternatives is universally recognized as being more suitable than the others. In fact, these expressions are mainly based on elastic models considering the maximum tensile stress under the load P and ft is obtained as an output of the linear model. A numerical simulation allows using models in which ft is an input of the material model and the corresponding failure load P is obtained associated with each value of ft. In the present work, double punch test is simulated numerically considering two alternatives for modeling plain concrete accounting for damage and cracking: (a) the nonlocal Mazars damage model and (b) an heuristic crack model including joint elements in an a priori defined crack pattern. Numerical results are validated with experimental data and compared with the analytical expressions available in the literature.
Abstract
Double punch test is used to indirectly assess the tensile strength of plain concrete, ft. For this normalized test, the tensile strength is obtained as a function of the [...]
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Goal-oriented h-adaptivity for the Helmholtz equation: error estimates, local indicators and refinement strategies
L. Steffens, N. Parés, P. Diez

Computational Mechanics (2011). Vol. 47 (6), pp. 681-699

Abstract
This paper introduces a new goal-oriented adap- tive technique based on a simple and effective post-process of the finite element approximations. The goal-oriented character of the estimate is achieved by analyzing both the direct problem and an auxiliary problem, denoted as adjoint or dual problem, which is related to the quantity of interest. Thus, the error estimation technique proposed in this paper would fall into the category of recovery-type explicit residual a posteriori error estimates. The procedure is valid for general linear quantities of interest and it is also extended to non-linear ones. The numerical examples demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach and discuss: 1) different error representations, 2) assessment of the dispersion error, and 3) different remeshing criteria.
Abstract
This paper introduces a new goal-oriented adap- tive technique based on a simple and effective post-process of the finite element approximations. The goal-oriented character [...]
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Numerical modeling of erosion using an improvement of the extended finite element method
R. Cottereau, P. Diez

European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering (2011). Vol. 15 (8), pp. 1187-1206

Abstract
We present in this paper a numerical model of the erosion of a soil that accounts for both the flow in the open fluid and the flow of fluid through the porous soil. The interface between the open fluid and the soil is represented using a level-set function, and the erosion is controlled by the shear stress vector. The evaluation of the approximate value of this gradient is particularly focused on, and an improved method, called XFE+ method, is presented. Numerical results in 2D and 3D illustrate the accuracy and the potentiality of this method.
Abstract
We present in this paper a numerical model of the erosion of a soil that accounts for both the flow in the open fluid and the flow of fluid through the porous soil. The interface [...]
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A combined nodal continuous-discontinuous finite element formulation for the Maxwell problem
S. Badia, R. Codina

Applied Mathematics and Computation (2011). Vol. 218 (8), pp. 4276-4294

Abstract
Continuous Galerkin formulations are appealing due to their low computational cost, whereas discontinuous Galerkin formulation facilitate adaptative mesh refinement and are more accurate in regions with jumps of physical parameters. Since many electromagnetic problems involve materials with different physical properties, this last point is very important. For this reason, in this article we have developed a combined cG–dG formulation for Maxwell’s problem that allows arbitrary finite element spaces with functins continuous in patches of finite elements and discontinuous on the interfaces of these patches. In particular, the second formulation we propose comes from a novel continuous Galerkin formulation that reduces the amount of stabilization introduced in the numerical system. In all cases, we have performed stability and convergence analyses of the methods. The outcome of this work is a new approach that keeps the low CPU cost of recent nodal continuous formulations with the ability to deal with coefficient jumps and adaptivity of discontinuous ones. All these methods have been tested using a problem with singular solution and another one with different materials, in order to prove that in fact the resulting formulations can properly deal with these problems.
Abstract
Continuous Galerkin formulations are appealing due to their low computational cost, whereas discontinuous Galerkin formulation facilitate adaptative mesh refinement and are [...]
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The Fixed‐Mesh ALE approach for the numerical simulation of floating solids
J. Baiges, R. Codina, H. Coppola-Owen

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids (2011). Vol. 67 (8), pp. 1004-1023

Abstract
In this paper, we propose a method to solve the problem of floating solids using always a background mesh for the spatial discretization of the fluid domain. The main feature of the method is that it properly accounts for the advection of information as the domain boundary evolves. To achieve this, we use an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian framework, the distinctive characteristic being that at each time step results are projected onto a fixed, background mesh. We pay special attention to the tracking of the various interfaces and their intersections, and to the approximate imposition of coupling conditions between the solid and the fluid.
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a method to solve the problem of floating solids using always a background mesh for the spatial discretization of the fluid domain. The main feature [...]
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Finite element dynamical subgrid-scale approximation of low Mach number flow equations
M. Ávila, J. Principe, R. Codina

Journal of Computational Physics (2011). Vol. 230, pp. 7988-8009

Abstract
In this work we propose a variational multiscale finite element approximation of thermally coupled low speed flows. The physical model is described by the low Mach number equations, which are obtained as a limit of the compressible Navier Stokes equations in the small Mach number. In contrast to the commonly used Boussinesq approximation, this model permits to take volumetric deformation into account. Although the former is more general than the later, both systems have similar mathematical structure and their numerical approximation can suffer the same type of instabilities. We propose a stabilized finite element approximation based on the the variational multiscale method, in which a decomposition of the approximating space into a coarse scale resolvable part and a fine scale subgrid part is performed. Modeling the subscale and taking its effect on the coarse scale problem into account, results in a stable formulation. The quality of the final approximation (accuracy, efficiency) depends on the particular model. The distinctive features of our approach are to consider the subscales as transient and to keep the scale splitting in all the nonlinear terms. The first ingredient permits to obtain an improved time discretization scheme (higher accuracy, better stability, no restrictions on the time step size). The second ingredient permits to prove global conservation properties. It also allows us to approach the problem of dealing with thermal turbulence from a strictly numerical point of view. Numerical tests show that nonlinear and dynamic subscales give more accurate solutions than classical stabilized methods.
Abstract
In this work we propose a variational multiscale finite element approximation of thermally coupled low speed flows. The physical model is described by the low Mach number [...]
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Finite element approximation of transmission conditions in fluids and solids introducing boundary subgrid scales
R. Codina, J. Baiges

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. (2011). Vol. 87 (1-5), pp. 386-411

Abstract
Terms involving jumps of stresses on boundaries are proposed for the finite element approximation of the Stokes problem and the linear elasticity equations. These terms are designed to improve the transmission conditions between subdomains at three different levels, namely, between the element domains, between the interfaces in homogeneous domain interaction problems and at the interface between the fluid and the solid in fluid–structure interaction problems. The benefits in each case are respectively the possibility of using discontinuous pressure interpolations in a stabilized finite element approximation of the Stokes problem, a stronger enforcement of the stress continuity in homogeneous domain decomposition problems and a considerable improvement of the behavior of iterative schemes to couple the fluid and the solid in fluid–structure integration algorithms. The motivation to introduce these terms stems from a decomposition of the unknown into a conforming and a non‐conforming part, a hybrid formulation for the latter and a simple approximation for the unknowns involved in the hybrid problem.
Abstract
Terms involving jumps of stresses on boundaries are proposed for the finite element approximation of the Stokes problem and the linear elasticity equations. These terms are [...]
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A free surface finite element model for low Froude number mould filling problems on fixed meshes
H. Coppola-Owen, R. Codina

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids (2011). Vol. 66 (7), pp. 833-851

Abstract
The simulation of low Froude number mould filling problems on fixed meshes presents significant difficulties. As the Froude number decreases, the coupling between the position of the interface and the resulting flow field increases. The usual two‐phase flow model provides poor results for such flow. In order to overcome the difficulties, a free surface model that applies boundary conditions at the interface accurately is used. Moreover, the use of wall laws on curved boundaries also fails in the case of low Froude number flows. To solve this second problem, we combine wall laws with ‘do nothing’ boundary conditions. A special feature of our approach is that ‘do nothing’ boundary conditions are only applied in the normal direction. These two key ingredients together with the Level Set method allow us to simulate three‐dimensional mould filling problems borrowed directly from the foundry.
Abstract
The simulation of low Froude number mould filling problems on fixed meshes presents significant difficulties. As the Froude number decreases, the coupling between the position [...]
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Approximation of the inductionless MHD problem using a stabilized finite element method
R. Planas, S. Badia, R. Codina

Journal of Computational Physics (2011). Vol. 230 (8), pp. 2977-2996

Abstract
In this work, we present a stabilized formulation to solve the inductionless magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problem using the finite element (FE) method. The MHD problem couples the Navier–Stokes equations and a Darcy-type system for the electric potential via Lorentz’s force in the momentum equation of the Navier–Stokes equations and the currents generated by the moving fluid in Ohm’s law. The key feature of the FE formulation resides in the design of the stabilization terms, which serve several purposes. First, the formulation is suitable for convection dominated flows. Second, there is no need to use interpolation spaces constrained to a compatibility condition in both sub-problems and therefore, equal-order interpolation spaces can be used for all the unknowns. Finally, this formulation leads to a coupled linear system; this monolithic approach is effective, since the coupling can be dealt by effective preconditioning and iterative solvers that allows to deal with high Hartmann numbers.
Abstract
In this work, we present a stabilized formulation to solve the inductionless magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problem using the finite element (FE) method. The MHD [...]
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Approximation of the thermally coupled MHD problem using a stabilized finite element method
R. Codina, N. Hernández-Silva

Journal of Computational Physics (2011). Vol. 230 (4), pp. 1281-1303

Abstract
A numerical formulation to solve the MHD problem with thermal coupling is presented in full detail. The distinctive feature of the method is the design of the stabilization terms, which serve several purposes. First, convective dominated flows in the Navier–Stokes and the heat equation can be dealt with. Second, there is no restriction in the choice of the interpolation spaces of all the variables and, finally, flows highly coupled with the magnetic field can be accounted for. Different aspects related to the design of the final fully discrete and linearized algorithm are also discussed.
Abstract
A numerical formulation to solve the MHD problem with thermal coupling is presented in full detail. The distinctive feature of the method is the design of the stabilization [...]
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Spatial approximation of the radiation transport equation using a subgrid-scale finite element method
M. Ávila, R. Codina, J. Principe

Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg., (2011). Vol. 200 (5-8), pp. 425-438

Abstract
In this paper we present stabilized finite element methods to discretize in space the monochromatic radiation transport equation. These methods are based on the decomposition of the unknowns into resolvable and subgrid scales, with an approximation for the latter that yields a problem to be solved for the former. This approach allows us to design the algorithmic parameters on which the method depends, which we do here when the discrete ordinates method is used for the directional approximation. We concentrate on two stabilized methods, namely, the classical SUPG technique and the orthogonal subscale stabilization. A numerical analysis of the spatial approximation for both formulations is performed, which shows that they have a similar behavior: they are both stable and optimally convergent in the same mesh-dependent norm. A comparison with the behavior of the Galerkin method, for which a non-standard numerical analysis is done, is also presented.
Abstract
In this paper we present stabilized finite element methods to discretize in space the monochromatic radiation transport equation. These methods are based on the decomposition [...]
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Benchmarking on bifurcation and localization in J2 plasticity for plane stress and plane strain conditions
M. Cervera, M. Chiumenti, D. Di Capua

(2011). Research Report, Nº PI370

Abstract
This paper studies the phenomenon of strain bifurcation and localization in J2 plasticity under plane stress and plane strain conditions. Necessary conditions for the outcome of bifurcation, localization, stress boundedness and decohesion are analytically established. It is shown that the explicit consideration of these conditions allows for the determination of localization angles in certain situations of interest that can be used to conduct benchmark tests on finite element formulations. The relative merits of irreducible, (stabilized) mixed and (displacement and/or strain) enhanced formulations are discussed. Numerical examples show that the mixed displacement/pressure formulation is to be preferred to the standard irreducible schemes in order to predict correct failure mechanisms with localized patterns of plastic deformation. Mixed elements are shown to be practically free from mesh directional bias dependence.
Abstract
This paper studies the phenomenon of strain bifurcation and localization in J2 plasticity under plane stress and plane strain conditions. Necessary conditions for the outcome [...]
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The Particle Finite Element Method for multi-fluid flows
S. Idelsohn, M. Mier-Torrecilla, J. Marti, E. Oñate

(2011). Particle-Based Methods, Computational Methods in Applied Sciences, Springer, E. Oñate and R. Owen (Eds.), Vol. 25, pp. 135-158

Abstract
This paper presents the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) and its application to multi-fluid flows. Key features of the method are the use of a Lagrangian description to model the motion of the fluid particles (nodes) and that all the information is associated to the particles. A mesh connects the nodes defining the discretized domain where the governing equations, expressed in an integral form, are solved as in the standard FEM.We have extended the method to problems involving several different fluids with the aim of exploiting the fact that Lagrangian methods are specially well suited for tracking any kind of interfaces.
Abstract
This paper presents the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) and its application to multi-fluid flows. Key features of the method are the use of a Lagrangian description [...]
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Advances in the particle finite element method (PFEM) for solving coupled problems in engineering
E. Oñate, S. Idelsohn, M. Celigueta, R. Rossi, J. Marti, J. Carbonell, P. Ryzhakov, B. Suárez

(2011). Particle-Based Methods, Computational Methods in Applied Sciences, Springer, E. Oñate and R. Owen (Eds.), Vol. 25, pp. 1-48

Abstract
We present some developments in the formulation of the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) for analysis of complex coupled problems on fluid and solid mechanics in engineering accounting for fluid-structure interaction and coupled thermal effects, material degradation and surface wear. The PFEM uses an updated Lagrangian description to model the motion of nodes (particles) in both the fluid and the structure domains. Nodes are viewed as material points which can freely move and even separate from the main analysis domain representing, for instance, the effect of water drops. A mesh connects the nodes defining the discretized domain where the governing equations are solved, as in the standard FEM. The necessary stabilization for dealing with the incompressibility of the fluid is introduced via the finite calculus (FIC) method. An incremental iterative scheme for the solution of the non linear transient coupled fluid-structure problem is described. The procedure for modelling frictional contact conditions at fluid-solid and solid-solid interfaces via mesh generation are described. A simple algorithm to treat soil erosion in fluid beds is presented. An straight forward extension of the PFEM to model excavation processes and wear of rock cutting tools is described. Examples of application of the PFEM to solve a wide number of coupled problems in engineering such as the effect of large waves on breakwaters and bridges, the large motions of floating and submerged bodies, bed erosion in open channel flows, the wear of rock cutting tools during excavation and tunneling and the melting, dripping and burning of polymers in fire situations are presented.
Abstract
We present some developments in the formulation of the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) for analysis of complex coupled problems on fluid and solid mechanics in engineering [...]
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Active transonic aerofoil design optimization using robust multiobjective evolutionary algorithms
D. Lee, J. Periaux, L. González, E. Oñate, N. Qin

Journal of Aircraft (2011). Vol. 48 (3) pp. 1084-1094

Abstract
The use of adaptive wing/aerofoil designs is being considered, as they are promising techniques in aeronautic/ aerospace since they can reduce aircraft emissions and improve aerodynamic performance of manned or unmanned aircraft. This paper investigates the robust design and optimization for one type of adaptive techniques: active flow control bump at transonic flow conditions on a natural laminar flow aerofoil. The concept of using shock control bump is to control supersonic flow on the suction/pressure side of natural laminar flow aerofoil that leads to delaying shock occurrence (weakening its strength) or boundary-layer separation. Such an active flow control technique reduces total drag at transonic speeds due to reduction of wave drag. The location of boundary-layer transition can influence the position and structure of the supersonic shock on the suction/pressure side of aerofoil. The boundarylayer transition position is considered as an uncertainty design parameter in aerodynamic design due to the many factors, such as surface contamination or surface erosion. This paper studies the shock-control-bump shape design optimization using robust evolutionary algorithms with uncertainty in boundary-layer transition locations. The optimization method is based on a canonical evolution strategy and incorporates the concepts of hierarchical topology, parallel computing, and asynchronous evaluation. Two test cases are conducted: the first test assumes the boundary-layer transition position is at 45% of chord from the leading edge, and the second test considers robust design optimization for the shock control bump at the variability of boundary-layer transition positions. The numerical result shows that the optimization method coupled to uncertainty design techniques produces Pareto optimal shock-control-bump shapes, which have low sensitivity and high aerodynamic performance while having significant total drag reduction.
Abstract
The use of adaptive wing/aerofoil designs is being considered, as they are promising techniques in aeronautic/ aerospace since they can reduce aircraft emissions and improve [...]
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Robust design optimization in aeronautics using stochastic analysis and evolutionary algorithms
J. Pons-Prats, G. Bugeda, F. Zárate, E. Oñate

Journal of Aerospace Engineering (2011). Vol. 225, (10), pp. 1131-1151

Abstract
Uncertainties are a daily issue to deal with in aerospace engineering and applications. Robust optimization methods commonly use a random generation of the inputs and take advantage of multi-point criteria to look for robust solutions accounting with uncertainty definition. From the computational point of view, the application to coupled problems, like computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or fluid–structure interaction (FSI), can be extremely expensive. This study presents a coupling between stochastic analysis techniques and evolutionary optimization algorithms for the definition of a stochastic robust optimization procedure. At first, a stochastic procedure is proposed to be applied into optimization problems. The proposed method has been applied to both CFD and FSI problems for the reduction of drag and flutter, respectively.
Abstract
Uncertainties are a daily issue to deal with in aerospace engineering and applications. Robust optimization methods commonly use a random generation of the inputs and take [...]
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Discrete element simulation of rock cutting
J. Rojek, E. Oñate, C. Labra, H. Kargl

Int. J. Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences (2011). Vol. 48 (6), pp. 996-1010

Abstract
This paper presents numerical modelling of rock cutting processes. The model consists of a tool–rock system. The rock is modelled using the discrete element method, which is suitable to study problems of multiple material fracturing such as those involved in rock cutting. Both 2D and 3D models are considered in this work. The paper presents a brief overview of the theoretical formulation and calibration of the discrete element model by a methodology combining the dimensional analysis with simulation of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and indirect tension (Brazilian) tests. The rock cutting process with roadheader picks, which is typical for underground excavation, has been simulated. The results of the 2D and 3D analyses have been compared with one another, and numerical results have been compared with the available experimental data.
Abstract
This paper presents numerical modelling of rock cutting processes. The model consists of a tool–rock system. The rock is modelled using the discrete element method, [...]
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Computationally optimized formulation for the simulation of composite materials and delamination failures
X. Martinez, F. Rastellini, S. Oller, F. Flores, E. Oñate

Composites Part B: Enginnering (2011). Vol. 42 (2), pp. 134-144

Abstract
The numerical simulation of complex failure modes of composite materials, such as delamination, can be computationally very demanding, as it requires special elements and/or numerical strategies to characterize damage onset and propagation. This work presents several formulations developed to optimize the computational performance of an explicit finite element code designed specifically for the simulation of large scale composite structures. The composite mechanical performance is obtained with the matrix-reinforced mixing theory, a simplified version of the serial/parallel mixing theory that does not require an iterative procedure or the calculation of the tangent stiffness matrix. The number of elements required to perform the simulation is reduced by stacking several layers inside a single finite element. This work also proposes a modification of the isotropic damage law, capable of taking into account the residual strength provided by friction in type II fracture modes. The ability of these formulations to successfully predict the mechanical performance of composite materials is assessed with the ply drop-off test. In this test a laminate with a change of thickness in its mid-span is loaded until it breaks due to a delamination process. The formulation proposed obtains a very accurate prediction of the experimental response of the test, as it provides a very good characterization of the initial laminate stiffness, the delamination onset, and its propagation along the specimen.
Abstract
The numerical simulation of complex failure modes of composite materials, such as delamination, can be computationally very demanding, as it [...]
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Hybrid-Game Strategies for multi-objective design optimization in engineering
D. Lee, L. González, J. Periaux, A. Srinivas, E. Oñate

Computers and Fluids (2011). Vol. 47 (1), pp. 189-204

Abstract
A number of Game Strategies (GS) have been developed in past decades. They have been used in the fields of economics, engineering, computer science and biology due to their efficiency in solving design optimization problems. In addition, research in multi-objective (MO) and multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) has focused on developing robust and efficient optimization methods to produce a set of high quality solutions with low computational cost. In this paper, two optimization techniques are considered; the first optimization method uses multi-fidelity hierarchical Pareto optimality. The second optimization method uses the combination of two Game Strategies; Nash-equilibrium and Pareto optimality. The paper shows how Game Strategies can be hybridised and coupled to Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEA) to accelerate convergence speed and to produce a set of high quality solutions. Numerical results obtained from both optimization methods are compared in terms of computational expense and model quality. The benefits of using Hybrid-Game Strategies are clearly demonstrated
Abstract
A number of Game Strategies (GS) have been developed in past decades. They have been used in the fields of economics, engineering, computer science and biology due to their [...]
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ISI rankings of universities in Spain by scientific field
D. Torres-Salinas, E. Delgado-López-Cózar, J. García-Moreno-Torres, F. Herrera

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 94

Abstract
The “ISI rankings of the spanish universities by scientific fields” report is described, and some of the results are presented. One of the essential characteristics of this new ranking, based on Thomson-Reuters products, is its organization into 12 fields of knowledge. The IFQ2A-Index indicator was used to sort the universities, synthesizing information from 6 bibliometric indicators. The results section presents some total indicators for the Spanish university system, showing a steady growth of scientific production but almost no change in the visibility of the journals. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the results shows the dominance of Catalan universities in the 12 fields of knowledge analyzed during the period 2005-2009.
Abstract
The “ISI rankings of the spanish universities by scientific fields” report is described, and some of the results are presented. One of the essential characteristics [...]
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Creating and curating the cognitive commons: Southampton’s contribution
L. Carr, A. Swan, S. Harnard

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 93

Abstract
Historical overview of the significant contributions the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has made to promote open access (OA), leading this movement worldwide. The advantages and disadvantages of the so-called greenway (self-archiving in repositories) and golden road (author pays) are presented. An analysis is made of the historical mistake of promoting the golden road to open access, instead of the green road. The different policies to achieve universal OA to science are discussed.
Abstract
Historical overview of the significant contributions the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has made to promote open access (OA), [...]
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Redocom 2.0: a Spanish university-based media documentation platform with Iberoamerican coverage
A. López-Yepes, S. Romero, V. Cámara-Bados, R. Cetina-Presuel

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 92

Abstract
Description of a recent action in the Multimedia Documentation Service of the Department of Library and Information Science at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. A proposal to establish a university-based online publication platform on information science research (Redocom 2.0) is presented, citing precedents produced in this area by the Documentation Service. Contents, structure, systematization, and the corresponding sections are described, with a few conclusions on the matters affecting the present and future of this online medium.
Abstract
Description of a recent action in the Multimedia Documentation Service of the Department of Library and Information Science at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. A proposal [...]
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Psycho-sociological aspects of internet use
T. Baiget

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 91

Abstract
Population growth, disappearance of borders, ease of transport services, and particularly telecommunications networks have led people to interact much more with each other and to accentuate the social aspect of humankind within the general context of globalization. Moreover, the use of media and social networks has led to greater information exchange and closer cooperation, even among strangers. This phenomenon has important psychological implications for individuals in general and especially for librarians and information scientists, professionals who must have good skills to deal with users.
Abstract
Population growth, disappearance of borders, ease of transport services, and particularly telecommunications networks have led people to interact much more with each other [...]
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Mystery and transparency: access to information in the domains of religion and science
P. Sturges

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 90

Abstract
Whilst science and religion are arguably compatible as two methods to identify truth, in practice they are divergent in their effects. This has serious implications for the theory and practice of library and information work. By starting with the human right of freedom of expression (which contains the right of freedom of access to information) it is possible to compare religion and science and their tendency towards mystery or transparency. The scientific method is inherently sceptical, testing hypotheses with openly exposed methods and results. Although the purity of science is sometimes reduced by its paymasters (governments, corporations and foundations) and by the scientific establishment itself, it offers a model of transparency. Religion is based on faith in some form of revelation, often encapsulated in a book or books, against which knowledge is tested. In practice this preference for authority and mystery encourages the forceful rejection of ideas and fosters secrecy both intellectual and organisational. It is suggested here that libraries are institutionsthat expose ideas for public use and that they are therefore part of the scientific project. The censorship and suppression of ideas associated with religion needs to be resisted by library and information professionals in whatever form, such as a resurgent emphasis on protection of religion through blasphemy laws, that this tendency manifests itself.
Abstract
Whilst science and religion are arguably compatible as two methods to identify truth, in practice they are divergent in their effects. This has serious implications for the [...]
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Effective strategic thinking techniques: Search conference Momentum
T. Blanco, J. Casals, J. Frígols, E. Stinus, X. Estivill, A. Stinus

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 89

Abstract
The information age has deeply affected the way organizations are managing to cope with the abundance of information and their needs to connect and influence the networks of interests they have around them. This new scenario has questioned the traditional strategic planning methods and process-related information management, which have to be replaced by a more agile, flexible and participative ones. Search conference Momentum comes from the fusion of organizational planning and community action methodologies developed in Australia, creativity techniques from quality management, and innovation as well as interactional animation techniques in a group originated for R&D departments of German companies. This paper presents the main characteristics and success factors in its implementation.
Abstract
The information age has deeply affected the way organizations are managing to cope with the abundance of information and their needs to connect and influence the networks [...]
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Alternatives for the self-management of author rights in the digital world
V. Torres-Padrosa, J. Delgado-Mercé

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 88

Abstract
We analyse different alternatives that facilitate the exploitation of intellectual property. Specifically, we deal with author’s rights. First we provide a general overview of the intellectual property concept and then we describe the rights management alternatives, including collective management and self management. Next, we analyse a selected set of initiatives that enable users to self manage their intellectual property rights, by partially transferring them or by obtaining economic benefits in exchange. We finally propose the main features for a comprehensive intellectual property system and present the results and prototypes that our research group has obtained and developed.
Abstract
We analyse different alternatives that facilitate the exploitation of intellectual property. Specifically, we deal with author’s rights. First we provide a general overview [...]
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Information organization on newspaper web sites
M. Acosta-Valdés, Z. Ramírez-Céspedes, L. Marrero-Santana

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 87

Abstract
With the development of collaborative systems, the web users create and disseminate information across the blogs, wikis and social networks. In that dynamic process, transmitter and receiver change roles to generate a huge amount of information that needs to be organized efficiently. We present the results of a benchmarking study, the goal of which is to determine the most recent tendencies for information organizing, navigation, searching and participation in six of the most significant newspaper sites.
Abstract
With the development of collaborative systems, the web users create and disseminate information across the blogs, wikis and social networks. In that dynamic process, transmitter [...]
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The development of Colombian online newspapers
E. Said-Hung, C. Arcila-Calderón, J. Méndez-Barraza

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 86

Abstract
In this study we analyse 38 online newspapers in Colombia, with the goal of determining the level of development of cybermedia in this country, taking special account of the incorporation of Web 2.0 tools. This work is part of a bigger project, “Cybermedia in Colombia and Latin America”, which is being coordinated by the Universidad del Norte (Colombia), with the recent support of the Universidad de los Andes (Venezuela). For the empirical research, we applied the model proposed by Rodríguez-Martínez, Codina y Pedraza-Jiménez (2010), with the further objective of building an indicator to measure the development of Colombian online newspapers. The results show that these digital media have low levels of accessibility, visibility and popularity, and therefore low use of tools for interaction, in-depth exploration and personalization of contents. The study concludes with a quality ranking of cybermedia in Colombia.
Abstract
In this study we analyse 38 online newspapers in Colombia, with the goal of determining the level of development of cybermedia in this country, taking special account of the [...]
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Web tutorials: indicators and best practice examples
M. Somoza-Fernández, C. Rodríguez-Parada

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 85

Abstract
University libraries make web tutorials on a variety of topics. Often they are efforts to improve user’s information literacy and to show them technological improvements on interactive interfaces. A methodology with a total of 34 indicators to be taken into account in the development, evaluation and improvement of library tutorials created in any area and specialty is presented, together with examples of best practices that illustrate the indicators and that can be a guideline for library services wishing to make their own tutorials.
Abstract
University libraries make web tutorials on a variety of topics. Often they are efforts to improve user’s information literacy and to show them technological improvements [...]
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Internet as information source for the everyday life of Spanish young people
J. Sánchez-Navarro, D. Aranda

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 84

Abstract
This article reports and discusses quantitative data obtained from a survey of the Spanish population ages 12 to 18, as well as qualitative observations obtained from various discussion groups on the use of the internet as a means of obtaining useful information for everyday life, particularly in two spheres: leisure and formal education. The data show that young people use the internet mainly in informal and private spaces and, to a lesser extent, in formal educational environments. For this population group, the internet is used and is worth exploring to the extent that the information found is useful for social and leisure purposes, while educational benefits are taken for granted. Lastly, we point out that the young develop their own skills for evaluating information.
Abstract
This article reports and discusses quantitative data obtained from a survey of the Spanish population ages 12 to 18, as well as qualitative observations obtained from various [...]
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Motivation and time estimates in informational and dialogical internet tools usage
R. Cladellas-pros, L. Cárcamo-Ulloa, A. Castelló-Tarrida

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 83

Abstract
This paper analyzes the relationship between motivation and time estimates spent on internet based tasks, and its eventual incidence in informational and dialogical activities. The sample consisted of 120 students from 7 schools (“liceos”) in Chile, whose average age was 15. The participants had to carry out two different tasks on the Internet: first, a vertical communication activity (Google search); second, a horizontal communication activity (messaging). In each task, the perceived elapsed time and the level of interest were evaluated. When comparing the vertical and the horizontal communication activities, the results show a significantly higher interest and significantly lower estimated time in the horizontal communication task (chatting). From these results, a projection of the informational and educational uses of the internet can be made.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the relationship between motivation and time estimates spent on internet based tasks, and its eventual incidence in informational and dialogical activities. [...]
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The information pyramid revisited: enriching the cognitive sciences model
F. García-Marco

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 82

Abstract
The information pyramid, or DIKW hierarchy, is a key construct in information science and other related disciplines. Its concept, history and criticism are presented. Thereafter, the pyramid is enriched with the contributions of cognitive sciences in the last decades, and an enlarged model is proposed. Finally, a discussion of the different levels of the pyramid is presented from the point of view of the architecture of the human information system: data, information, knowledge and wisdom. As a result of very different points of view, the model is full of ambiguities and alternative interpretations, but nevertheless remains a fertile metaphor and a point of reference for the intra-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary dialog at the maximum level of abstraction.
Abstract
The information pyramid, or DIKW hierarchy, is a key construct in information science and other related disciplines. Its concept, history and criticism are presented. Thereafter, [...]
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Information psychology and sociology: a practical and theoretical need
F. García-Marco

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 81

Abstract
The role of the psychology and sociology of information is discussed in the five main interdisciplinary areas of library and information science: information services management, information systems engineering, information retrieval, information structure and dynamics, and information science theory. In recent years, after the impact of technological change has been progressively accommodated, psychological and sociological perspectives are assuming a growing importance in our discipline.
Abstract
The role of the psychology and sociology of information is discussed in the five main interdisciplinary areas of library and information science: information services management, [...]
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Linked open data and Open data. Its impact in the field of libraries and information science
F. Peset, A. Ferrer-Sapena, I. Subirats-Coll

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 80

Abstract
We show the first steps of the initiatives Open data and Linked open data as sources of innovation in the field of information management. As the Open Access movement (OA) and the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) implied some years ago, these two initiatives constitute a shock that reverberated in technological innovation and the structure of the Web. We present a global overview of open data and national projects related to government data. Four Spanish local or regional administrations have already begun to release their data: in chronological order, Asturias, Euskadi, Zaragoza and Catalonia. In the case of Linked open data we also provide a global picture, with 203 registered projects. We describe in more detail the work that the W3C is currently carrying out in the field of libraries. Finally we present the consecuences these new developments can have for librarianship and information science.
Abstract
We show the first steps of the initiatives Open data and Linked open data as sources of innovation in the field of information management. As the Open Access movement (OA) [...]
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Documentation in communication studies: applying web 2.0 tools
M. Serra-Pallarés, S. Espinosa-Mirabet

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 79

Abstract
We describe a case of implementation in the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) for a change of mindset in third-year students taking the Informative Documentation class. Traditionally this area, so important in all the teaching of communication, has been a drag on the learning process of students who don’t see it as a versatile and useful subject that will guarantee the quality of their work. For this reason we designed a paired course with Informative and Audiovisual Genres, in the same program. Between the two classes, students completed a final project, a report developed for different media: press, radio and TV. The organization of all of the information and its sources came together in the creation of blogs that stored all of the material as it was collected.
Abstract
We describe a case of implementation in the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) for a change of mindset in third-year students taking the Informative Documentation class. Traditionally [...]
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The digital contraction of the present
J. Rodríguez-López

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 78

Abstract
Digital communication tools have become the air we breathe, the liquid medium in which we operate, so that we can hardly imagine not being connected, answering compulsively the emails piling up by the hundreds, following the tweets list that is updated faster than we can read them, trying to follow the broken thread of a Facebook conversation, tying the knots of our fragile professional links, clumsily typing with two fingers SMS messages as brief as often imcomprensibly spelled, and doing all this simultaneously and separately, plunging into the digital stream that promises a new kind of freedom through the constant dynamic motion. The truth, however, is that it is quite the opposite of what was promised, and we are increasingly becoming aware of the antagonistic effects that this speed without any purpose imposes upon our senses, our capacity for concentration and understanding, and our perception of the weight and importance of the moment.
Abstract
Digital communication tools have become the air we breathe, the liquid medium in which we operate, so that we can hardly imagine not being connected, answering compulsively [...]
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Zyncro: the intranet 2.0
F. Grau, J. Xifra

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 77

Abstract
Zyncro opens a new dimension in corporate documentation management, based on the well-known concept of intranets and adapting it to the new 2.0 culture of collaboration and work online. Internal communications in public and private organizations are alive, and their flows of interaction between internal and external members of the organization are becoming more intense. Tools capable of handling large volumes of information in an easy, fast and secure manner are needed. This is where Zyncro appears: as the new intranet 2.0. This article analyzes and describes this new online application with special emphasis on its archiving and documentation function articulated through working groups and personal archives.
Abstract
Zyncro opens a new dimension in corporate documentation management, based on the well-known concept of intranets and adapting it to the new 2.0 culture of collaboration and [...]
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Free software evaluation for administrative archives management
J. Moreiro-González, S. Sánchez-Cuadrado, V. Palacios, E. Barra

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 76

Abstract
We evaluated three free software applications for administrative archives management and their implementation in university archives. Software evaluated was: Archon, Archivists ’ toolkit and ICA-AtoM. The comparative analysis considered 12 requirements concerning metadata management, description standards and lending, and document life-cycle analysis. The results show the requirements met by each software application evaluated. Although currently they do not satisfy all archive management requirements, open software can be customized and integrated with new contexts.
Abstract
We evaluated three free software applications for administrative archives management and their implementation in university archives. Software evaluated was: Archon, Archivists [...]
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Records security: case study of the Barcelona City Council Archive
O. Giralt, C. Vidal-Pijoan, C. Pérez-Soler

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 75

Abstract
The exponential growth of digital content in organizations and the obligation to ensure the preservation of documents makes the need more evident for mechanisms to ensure its authenticity, integrity and security. A case of the Archives of the Barcelona Town Hall, following the pioneering experience of the Amsterdam Town Hall Archives is presented. The Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) from Hitachi Data Systems was installed as a secure repository of digital documents. The project also included a review of current working patterns in an effort to establish procedures and best practices for digitization.
Abstract
The exponential growth of digital content in organizations and the obligation to ensure the preservation of documents makes the need more evident for mechanisms to ensure [...]
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Use of an elearning system as an intranet at the Faculty of Library and Information Science of the University of Barcelona
J. Rodríguez-Gairín

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 74

Abstract
The adaptation of a learning management system (Moodle) to the needs of managing an administrative intranet –including the requirements, structure developed and its usage level– is described four years after its implementation. The system main weaknesses and some additional applications to counteract them are discussed.
Abstract
The adaptation of a learning management system (Moodle) to the needs of managing an administrative intranet –including the requirements, structure developed and its usage [...]
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Permanent classroom without walls. Using an intranet in university education
A. Fidalgo, J. Canavilhas

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 73

Abstract
The experience of using an elearning platform for the Theories of Culture course of the journalism programme at the Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal, is described. The results were very positive: the students participated more; the number of students who attended class increased; if a student could not attend a class, he could partially recover the lesson from home; the bibliography can be given in full text; communication between teacher and students improved. Nevertheless, some institutions have the problem that the elearning platform or intranet is installed but no training is offered to staff.
Abstract
The experience of using an elearning platform for the Theories of Culture course of the journalism programme at the Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal, is described. [...]
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Collaborative working environment: intranet 2.0 of the Department of Health of the Government of Andalusia
J. Bejarano-Palma, J. García-León, J. Soto-Alba, M. Ruiz-Rodríguez, P. Toro-Sánchez-Blanco, I. Vicente-Hernández, J. Sánchez-Alberto

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 72

Abstract
The Department of Health of the Government of Andalusia provides professionals of the Andalusian Public Health Care System a collaborative working environment (Entorno colaborativo de trabajo [ECT]) based on the principles of web 2.0. The ECT is organized into communities, understood as sets of people with a common interest who share a space with its own information and collaboration tools. This space is managed and powered autonomously by the communities themselves. This paper analyzes the use and degree of implementation of the ECT, considering the user communities and activity statistics in 2009 and 2010. From the data obtained we deduce that instrumental services have easier acceptance than collaboration and knowledge management services; content generation is focused on a small number of users; and communities associated with organizational units have less development than those associated with work areas or projects.
Abstract
The Department of Health of the Government of Andalusia provides professionals of the Andalusian Public Health Care System a collaborative working environment (Entorno [...]
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Knowledge in the cloud, evolution of intranets
P. Lara-Navarra, D. Maniega-Legarda

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 71

Abstract
Current information systems evolve very rapidly, even appearing and disappearing imperceptibly, as new systems emerge without having been able to fully develop the previous ones. This paper provides a study of the concept of intranet in the area of information and documentation, describing its conceptual evolution, methods and main technical characteristics. We establish how from the beginning intranets have been based on web technology, and how today cloud computing allows new ways to understand them. Finally, two examples of intranet in hybrid and private cloud computing are shown.
Abstract
Current information systems evolve very rapidly, even appearing and disappearing imperceptibly, as new systems emerge without having been able to fully develop the previous [...]
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Quality assessment of Spanish scientific journals: analysis of their review processes
M. Coslado, I. Lacunza, G. Ros

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 70

Abstract
One of the basic duties of scientific journals is the evaluation of the papers that they publish. The most common practice is peer review, in which several experts determine the reliability of the ideas and results as well as the potential impact on science. Studying the documentation provided by the editors of Quality Assessment of Spanish Scientific Journals, 1st Edition, in 2008, we have analyzed some of the editorial practices in the evaluation process, such as external evaluation, instructions to referees, the existence of protocols to evaluate the articles and anonymity of those involved in the review. The significance of our work is that the evaluation process has been checked independently of what is stated in the journal. We have verified that there is a lack of standardization in the evaluation process, which is symptomatic of the need for deeper professionalization.
Abstract
One of the basic duties of scientific journals is the evaluation of the papers that they publish. The most common practice is peer review, in which several experts determine [...]
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eBooks: commercial availability and p2p networks
J. Cordón-García, R. Gómez-Díaz, J. Alonso-Arévalo

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 69

Abstract
Practices for free digital content downloads in the publishing industry are referred to as a problem by cultural and business leaders worldwide. The creation of systems to protect the files, the emergence of national and international agencies to monitor illegal downloads, and the publishing industry’s reluctance to abandon the paper and embrace the digital formats, provide the context for a practice that is little studied when it comes to books. The aim of this paper is to analyze the conditions under which it occurs in Spain, examining the legal provision of content, and the availability of works in p2p networks and blogs. The hypothesis is that in the book arena, the content downloads do not have the relevance and scale they possess in music or film, and that in large part they are motivated by the lack of a legal offering that is varied and up-to-date, and by deficiencies in the sales and distribution platforms. The presence of the bestselling books in major sales platforms and in different file sharing networks is analyzed.
Abstract
Practices for free digital content downloads in the publishing industry are referred to as a problem by cultural and business leaders worldwide. The creation of systems to [...]
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Presence of public archives in digital media
J. Pestano-Rodríguez, J. González-Antón, C. Rodríguez-Wangüemert

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 68

Abstract
Based on the existence of a social reality constructed by the media, we want to know which concepts, reviews and trends are on the media about public records, since the contents of the news shows us key characteristics of social knowledge about this public service. We selected the highest-rated media and we evaluated their information retrieval systems. This process led us to limit the scope to the digital version of high-circulation newspapers and narrow the search terms. We find that a positive treatment dominates most news about public archives, highlighting its role as a memory deposit that allows us to investigate the past, the public effort to preserve the service, and its role as reference point for cultural activities.
Abstract
Based on the existence of a social reality constructed by the media, we want to know which concepts, reviews and trends are on the media about public records, since the contents [...]
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Key factors for the future of Archival science
M. Martín-Pozuelo, M. Moro-Cabero, C. Sanz-Baena

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 67

Abstract
Key factors for the future of Archival science are identified and prioritized from the views of a small group of professionals and researchers, using the qualitative technique of consensus-building. The study has identified 70 factors distributed among five variables: the future of archives (26), of Archival science (10), of professionals (12), of relationships with technologies (10) and of society (12). The amount, scope and results invite us to continue the research in broader contexts as well as in larger groups of experts from different sectors.
Abstract
Key factors for the future of Archival science are identified and prioritized from the views of a small group of professionals and researchers, using the qualitative technique [...]
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The big issues related to document and record management: challenges and opportunities
C. Bustelo-Ruesta

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 66

Abstract
The electronic management of documents and records is facing major challenges: the integration of document processes and checks in routine work processes; risk analysis; techniques and controls needed to manage records and digital evidence controls (metadata, digital signature, authenticity, integrity, preservation); and access restrictions for citizenship or customers. Information professionals are invited to take an active role in resolving these complex problems.
Abstract
The electronic management of documents and records is facing major challenges: the integration of document processes and checks in routine work processes; risk analysis; techniques [...]
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Virtualization: a solution for efficiency, security and management of intranets
D. Martín, M. Marrero, J. Urbano, E. Barra, J. Moreiro-González

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 65

Abstract
Virtualization is a technology that permits the abstraction of the software from one computer and its easy deployment in another one, which may house additional virtualized machines. This mechanism allows us to host more than one virtual computer in just one actual computer. An intranet is made up of a set of computers running as servers that are underutilized for the most part. In this paper we want to show virtualization as a tool allowing us to have a more efficient intranet because it helps us reduce the number of computers in the net; more secure because it allows the creation of backup copies automatically; and easier to manage because we centralize all our services with a handful of servers. With all this, virtualization allows hardware, electricity and maintenance savings.
Abstract
Virtualization is a technology that permits the abstraction of the software from one computer and its easy deployment in another one, which may house additional virtualized [...]
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Collaborative public administration on the network
J. Graells-Costa

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 64

Abstract
The weighty structures of government are forced to evolve due to the ubiquity of social networks in all areas of society. Governments should lose their distrust of web 2.0 and assume the changes brought about by these new ways of communicating with the public and among officials. Social networks favour participation, transparency and innovation at all levels.
Abstract
The weighty structures of government are forced to evolve due to the ubiquity of social networks in all areas of society. Governments should lose their distrust of web 2.0 [...]
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The official gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya: genesis of a digital newspaper
L. Orenga-Gaya, O. Giralt

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 63

Abstract
The entry into force of the Spanish act about digital access (Ley 11/2007, BOE n. 150, de 23/6/2007) has produced a decisive impact on the development of records management projects in organizations. The Entitat Autònoma del Diari Oficial i de Publicacions , the body that publishes Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC ) –the official journal of the Catalan government-, started its editing process adaptation to the electronic environment in 2009, based on Ley 2/2007 (DOGC, 5/6/2007), an act that defines the digital format as the only official format for DOGC. Two key projects in this process are presented: adoption and adaptation of EuroVoc thesaurus as an indexation tool, and the design of the new digital cycle of DOGC production and publication.
Abstract
The entry into force of the Spanish act about digital access (Ley 11/2007, BOE n. 150, de 23/6/2007) has produced a decisive impact on the development of records management [...]
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Electronic prescription and dispensation pharmaceutical system at the Health Valencian Agency, Spain
E. De-la-Poza-Plaza, I. Barrachina-Martínez, J. Trillo-Mata, R. Usó-Talamantes

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 62

Abstract
The electronic prescription and dispensation system is a breakthrough in the use of new technologies in the National Health System. It involves the improvement of processes of prescribing and dispensing pharmacotherapy and the coordination of health professionals. Also, for patients with long-term treatments, the system helps to reduce the frequency of primary care center visits and improves patient safety by reducing mistakes in prescriptions written by hand. The system requires the interconnection and functioning of many information systems to be integrated and work well together with the infrastructure of the data processing center that is responsible for distributing information to all healthcare centers. In this way, improvements of the electronic prescription system on healthcare will be analyzed (decrease of physician visits, reduction in medical errors, increase in therapeutic compliance by patients).
Abstract
The electronic prescription and dispensation system is a breakthrough in the use of new technologies in the National Health System. It involves the improvement of processes [...]
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e-Catalunya: virtual communities of practice to promote a more open and efficient public administration
M. Sancho, A. Cañabate, A. Botella, J. Casanovas, F. Sabaté

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 61

Abstract
e-Catalunya is an information system promoted by the Government of Catalonia to support Virtual Communities of Practice through a set of web 2.0 tools. It facilitates collaboration, knowledge sharing and the path towards a more open and efficient organization. The information system’s goals are reported in the context of both e-government and new working patterns under the Communities of Practice paradigm. Its functional and organizational characteristics as well as its architecture are also described. Finally, observed results and benefits as well as the lessons learned from five years of operation are explained.
Abstract
e-Catalunya is an information system promoted by the Government of Catalonia to support Virtual Communities of Practice through a set of web 2.0 tools. It facilitates collaboration, [...]
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Public administration information in the digital era: official publications
C. Rodríguez-Vela

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 60

Abstract
Governments produce, disseminate, preserve and reuse information in order to carry out the public services entrusted to them. They make use of the so-called official publications to disseminate information about public policies. We use the term publications in the sense that this word has attained in the digital era, that is, any digital resource online, including web pages from departments. The Spanish Administration provides two key elements of information about its publishing activity: the Catalogue of Publications of the General Administration of the State and the Guide to official publishers. The organizational developments for preserving and reuse the valuable and extensive information of the Spanish Public Sector are still pending, but the current regulatory gaps are in the process of being resolved.
Abstract
Governments produce, disseminate, preserve and reuse information in order to carry out the public services entrusted to them. They make use of the so-called official publications to [...]
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Archiving elections 2.0 at the speed of tweet
C. Llueca, G. Suades, N. Torres, R. De-la-Vega, D. Cócera

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 59

Abstract
Patrimoni Digital de Catalunya (Padicat) is the web archive created in 2005 by the Biblioteca de Catalunya (BC), with the aim of collecting, processing and providing permanent access to the digital heritage on internet for the people of Catalonia (Spain). Its collection policy is based on three pillars: exhaustive harvesting of the .cat domain, selective compilation of digital resources published by Catalan institutions and companies, and monographic capture of social events, such as electoral campaigns on the Internet. The article describes the actions taken to capture and preserve web pages for the most recent electoral contests, in order to show future generations the internet electoral campaigns of the early 21st century.
Abstract
Patrimoni Digital de Catalunya (Padicat) is the web archive created in 2005 by the Biblioteca de Catalunya (BC), with the aim of collecting, processing and providing permanent [...]
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Information management and the Basque Government’s Public Innovation Plan
I. Ortiz-Sánchez

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 58

Abstract
Public administrations must adapt to the current needs and demands of society, characterised by growing complexity, increasingly rapid change, and greater density of the interrelationships between individuals. The intensity of the necessary organisational changes brings us to define the concept of public innovation, to designate the application of ideas and new practices in the field of public management with the aim to generate social value. This article gives account of the Plan of Public Innovation of the Basque Government, which is now in force, and gives special attention to its relationship with the management of information, highlighting the aspects of the Plan that are more directly linked with this organisational function.
Abstract
Public administrations must adapt to the current needs and demands of society, characterised by growing complexity, increasingly rapid change, and greater density of the interrelationships [...]
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Open data? Yes, but in a sustainable way
M. Garriga-Portolà

El profesional de la información (2011). Vol. 20, (4), 57

Abstract
More and more people think that we are transforming the model of society, changing from an industrial to a knowledge model, where data and information are its raw material. In this context many open data initiatives are being developed by public administrations around the world in a short time period. The open data process is defined, the reasons to carry out it are explained, and some guidelines on how to do it in a very pragmatic and sustainable manner are given.
Abstract
More and more people think that we are transforming the model of society, changing from an industrial to a knowledge model, where data and information are its raw material. [...]
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