Scipedia: Documents published in 2013

Collaborative decision making in air traffic management current and future research directions

Scipedia content — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 13:02:44 +0200

Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) embodies a new philosophy for managing air traffic. The initial implementation of CDM in the US has been aimed at Ground Delay Program Enhancements (GDP-E). However, the underlying concepts of CDM have the potential for much broader applicability. This paper reviews on-going and proposed CDM research streams. The topic areas discussed include: ground delay program enhancements; collaborative routing; performance monitoring and analysis; collaborative resource allocation mechanisms; game theory models for analyzing CDM procedures and information exchange; collaborative information collection and distribution.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Using a formal description technique to model aspects of a global air traffic telecommunications network

Scipedia content — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:59:11 +0200

Aspects of a draft version of the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) under development by ISO-compliant committees of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have been mathematically modelled using a formal description technique. The ATN SARPs are a specification for a global telecommunications network for air traffic control systems. A version of Harels statecharts formalism embedded within a machine readable typed predicate logic has been used as a formal description technique to construct this mathematical model. Our model has been `typechecked to partially validate the internal consistency of the specification. The work described in this paper has already uncovered some problems in the draft SARPs, and will provide a basis for follow-on efforts to apply formal analysis methods such as model-checking and symbolic execution to aspects of the ATN SARPs. The success of this approach suggests that typed predicate logic is useful as a syntactic and semantic foundation for specialized Formal Description Techniques (FDTs).

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Example interface for air traffic controllers

Scipedia content — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:57:42 +0200

This chapter introduces a single large example of using the properties and architecture which have been discussed in earlier chapters. The example chosen is an Air Traffic Control (ATC) Support System. The concrete meaning of the abstract properties introduced in earlier chapters will be discussed in that context, showing how one property interacts with other properties. The relevance of this to the design is shown by examples, which are followed by a discussion of possible architectures for the ATC Support System.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Impact and modeling of driver behavior due to cooperative assistance systems

Scipedia content — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:53:36 +0200

Current developments in Car2X communication technology provide the basis for novel driver assistance systems. To assess the impact of such a system on a group of cars approaching a non moving traffic jam, the driver behavior resulting from a system which supports anticipatory driving is modeled and used in a sub-microscopic traffic simulation. By equipping various percentages of a simulated group of cars with the model, the effect of the system on maximum deceleration and fuel consumption can be assessed. Finally the problems resulting from switching between different driver models are discussed.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

When Paper Meets Multi-touch: A Study of Multi-modal Interactions in Air Traffic Control

Scipedia content — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:47:25 +0200

Part 1: Long and Short Papers (Continued); International audience; For expert interfaces, it is not obvious whether providing multiple modes of interaction, each tuned to different sub-tasks, leads to a better user experience than providing a more limited set. In this paper, we investigate this question in the context of air traffic control. We present and analyze an augmented flight strip board offering several forms of interaction, including touch, digital pen and physical paper objects. We explore the technical challenges of adding finger detection to such a flight strip board and evaluate how expert air traffic controllers interact with the resulting system. We find that users are able to quickly adapt to the wide range of offered modalities. Users were not overburden by the choice of different modalities, and did not find it difficult to determine the appropriate modality to use for each interaction.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Improving energy efficiency in craiova romania

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:55:40 +0200

The main impetus for this report (and for the reports prepared for the other six growth poles) is a request received from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. The request came within the context of on-going preparations for the 2014-2020 Programming period, with Energy Efficiency being one the major themes of the Europe 2020 strategy, and a critical priority for all EU Member Countries. Within Romania, local authorities that will want to access energy efficiency funds under the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Program will need to first prepare energy efficiency strategies. The TRACE tool is specifically targeted at local authorities, and is a good instrument for drafting such strategies. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began its transition from a centralized system to a market-based economy. Today the country is a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO. After more than a decade of economic restructuring and political change, the country has taken significant steps toward catching up with the economic performance of more developed EU countries. Although radical reforms brought about significant changes in recent years, the standard of living of Romanians is still behind the EU average. The transition period after the end of the communist regime has led to significant changes in the social and economic life of the residents of Craiova. Some of these developments have positively affected people's life, whereas a few came along with inconveniences and difficulties. During the first years of transition the city attracted people from parts of Dolj County and from elsewhere in Romania. This process led to severe de-population in the rural areas of Dolj County. At the same time, due to economic constraints, some of the urban population of Craiova moved to the wider metropolitan area. Like every other city in the country, municipal buildings in Craiova require proper measures toward improving energy efficiency - particularly in health care and education facilities managed by the city government. A benchmarking of the municipal building stock, along with audit and retrofit measures, should be performed in order to identify the highest energy savings potential and proper intervention measures. As for the water sector, although the system covers the entire city and most of the households in Craiova have water meters, there are high losses in the network. In addition, in order to improve the overall efficiency of the water system, oversized pumps needs to be replaced with smaller, energy-efficient ones. Finally, although selective collection has been implemented in Craiova, there is more that can be done about improving recycling rates.

Document type: Book

Surround sensing for automotive driver assistance systems

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:54:39 +0200

In recent years, driver assistance systems have become a strong trend in automotive engineering. Such systems increase safety and comfort by supporting the driver in critical or stressful traffic situations. A great variety of surround sensors with different fields of view include radar, ultrasonic, laser, and vision systems. These sensors are based on different technologies and measurement principles. They all have their specific advantages and disadvantages and range from low-cost to high-end systems. They also differ in size, mounting position, maintenance, and weather compatibility. Hence, such sensors are used in various configurations to explore the surroundings ahead, sideways, and behind a vehicle. In addition, vehicle dynamics information from speed, steering angle, yaw rate, and acceleration sensors is available. Data fusion algorithms on raw data, feature, or object levels are used to collect all this information and set up vehicle surround models. An important issue in this context is the question of data accuracy and reliability. Situation interpretation of the traffic scene is based on these surround models. Any situation interpretation has to be performed in real-time, independent of the situation complexity. Typically, the prediction horizon is a couple of seconds. Depending on the results of the driving environment analysis critical situations can be identified. In consequence, the driver can be informed or warned. Some driver assistance systems already perform driving tasks like following, lane changing, or parking autonomously. The art of designing new, valuable driver assistance systems includes many factors and aspects and is still an engineering challenge in automotive research.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Introducing behavioral change in transportation into energy economy environment models

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:47:29 +0200

Transportation is vital to economic and social development, but at the same time generates undesired consequences on local, regional, and global scales. One of the largest challenges is the mitigation of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, to which this sector already contributes one-quarter globally and one-third in the United States. Technology measures are the prerequisite for drastically mitigating energy use and all emission species, but they are not sufficient. The resulting need for complementing technology measures with behavioral change policies contrasts sharply with the analyses carried out by virtually all energy / economy / environment (E3) models, given their focus on pure technology-based solutions. This paper addresses the challenges for E3 models to simulate behavioral changes in transportation. A survey of 13 major models concludes that especially hybrid energy models would already be capable of simulating some behavioral change policies, most notably the imposition of the full marginal societal costs of transportation. Another survey of major macroscopic transportation models finds that key specifications required for simulating behavioral change have already been implemented and tested, albeit not necessarily on a global scale. When integrating these key features into E3 models, a wide range of technology and behavioral change policies could be analyzed.

Document type: Book

6 35 dealing with gypsum karst problems hazards environmental issues and planning

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:41:52 +0200

Gypsum dissolves rapidly underground and at the surface, forming gypsum karst features that include caves, subsidence areas, and sinkholes. Mapping these landforms, understanding the gypsum karst and local hydrogeology, and producing sinkhole susceptibility and hazard maps are crucial for development and public safety. Situations that change the local hydrogeology, such as dams, water abstraction, or injection/drainage, can accelerate dissolution and subsidence processes, increasing the severity of the problems; dams and canals built on gypsum karst can leak or fail catastrophically. Gypsum karst problems can be mitigated by careful surveying and scientific investigation followed by phased preventive planning, ground investigation, and construction incorporating sinkhole-proof designs. Towns and cities, including parts of Paris (France), Dzerzhinksk (Russia), Madrid and Zaragoza (Spain), Birzai (Lithuania), and Ripon and Darlington (UK), are developed on such ground requiring local planning guidelines and special construction methods. Roads, railways, pipelines, and bridges are particularly vulnerable to such subsidence and require special consideration.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Pedestrian detection in poor visibility conditions would swir help

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:29:38 +0200

The 2WIDE_SENSE (WIDE spectral band & WIDE dynamics multifunctional imaging SENSor Enabling safer car transportation) EU funded project is aimed at the development of a low-cost camera sensor for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) applications able to acquire the full visible to Short Wave InfraRed (SWIR) spectrum from 400 to 1700 nm. This paper presents the first results obtained by investigating the SWIR contribution to pedestrian detection in difficult visibility conditions as haze and fog employing the wide-bandwidth camera developed within the project.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Modeling and analyzing information integrity in safety critical systems

Scipedia content — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 09:12:37 +0200

Preserving information integrity represent an urgent need for safety critical systems, where depending on incorrect or inconsistent information may leads to disasters. Typically, information integrity is a problem handled at technical level (e.g., checksumming). However, information integrity has to be analyzed in the social-technical context of the system, since information integrity related problems might manifest themselves in the business processes and actors interactions. In this paper, we propose an extended version of i*/ secure Tropos modeling languages to capture information integrity requirements. We illustrate the Datalog formalization of the proposed concepts and analysis techniques to support the analyst in the verification of integrity related properties. Air Traffic Management (ATM) case study is used throughout the paper.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

International Mobility of Scientists in Germany in a European Comparison

Scipedia content — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 12:55:37 +0200

Der Beitrag untersucht die internationale Mobilität der WissenschaftlerInnen an Hochschulen im europäischen Vergleich. In Kapitel 2 geht es um das Konzept der Internationalisierung der Hochschulen, sowie um die Relevanz und den Forschungsstand zur internationalen Mobilität von WissenschaftlerInnen an Hochschulen im internationalen Vergleich. In Kapitel 3 wird hauptsächlich auf der Grundlage der Ergebnisse der MORE 2-Studie (Mobility Patterns and Career Paths of EU Researchers) und der EUROAC-Studie (The Academic Profession in Europe: Responses to Societal Challenges) die internationale Mobilität der WissenschaftlerInnen an Hochschulen in Europa untersucht. Dabei geht es insbesondere um die Frage, wie der Grad der internationalen Mobilität des Wissenschaftlichen Personals in Deutschland im europäischen Vergleich einzuordnen ist. (DIPF/Autor) Document type: Book

Formal specification as a tool for objective assessment of safety critical interactive systems

Scipedia content — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 12:47:30 +0200

The design of safety critical systems calls for advanced software engineering models, methods and tools in order to guarantee safety requirements that can put human life at stake. When the safety critical system encompasses a substantial interactive component, the same level of confidence is required towards the human computer interface. Conventional empirical or semi-formal techniques, although very fruitful, do not provide sufficient insight on the reliability of the human system cooperation, and offer no easy way, for example, to quantitatively compare two design options. The aim of this paper is to present a method with related too1& and techniques for engineering the design and development of usable user interfaces for safety-critical applications. The specific application area which we will consider is air traffic control but most of the results will be valid for any application areas with similar requirements. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Current trends in context-aware applications

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:04:09 +0200

(Received: 2013/10/07 - Accepted: 2013/12/10)Context-aware applications adapt their behavior and settings according to the environment conditions and to the user preferences. This state-of-the-art survey identifies the current trends related to the technics and tools for the development of this kind of software, as well as the areas of interest of the scientific community on the subject. It stands out the research on multimodal interfaces, localization, activity detection, interruptions control, predictive and wellbeing applications.

Risk management in methodologies of information technology and communications projects

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:03:52 +0200

(Received: 2013/10/02 - Accepted: 2013/12/13)At present there are methodologies that have several alternatives and methods to manage projects of Information and Communication Technologies. However, these do not cover a solution for the technology events that can occur in the industry, government, education, among others. In the technology market there are several models to identify and analyze risks according to relevant aspects of their area of specialty e.g. projects, in software development, communications, information security and business alignment. For this reason, this research conducted an evaluation of risk management activities of the methodologies used mostly to know which of them includes more correspondence with basic elements of IT using a rating scale.

Single echelon inventory strategies in spare parts supply chains

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:03:35 +0200

(Received: 2013/09/30 - Accepted: 2013/12/02)Inventory Management in Spare Parts Supply Chains (IMSPSC) plays an important role for both the Customer Company who wants to remain operational despite flaws in its machinery or equipment and the Supplier Company or Producer that want to improve their post sales service processes. The increasing importance of IMSPSC for the performance of companies calls for improved and innovative strategies in this area. This paper describes Single Echelon Inventory Strategies in Spare Parts management practices and serves as a source for deciding on the best strategy depending on the type of business and application. Nowadays these practices are not only a legal obligation of an organization but an opportunity to increase profits and to build long term commercial relationships and loyalty with customers.

The chemical substances and the neurotoxic effect on workers

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:03:17 +0200

(Received: 2013/10/02 - Accepted: 2013/12/13)Tens of thousands of workers are exposed to pollution by the neurotoxicity found in their different workplaces, small businesses, handcrafting industries and even at home. The problem gets worst due to the lack of information on the risks posed by these substances and the safety controls to be taken during its use, on the other hand, the overconfidence that exists about the abstraction of this danger when it comes to the exposure to small doses of toxicity by ignoring the cumulative effects of these substances every time they enter the body. In Ecuador, nowadays there are few studies that distinguish this exposure to these substances, and none on the incidence of the neurotoxic syndrome, considering it an important field to research. Workers who are exposed to chemical toxic substances are now associated to adverse human health effects, due to its aggression and because of the worker´s safety before breaking health directly. They enter the body by the respiratory, dermal or digestive system, and show a great affinity with the body grease so that it accumulates and affects the different organs, tissues, the central nervous system, the bone marrow and liver. Immediate acute and chronic long-term effects were detected due to the intensity and duration of the exposure. Some symptoms include drowsiness, loss of appetite, headache, dizziness, depression, anxiety, nervousness, fatigue, irritability, memory problems, mental sluggishness, apathy, seizures, motor skills incoordination, genetic alterations, among others.

Influence of sediment from the Gullies in the development of erosion forms

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:02:57 +0200

(Received: 2013/10/10 - Accepted: 2013/12/13)This article presents the process of development of seven gullies. The area of study is located in the province of Pichincha. These gullies show extensive sedimentary deposits. The characteristic of the deposits, th stratification and analysis of the organic matter at different depths, demonstrate that the deposits were formed by the accumulation in the gullies. At a depth of 225-230 cm the deposits have higher organic matter content than the layers located more than a meter above. The influences of the deposits, the transformation of the forms of the gullies and the characteristics of erosive-accumulative process have been investigated. Also the characteristics of the gullies at multiple levels have been studied. The gullies that are at the top of the hillside belong to periods prior to the activation of the erosion, if compared to gullies in the lower parts of mountainside. Cyclical progress was considered in the self-development of the gullies.

Transpiration effect on runoff in two types of forest of the coast mountains, southern Chile

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:02:42 +0200

(Received: 2013/09/03 - Accepted: 2013/11/20)The present work compares the rate of transpiration and its effect in the runoff of watershed covered with evergreen (Bonifacio) and deciduous (Las Palmas) native forests, during the spring-summer season change. We used as variables the precipitation, runoff, leaf area index, transpiration of the species, and the distribution of water in the soil. The results show a greater consumption of water in the deciduous forest, by a greater evotranspiration of 2273.6 mm compared to the evergreen forest of 1740 mm, which generates a greater runoff than the last one. The comparison between leaf area indexes of the two forests shows a significant difference, especially during spring for the deciduous forest, since the increase of the transpiration rate due to the increase of biomass, generates fewer runoffs even though in this location there were more precipitations. Moreover, the species of the evergreen forest consumed the water of the first centimeters (10-20) of the soil profile; in contrast, in the deciduous forest we observed a greater decrease in the deep soil water content (40 cm). Regarding water yield, we show that the evergreen forest is more efficient than deciduous forest, during the period spring-summer.

Naturalistic Engineering for risk prevention in two slopes in southern Quito

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:01:27 +0200

(Received: 2013/11/01 - Accepted: 2013/12/12)Naturalistic engineering is a technical-scientific modern science cobining civil, environmental and geotechnical engineerings. It studies and uses building materials, plants, organic and synthetic materials for holding slopes. San Luis de Chillogallo and El Recreo are located in the South of Quito, where two projects for erosion control, containment and environmental recovery, have been implemented. These are pilot interventions that allow applying strategies and capabilities of estimation and reduction of risks from disasters. To implement the works, the ground was shifted, the organic and inorganic matter was wiped out, and unstable parts of the slope were removed, reshaping the slope through land exclusion and relocation. Subsequently, depending on the shape of each slope, specific techniques where designed and implemented. Double Wall Crib and Latin Triangular Branching techniques were used in San Luis de Chillogallo. Live Grating and Latino Triangular Branching techniques were used in El Recreo. Plants such as: Alder, Alnus glutinosa; paper tree, Polylepis sp.; chilca, Baccharis latifolia; lechero Euphorbia lactiflua and Tilo, Tilia platyphyllos; have been used in these projects. These plants are fast growing species and they have adapted successfully on the two slopes intervened.

Characterization of occupational hazards in the processes of the Hostería Selva Virgen’s restaurant and kitchen areas

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:59:28 +0200

(Received: 2013/04/30 - Accepted: 2013/06/26)The aim of this research was to characterize the occupational hazards in the processes of therestaurant and kitchen areas of the Hostería Selva Virgen, property of the UniversidadTecnológica Equinoccial (UTE-Ecuador). To reach the objective, the processes and proceduresin the study areas were described. Then a survey was designed and implemented with the staffinvolved, directly or indirectly, with the tasks associated with the areas under investigation. Next,a risk matrix was developed to estimate the potential risks of working in these areas. With thisestimation, it became necessary to evaluate those risks considered relevant, measuring noise,light, heat stress, particulate matter and CO2 and CO gases.

Antioxidant compounds content in red-purple tree tomato grown at different altitudes (m.a.s.l.)

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:57:29 +0200

(Received: 2013/03/07 - Accepted: 2013/06/17)The aim of this research was to study the antioxidant compounds content in Red-purple treetomato grown at different altitudes (m.a.s.l.). Fruits from Pelileo (2660 m.a.s.l.) and Chiquicha(2440 m.a.s.l.) in three maturity stages (unripe, ripe and overripe) were used. Physicochemical(surface and internal color, pH, titratable total acidity -TTA- and total soluble solids -SST-) andbiochemical analyses using UV-Vis spectrophotometry (total phenol -TF-, total anthocyanins -TA-, total carotenes -CT-, L-ascorbic acid -AA- and antioxidant capacity -AC-) in the mesocarpand endocarp of fruits were performed. In the color, higher values of L* (epicarp) and h*(epicarp and mesocarp) in unripe, ripe and overripe fruits from Chiquicha were obtained, whileC* values of mesocarp and endocarp was higher in those from Pelileo. The color differenceswere evident during fruit ripening, but a direct relationship between crop altitude and changes in color parameters analyzed wasn’t found. There was a significantly higher difference in the pH oftomatoes (unripe and ripe) from Chiquicha. Also, these fruits had higher TTA (ripe and overripe)and TSS (overripe) than those from Pelileo. The mesocarp showed higher content of TF and TCin the fruits (three maturity stages) from Chiquicha, while higher concentration of thesecompounds showed the endocarp from Pelileo’s fruit. The TA and AA content was higher in ripefruits from Chiquicha. In general, the fruits from Chiquicha showed higher concentration ofantioxidant compounds, possibly because the plantation, consisting of at least two genotypes, islocated in a mountainous area with good characteristics for this fruit cultivation.

RETRACTED: Design and construction of a permanent mold using finite element software

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:55:31 +0200

(Received: 2012/11/07 - Accepted: 2013/06/18 - Retracted: 2013/08/27)Editorial Board Retraction Notice:This article was retracted upon receiving confirmed evidence of double publication, therefore disrespecting the journal´s code of conduct. This Editorial Board takes this decision to honor the scientific community guidelines, in spite of having a Transfer of Copyright Agreement signed by the corresponding author.The project was developed with specifications of a finite element method for the calculation ofthe field variables within a mold contour by choosing an appropriate mathematical model whichpermitted to incorporate simulation software. The development was a physical-practicalapplication for a piece of aluminum that will be built, and consists in the analysis of the functionsand stresses to which it is submitted. The metal mold is designed specifically for the mentionedpieces using “VULCAN” which is based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). The simulation isperformed in three stages of the fusion process: filling, solidification and cooling. The filling isconsidered slow enough so that there are not expected to be greater turbulences and that thepieces are completely filled. Solidification is analyzed as an optimal process, avoiding defects oflack of material in the mold cavity (shrinkage). In the cooling stage, deformations and residualstresses are analyzed. At the same time, every result is validated analytically. With thisinformation the final geometry of the metal mold is defined and the alloy which will be used is confirmed. Subsequently, a CAD-CAM-CAE system is used for the design and development ofthe mold, and the aluminum pieces (knobs) obtained are tested.

Vegetal waste degradation by microbial strains inoculation

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:53:33 +0200

(Received: 2013/03/31 - Accepted: 2013/06/02)Vegetal waste treatment product of urban, agricultural and industrial processes has severaltechnical problems and constitutes a significant environmental concern. Among them are thepersistence of crop protection products in high concentrations in plant material and the lack ofmicroorganisms that can tolerate such compounds and efficiently decompose the substrate.Bacteria and mainly white rot fungi are the main decomposers of lignin because of their ability tosynthesize extracellular hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes in large quantities. Trichodermareesei, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp. and Phanerochaete chrysosporium strains are modelstrains whose hight degradation efficiency with lignocellulose materials even in the presence ofpollutants has been proven. Several studies such as directed mutagenesis, co-culturing andheterologous expression have been done in order to improve the content of some enzymes(cellulase, xylanase, and β-glucosidase) in model strains, additionally it has been done newgenetic searches to find other microorganisms with this potential. Its main applications are theindustrial production of ethanol and some seconday metabolites under controlled conditions infermentation processes. This review provides an overview about strategies and methodologiescurrently used for vegetal waste utilization by inoculation of microbial strains.

Advances in the development of a FEM model for evaluation of a Surface-Effect Ship (SES) including skirt dynamics

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 14:10:30 +0100

El “Innovative Naval Prototype Transformable Craft” (T-Craft) es un nuevo concepto de buque desarrollado por la marina de los Estados Unidos de América para la conexión de una base en alta mar con tierra. El TCraft puede operar en múltiple modos, usándose para conectar una base intermedia de soporte con la principal, y luego ser utilizado como conexión de alta velocidad con la costa, transportando vehículos y otros equipos y carga pesada hasta la playa. El T-Craft se ha concebido como un buque de efecto superficie (Surface-Effect Ship, SES) con un colchón de aire activo entre dos cascos rígidos, que permite al buque operar a desplazamiento completo, con soporte parcial del colchón o con el colchón plenamente activo. Este artículo presenta el trabajo reciente de los autores en el desarrollo de un modelo de evaluación del comportamiento en la mar y la maniobrabilidad del T-Craft, incluyendo la interacción del faldón. Este modelo está basado en la resolución de las ecuaciones de flujo potencial en el dominio del tiempo, mediante el método de los elementos finitos, integrando la superficie libre a lo largo de las líneas de corriente. Este artículo revisa el algoritmo de interacción fluido estructura desarrollado para la simulación de la compleja dinámica de los sellos, en la interfaz entre el colchón de aire y el agua. El algoritmo se basa, por una parte, en un algoritmo explícito alternado que permite la comunicación entre los solvers fluido-dinámico y estructural mediante TCP-IP sockets, intercambiando fuerzas de presión y desplazamientos en los sellos durante la ejecución, y por otra parte, en un innovador esquema de secado-mojado que permite predecir la interacción del agua con los sellos. Se incluyen varios casos de aplicación de la metodología desarrollada sobre el modelo l XR-1B.

Analysis of the melting, burning and flame spread of polymers with the particle finite element method

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 13:35:07 +0100

A computational procedure for analysis of the melting, burning and flame spread of polymers under fire conditions is presented. The method, termed particle finite element method (PFEM), combines concepts from particle-based techniques with those of the standard finite element method (FEM). The key feature of the PFEM is the use of an updated Lagrangian description to model the motion of nodes (particles) in the thermoplastic material. Nodes are viewed as material points which can freely move and even separate from the main analysis domain representing, for instance, the effect of melting and dripping of polymer particles. A mesh connects the nodes defining the discretized domain where the governing equations are solved using the FEM. An incremental iterative scheme for the solution of the nonlinear transient coupled thermal-flow problem, including radiation, loss of mass by gasification and combustion is used. Examples of the possibilities of the PFEM for the modelling and simulation of the melting, burning and flame spread of polymers under different fire conditions are described.

Analysis of the discharge capacity of radial-gated spillways using CFD and ANN – Oliana Dam case study

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 13:21:35 +0100

The paper focuses on the analysis of radial-gated spillways, which is carried out by the solution of a numerical model based on the finite element method (FEM). The Oliana Dam is considered as a case study and the discharge capacity is predicted both by the application of a level-set-based free-surface solver and by the use of traditional empirical formulations. The results of the analysis are then used for training an artificial neural network to allow real-time predictions of the discharge in any situation of energy head and gate opening within the operation range of the reservoir. The comparison of the results obtained with the different methods shows that numerical models such as the FEM can be useful as a predictive tool for the analysis of the hydraulic performance of radial-gated spillways.

Modal based goal-oriented error assessment for timeline-dependent quantities in transient dynamics

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 16:59:03 +0100

This article presents a new approach to assess the error in specific quantities of interest in the framework of linear elastodynamics. In particular, a new type of quantities of interest (referred as timeline-dependent quantities) is proposed. These quantities are scalar time-dependent outputs of the transient solution which are better suited to time-dependent problems than the standard scalar ones, frozen in time. The proposed methodology furnishes error estimates for both the standard scalar and the new timeline-dependent quantities of interest. The key ingredient is the modal-based approximation of the associated adjoint problems which allows efficiently computing and storing the adjoint solution.

The approximated adjoint solution is readily post-processed to produce an enhanced solution, requiring only one spatial post-process for each vibration mode and using the time-harmonic hypothesis to recover the time dependence. Thus the proposed goal-oriented error estimate consists in injecting this enhanced adjoint solution into the residual of the direct problem. The resulting estimate is very well suited for transient dynamic simulations because the enhanced adjoint solution is computed before starting the forward time integration of the direct problem. Thus, the cost of the error estimate at each time step is very low.

A stable XFEM formulation for multi-phase problems enforcing the accuracy of the fluxes through Lagrange multipliers

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 16:36:01 +0100

When applied to diffusion problems in a multi‐phase setup, the popular extended finite element method (XFEM) strategy suffers from an inaccurate representation of the local fluxes in the vicinity of the interface. The XFEM enrichment improves the global quality of the solution but it is not enforcing any local feature to the fluxes. Thus, the resulting numerical fluxes in the vicinity of the interface are not realistic, in particular when conductivity ratios between the different phases are very high. This paper introduces an additional restriction to the XFEM formulation aiming at properly reproducing the features of the local fluxes in the transition zone. This restriction is implemented through Lagrange multipliers, and the stability of the resulting mixed formulation is tested satisfactorily through the Chapelle–Bathe numerical procedure. Several examples are presented, and the solutions obtained show a spectacular improvement with respect to the standard XFEM.

Meshless methods in dual analysis: theoretical and implementation issues

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:30:11 +0100

This paper presents a meshless implementation of dual analysis for 2D linear elasticity problems. The derivation of the governing systems of equations for the discretized compatible and equilibrated models is detailed and crucial implementation issues of the proposed algorithm are discussed: (i) arising of deficiencies associated with the independent approximation field used for the imposition of the essential boundary conditions (EBC) for the two parts of the boundary sharing a corner and (ii) determination of the Lagrange multipliers functional space used to impose EBC. An attempt to implement the latter resulted in an approximation which is nothing more than the trace on the essential boundary of the domain nodal functions. The difficulties posed by such approximation are explained using the inf-sup condition.

Several examples of global (energy) and local (displacements) quantities of interest and theirs bounds determination are used to demonstrate the validity of the presented meshless approach to dual analysis. Numerical assessment of the convergence rates obtained for both models is made, for different polynomial basis degree.

An algorithm for mesh refinement and un-refinement in fast transient dynamics

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:18:29 +0100

A procedure to locally refine and un-refine an unstructured computational grid of four-node quadrilaterals (in 2D) or of eight-node hexahedra (in 3D) is presented. The chosen refinement strategy generates only elements of the same type as their parents, but also produces so-called hanging nodes along non-conforming element-to-element interfaces. Continuity of the solution across such interfaces is enforced strongly by Lagrange multipliers. The element split and un-split algorithm is entirely integer-based. It relies only upon element connectivity and makes no use of nodal coordinates or other real-number quantities. The chosen data structure and the continuous tracking of the nature of each node facilitate the treatment of natural and essential boundary
conditions in adaptivity. A generalization of the concept of neighbor elements allows transport calculations in adaptive fluid calculations. The proposed procedure is tested in structure and fluid wave propagation problems in explicit transient dynamics.

SUPG-based stabilization of Proper Generalized Decompositions for the high-dimensional Advection-Diffusion Equations

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:09:04 +0100

This work is a first attempt to address efficient stabilizations of high dimensional advection–diffusion models encountered in computational physics. When addressing multidimensional models, the use of mesh-based discretization fails because the exponential increase of the number of degrees of freedom related to a multidimensional mesh or grid, and alternative discretization strategies are needed. Separated representations involved in the so-called proper generalized decomposition method are an efficient alternative as proven in our former works; however, the issue related to efficient stabilizations of multidimensional advection–diffusion equations has never been addressed to our knowledge. Thus, this work is aimed at extending some well-experienced stabilization strategies widely used in the solution of 1D, 2D, or 3D advection–diffusion models to models defined in high-dimensional spaces, sometimes involving tens of coordinates.

Computable exact bounds for linear outputs from stabilized solutions of the advection-diffusion-reaction equation

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 14:40:04 +0100

The paper introduces a methodology to compute strict upper and lower bounds for linear-functional outputs of the exact solutions of the advection-reaction-diffusion equation. The bounds are computed using implicit a-posteriori error estimators from stabilized finite element approximations of the exact solution. A new methodology is introduced, based in the ideas presented in [1] for the Galerkin formulation, that allows obtaining bounds also for stabilized formulations. This methodology is combined with both hybrid-flux and flux-free techniques for error assessment. The application to stabilized formulations provides sharper estimates than when applied to Galerkin methods. The best results are found in combination with the fluxfree technique.

Statistical behavior of the orthogonal subgrid scale stabilization terms in the finite element large eddy simulation of turbulent flows

María Jesús Samper — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 13:54:27 +0200

Abstract Numerical simulations have proved that Variational Multiscale Methods (VMM) perform well as pure numerical large eddy simulation (LES) models. In this paper we focus on the orthogonal subgrid scale (OSS) finite element method and make an analysis of the statistical behavior of its stabilization terms in the quasi static approximation. This is done by resorting to results from classical statistical fluid mechanics concerning two point velocity, pressure and combined correlation functions of various orders. Given a fine enough mesh with characteristic element size h in the inertial subrange of a turbulent flow, it is shown that the rate of transfer of subgrid kinetic energy provided by the OSS stabilization terms does not depend on h and that it equals the molecular physical dissipation rate (up to a dimensionless constant that only depends on the finite element shapes) for a proper redesign of the standard parameters of the formulation. This is a noteworthy fact taking into account that the subgrid stabilization terms do not arise from physical considerations, but from the mathematical necessity to allow equal interpolation for the pressure and velocity fields, as well as to control convection. Therefore, the obtained results contribute somehow to the line of reasoning supporting that pure numerical approaches (i.e., without introducing additional physical models) could probably suffice in the LES simulation of turbulent flows

On the design of discontinuous Galerkin methods for elliptic problems based on hybrid formulations

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:09:06 +0200

The objective of this paper is to present a new framework for the design of discontinuous Galerkin (dG) methods for elliptic problems. The idea is to start from a hybrid formulation of the problem involving as unknowns the main field in the interior of the element domains and its fluxes and traces on the element boundaries. Rather than working with this three-field formulation, fluxes are modeled using finite difference expressions and then the traces are determined by imposing continuity of fluxes, although other strategies could be devised. This procedure is applied to four elliptic problems, namely, the convection–diffusion equation (in the diffusion dominated regime), the Stokes problem, the Darcy problem and the Maxwell problem. We justify some well known dG methods with some modifications that in fact allow to improve the performance of the original methods, particularly when the physical properties are discontinuous.

Immersed stress method for fluid structure interaction using anisotropic mesh adaption

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 13:57:49 +0200

This paper presents advancements toward a monolithic solution procedure and anisotropic mesh adaptation for the numerical solution of fluid–structure interaction with complex geometry. First, a new stabilized three‐field stress, velocity, and pressure finite element formulation is presented for modeling the interaction between the fluid (laminar or turbulent) and the rigid body. The presence of the structure will be taken into account by means of an extra stress in the Navier–Stokes equations. The system is solved using a finite element variational multiscale method. We combine this method with anisotropic mesh adaptation to ensure an accurate capturing of the discontinuities at the fluid–solid interface. We assess the behavior and accuracy of the proposed formulation in the simulation of 2D and 3D time‐dependent numerical examples such as the flow past a circular cylinder and turbulent flows behind an immersed helicopter in a forward flight.

Anisotropic adaptive meshing and monolithic variational multiscale method for fluid-structure interaction

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 13:52:42 +0200

This paper presents a monolithic formulation framework combined with an anisotropic mesh adaptation for fluid–structure interaction (FSI) applications with complex geometry. The fluid–solid interfaces are captured using a level-set method. A new a posteriori error estimate, based on the length distribution tensor approach and the associated edge based error analysis, is then used to ensure an accurate capturing of the discontinuities at the fluid–solid interface. It enables to calculate a stretching factor providing a new edge length distribution, its associated tensor and the corresponding metric. The optimal stretching factor field is obtained by solving an optimization problem under the constraint of a fixed number of edges in the mesh. The presence of the structure will be taken into account by means of an extra stress tensor in the Navier–Stokes equations. The system is solved using a stabilized three-field, stress, velocity and pressure finite element (FE) formulation. It consists in the decomposition for both the velocity and the pressure fields into coarse/resolved scales and fine/unresolved scales and also in the efficient enrichment of the extra constraint. We assess the accuracy of the proposed formulation by simulating 2D and 3D time-dependent numerical examples such as: falling disk in a channel, turbulent flows behind an airfoil profile and flow behind an immersed vehicle.

A variational multiscale method with subscales on the element boundaries for the Helmholtz equation

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 13:43:52 +0200

In this paper, we apply the variational multiscale method with subgrid scales on the element boundaries to the problem of solving the Helmholtz equation with low‐order finite elements. The expression for the subscales is obtained by imposing the continuity of fluxes across the interelement boundaries. The stabilization parameter is determined by performing a dispersion analysis, yielding the optimal values for the different discretizations and finite element mesh configurations. The performance of the method is compared with that of the standard Galerkin method and the classical Galerkin least‐squares method with very satisfactory results. Some numerical examples illustrate the behavior of the method.

On unconditionally convergent stabilized finite element approximation of resistive magnetohydrodynamics

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 13:39:47 +0200

In this work, we propose a new stabilized finite element formulation for the approximation of the resistive magnetohydrodynamics equations. The novelty of this formulation is the fact that it always converges to the physical solution, even for singular ones. A detailed set of numerical experiments have been performed in order to validate our approach.

The Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM). An effective numerical technique for solving marine, naval and harbour engineering problems

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 22 May 2019 13:08:24 +0200

We present some developments in the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) for the solution of complex coupled problems in marine, naval and harbour engineering involving fluid-soil-structure interaction (FSSI). The PFEM uses an updated Lagrangian description to model the motion of nodes (particles) in a continuum domain containing fluid, soil/rock and structures subdomains. A mesh connects the nodes defining the discretized domain where the governing equations for each of the constituent materials are solved with the FEM. The stabilization for dealing with an incompressibility material is introduced via the finite calculus (FIC) method. An incremental iterative scheme for solving the non linear transient FSSI problem is described. The procedure to model frictional contact conditions and material erosion at fluid-solid and solid-solid interfaces is described. We present examples of application of the PFEM to solve FSSI problems in marine, naval and harbour engineering such as the motion of rocks by water streams, the stability of breakwaters and constructions under sea waves, the sinking of ships and the collision of a ship with ice blocks.

Modelling and simulation of the sea-landing of aerial vehicles using the Particle Finite Element Method

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 11:00:44 +0200

In this paper the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) is applied to the simulation of the sea-landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The problem of interest consists in modelling the impact of the vehicle against the water surface, analyzing the main kinematic and dynamic quantities (such as loads exerted upon the capsule at the moment of the impact). The PFEM, a methodology well-suited for free-surface flow simulation is used for modelling the water while a rigid body model is chosen for the vehicle. The vehicle under consideration is characterized by low weight. This leads to difficulties in modelling the fluid–structure interaction using standard Dirichlet–Neumann coupling. We apply a modified partitioned strategy introducing the interface Laplacian into the pressure Poisson's equation for obtaining a convergent FSI solution. The paper concludes with an industrial example of a vehicle sea-landing modelled using PFEM.

A numerical model of delamination in composite laminated beams using the LRZ beam element based on the refined zigzag theory

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:50:56 +0200

A method based on the Refined Zigzag Theory (RZT) to model delamination in composite laminated beam structures is presented. The novelty of this method is the use of one-dimensional finite elements to discretize the geometry of the beam. The key property of this beam element, named LRZ, is the possibility to capture the relative displacement between consecutive layers which occurs during delamination. The fracture mode that the LRZ element is capable to predict is mode II. In order to capture the relative displacement using the LRZ element it is necessary to adapt the RZT theory as presented in this paper. The mechanical properties of the layers are modeled using a continuum isotropic damage model. The modified Newton–Raphson method is used for solving the non-linear problem.

The RZT theory, the LRZ finite element and the isotropic damage model are described in the paper. Also, the implicit integrations algorithm is presented. The performance of the LRZ element is analyzed by studying the delamination in a beam for two different laminates, using the plane stress solution as a reference.

Robust design optimisation of advance hybrid (fiber-metal) composite structures

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:45:00 +0200

Hybrid Composite Structures (HCSs) are consisting of alternating layers of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer and metal sheets. Mechanical properties and responses for off-design conditions of HCSs can be improved using an innovative methodology coupling Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm and robust design method. The concept of robust design approach ensures that a structure will be tolerant to unexpected loading and operating conditions. In this paper, two applications are considered; the first is to maximise the stiffness of the HCS while minimising its total weight through a Multi-Objective Design Optimisation. The second application considers a Robust Multi-Objective Design Optimisation (RMDO) to minimise total weight of HCS and to minimise both, the normalised mean displacement and the standard deviations of displacement, considering critical load cases. For the optimisation process, a distributed/parallel Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm in robust multi-objective optimisation platform is used and it is coupled to a Finite Element Analysis based composite structure analysis tool to find the optimal combination of laminates sequences for HCSs. Numerical results show the advantages in mechanical properties of HCS over the metal structures, and also the use of RMDO methodology to obtain higher characteristics of HCS in terms of mechanical properties and its stability at the variability of load cases.

Multi-objective aerodynamic shape optimization using MOGA coupled to advanced adaptive mesh refinement

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 12:20:04 +0200

This paper demonstrates the big influence of the control of the mesh quality in the final solution of aerodynamic shape optimization problems. It aims to study the trade-off between the mesh refinement during the optimization process and the improvement of the optimized solution. This subject is investigated in the transonic airfoil design optimization using an Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) technique coupled to Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) and an Euler aerodynamic analysis tool. The methodology is implemented to solve three practical design problems; the first test case considers a reconstruction design optimization that minimizes the pressure error between a predefined pressure curve and candidate pressure distribution. The second test considers the total drag minimization by designing airfoil shape operating at transonic speeds. For the final test case, a multi-objective design optimization is conducted to maximize both the lift to drag ratio (L/D) and lift coefficient (Cl). The solutions obtained with and without adaptive mesh refinement are compared in terms of solution improvement and computational cost. Numerical results clearly show that the use of adaptive mesh refinement can improve the solution accuracy while reducing significant computational cost in both single- and multi-objective design optimizations.

An efficient edge‐based level set finite element method for free surface flow problems

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 12:15:29 +0200

We present an efficient technique for the solution of free surface flow problems using level set and a parallel edge‐based finite element method. An unstructured semi‐explicit solution scheme is proposed. A custom data structure, obtained by blending node‐based and edge‐based approaches is presented so to allow a good parallel performance. In addition to standard velocity extrapolation (for the convection of the level set function), an explicit extrapolation of the pressure field is performed in order to impose both the pressure boundary condition and the volume conservation. The latter is also improved with a modification of the divergence free constrain. The method is shown to allow an efficient solution of both simple benchmark cases and complex industrial examples

Robust active shock control bump design optimisation using hybrid parallel MOGA

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 12:10:51 +0200

The paper investigates a robust optimisation for detail design of active shock control bump on a transonic Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) aerofoil using a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) coupled to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFDs) software. For MOEA, Robust Multi-Objective Optimisation Platform (RMOP) developed at CIMNE is used. For the active shock control bump design, two different optimisation methods are considered; the first method is a Pareto-Game based Genetic Algorithm in RMOP (denoted as RMOGA). The second method uses a Hybridised RMOGA with Game-Strategies and a parallel computation for high performance computation. Numerical results show not only how the concept of Shock Control Bump (SCB) coupled to CFD can improve aerodynamic performance of classic transonic aerofoil at the variability of flight conditions but also how high performance (parallel/distributed) computation with applying Hybrid-Game increases the efficiency of optimisation in terms of computational cost and results accuracy

International collaboration in science: the global map and the network

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:05:53 +0200

The network of international co-authorship relations has been dominated by certain European nations and the USA, but this network is rapidly expanding at the global level. Between 40 and 50 countries appear in the center of the international network in 2011, and almost all (201) nations are nowadays involved in international collaboration. In this brief communication, we present both a global map with the functionality of a Google Map (zooming, etc.) and network maps based on nor malized relations. These maps reveal complementary aspects of the network. International collaboration in the generation of knowledge claims (that is, the context of discovery) changes the structural layering of the sciences. Previously, validation was at the global level and discovery more dependent on local contexts. This changing relationship between the geographical and intellectual dimensions of the sciences also has implications for national science policies.

International collaboration in science: the global map and the network

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:05:43 +0200

Geographic information systems for information units

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:05:33 +0200

The aim of the paper is to serve as a gateway to the world of geographic information systems (GIS), seen as technologies t support decision-making services in libraries and information units. Through the review of various projects that make use of GIS technologies in libraries, the concept of GIS and its synergies with information units is introduced. Finally, the paper points out different contexts and situations, in relation to information units, in which GIS could be used to improve services and products by information professionals.

Conceptual design and requirements specification for the development and redesign of websites

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:05:21 +0200

Website requirements specification (WRS) is a document that describes the characteristics expected of a web site to be developed or modified, in order to ensure compliance. This is particularly important when site development is outsourced. This paper analyzes in detail the procedure for processing, structure and validation, with special attention to the functional requirements of a website.

The utility and validity of bibliographies and their absence in the digital world

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:05:10 +0200

In this paper we analyze the importance and validity of bibliographies for various studies (textual criticism, sociological, historical, etc.). Because the Tipobibliografía Española project is not published in digital format, we emphasize that the main automated rules and standards of description are useless for this purpose.

Paper and its multimedia possibilities in the library

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:57 +0200

The Internet, the new mobile devices and cloud storage are changing the way in which people deal with information; we still need great storage capacity and information readers but we also value ubiquity and data synchronization between the different devices that we are using. Access has become more important than storage. The web as a tool is leading to the obsolescence of digital media that are just 20 years old and boosts the multimedia possibilities of paper, an analog medium that facilitates the relationship between people and mobile devices. We go through some of the experiences carried out in the Muskiz public library exploring the new multimedia possibilities of paper.

Information technology services management: a value-added applied model based on ITIL and ISO/ IEC 20000

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:46 +0200

Description of a management indicators model for information technology (IT) services provided to an organization, based on tangible and intangible management indicators obtained from the 13 processes that make up the ISO/IEC 20000 and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (IT management framework references). The model has been empirically tested on more than 90 IT services provided by the Internal Systems Division of Indra to the organization. The results obtained show once again that to add value to an organization, its IT services must efficiently manage equipment availability, continuity and capacity and control changes, both to improve the response time of incident resolution and to ensure customer satisfaction.

Recurrent topics in guidelines for the use of social networks by journalists

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:37 +0200

Mainstream media all over the world have been regulating the behavior of their journalists in social media, fearing these new forms of communications might damage the credibility of their institutions. Those who have not yet done so face with concern this unstoppable challenge and are now outlining their own guidelines for social media policies. In an effort to inspire the design of these new policies, this paper aims to approach the recurring topics in the policies already written by leading media such as AP, American Society of News Editors (ASNE), BBC, Bloomberg, Charlotte observer, Freedom communication, Los Angeles times, NPR, Orlando sentinel, Politico, Reuters, Rockford register star,Saint Louis post-dispatch, Source media group, The Denver post, The guardian, The journal gazette, The Manhattan Mercury, The New York times, The Roanoke times, The Wall Street journaly The Washington post. A qualitative content analysis of 22 of these policies has been conducted to identify these topics.

Fusion, copublication or restructuring research journals in the humanities and social sciences

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:27 +0200

This paper analyzes the weaknesses of the Humanities and Social Sciences journal publishing sector in Spain. A high percentage of these journals are published by universities and often as a result of the effort of a small team (e.g., professional association, department, research group). They often have very low numbers of papers published per year, limited impact, and inefficient management, and may find it difficult to overcome a certain image of inbreeding. Against this dominant model, the authors propose the merger, co-publishing or restructuring of current journals to improve their management and achieve greater national and international recognition.

Hedonic and multicultural factors in product design that improve the user experience

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:16 +0200

In a world where the use of electronic communication and information systems is constantly expanding, a good user experience becomes a decisive factor for the success of a product in increasingly saturated and competitive markets. Ensuring the success of a product such as a website or a mobile application is not trivial as plenty of factors may have an influence on determining the adequacy of the experience for a given group of users. This paper uses real examples to study the concept of user experience, dealing in depth with the different factors which influence the ultimate success of a product, as well as how they must be taken into account while designing and managing interactive information systems. We also discuss the way they are supported by the different standards to improve user experience.

Proactivity and context-awareness: future of recommender systems design

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:04:02 +0200

In the current techno-social environment the importance of providing personalized content for users of social platforms, continually adapting to their needs, is key to the success of the existing platforms. Recommender systems play a crucial role in this regard, but in many cases the level of customization provided is not enough. This article discusses two key aspects related to the development of recommender systems: proactivity and context-awareness. We propose a theoretical reference model for the creation of proactive recommender systems based on context-awareness information. In addition, we check its feasibility in two real-world scenarios where the model has been successfully implemented: banking and personal learning networks. Finally, future courses of action following the contributions proposed are highlighted, with special attention to potential applications in educational environments.

From clay tablets to digital tablets: the evolution of emagazines

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:03:49 +0200

The text analyses the emergence of digital publications designed for the new portable devices with touchscreen. If in the last 30 years the universe of written text went through a mutation from paper to screens, now we are seeing a further stage of this process that recombines these interfaces, the old devices dialogue with the new ones and texts reside in new ‘species’ of hybrid media. The arrival of the emagazines is analysed from a perspective that integrates semiotics of interfaces and media ecology.

Digital media and the transformation of content industries

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:03:36 +0200

In media and content industries, the main effect of digitization has been a radical transformation of information formats and displays. In fact, these formats and displays are responsible for the shifting perceptions of users-consumers concerning how they relate and interact with information. However, in spite of its considerable relevance, the bidirectional relationship between formats/displays and users has been seldom studied. This brief paper presents an overview of the evolution of displays and devices in some key media and content subsectors -publishing and distribution of books and newspapers- with the main objective of hinting at the next steps in their evolution.

ESCO ranking of advertising agencies: description and results

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:03:23 +0200

This paper presents and describes the ESCO Ranking of advertising agencies . The objective of this tool is to assess the quality of the agencies, based on their creative products and a rigorous evaluation of the various prizes received and the prestige of the festivals that granted them. For that purpose, festivals were classified into 4 categories based on their national and international importance and a sample was selected. A two-year period was considered for the ranking to ensure a balance of continuity and of innovation in each edition. This work aims at covering a gap in Spain as compared with other countries by providing not only a classification of the best advertising agencies but also an analysis of the advertising industry in Spain. The results of the 2012 edition include 197 agencies, 611 advertisements and 359 advertisers.

Review of Spanish scientific journals research on digital advertising

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:03:11 +0200

This article is a review of the state of the art on digital advertising in major journals in Spain since 2002. The objective is to determine what issues are the most discussed and the theoretical and practical contributions made by the authors. It draws on the work of Louisa Ha (2008), a state-of-the-art on digital advertising studies published in major journals. Our starting point is all journals included in the In-Recs Spanish communication area journals ranking. The studies are categorized according to their scientific analysis into seven categories: attitude towards online advertising, internet as an ad medium; interactivity in online advertising, online ad processing and execution, audience measurement, online/offline advertising synergies and online advertising education.

Nexus: a system to facilitate the dissemination of information in academic libraries

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:03:02 +0200

With the objective of achieving greater visibility for the research and scholarly contributions generated by members of the university community, the development of a content management system (cms) is proposed that would work with the Semantically-interlinked online communities (Sioc) initiative, managed within the academic library. This enables interoperability between the information systems of the library and the dissemination of information in social networks. Nexus is a tool that facilitates interaction between researchers and academics using microformats and Drupal as a cms. This paper explains the features of the service, its nodes and modules, and the services offered under the philosophy of linked data.

An approach to progressive librarianship

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:02:50 +0200

For many Spanish-speaking librarians, the so-called “progressive librarianship” has been the first step in approaching a particular way of understanding library and information sciences generically known as “social librarianship”. Despite the abundance of information on the aims and activities of progressive librarianship, few efforts have been made to define this way of framing the thought and action related to librarianship. This essay attempts to provide some guidance as to what it is and what it does.

Embedded librarians in university education

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:02:40 +0200

Overview of educational roles of the embedded librarians, based on collaboration and building relationships with the faculty. The concept, functions and models of embedding librarians in learning environments are defined. It is concluded that embedding activities are a good model to empower the library in higher education and legitimate its participation in teaching activities.

Digital preservation and distribution of the Educación y biblioteca journal by the University of Salamanca’s Gredos repository

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:02:28 +0200

Gredos, the institutional repository of Salamanca University, offers full-text open access to the Educación y biblioteca (Education and the library) journal. The origins and goals of the digitization project and of placing the journal in the repository are described, along with the methodology and processes used to carry out the project. This has ensured the journal’s longterm preservation and dissemination of its contents. Owing to the interoperability of the Gredos repository, Educación y biblioteca is available through portals including Hispana, Europeana, OAIster / WorldCat and BASE. Although the journal is no longer published, its content remains constantly available.

Educación y biblioteca, a unique professional journal

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:02:17 +0200

The journal Educación y biblioteca (Education and the library) accompanied the Spanish public libraries in the great change that took place over three decades. Since the late 80s of the 20th century, Spanish libraries have undergone a process of modernization and engagement with their audiences. Educación y biblioteca encouraged these changes and brought together a stream of librarianship committed to social action by libraries, public service values and the democratization of culture. During its existence, Educación y biblioteca was open to all librarians, who used it as a forum to discuss projects and share best practices. As a private and independent project it offered a collaborative work experience and networking.

Education without libraries

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:02:08 +0200

Overview of the development of the school library, and the role and educational services of the public library, in the period 1989-2011, the years of existence of the Educación y biblioteca journal (Education and library). School libraries failed to become established in the pre-university context and in 2010 still had no firm structure. There have been and still are experiences and best practices, but the reports published over those two decades show the precariousness of the school library in Spain. Public libraries grew and transformed themselves but failed to develop, or only poorly developed, educational services for citizens no longer pursuing an official education. However, they presented a strong offering across the entire spectrum of sociocultural activities: reading clubs, storytelling, conferences and workshops to train people on the use of new technologies.

Twitter in films communication campaigns

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:59 +0200

Advertising campaigns for film premieres have experienced a cultural, social and technological revolution since the dawn of social networks. Twitter is proposed as a method to study how the box office behaves and how leaders emerge among feature films. This project utilizes the Tengo ganas de ti (“I want you”) case to analyze the use of Twitter in the communication campaign of a Spanish film, focusing on the producer’s and lead actors’ official profiles. Thought leaders unconnected with the production that emerged during the advertising campaign are also investigated. In an effort to understand Twitter as a model for communication campaigns, the official profiles of four films are analyzed: Tengo ganas de ti, Impávido, Lobos de Arga and Els nens salvatges.

User experience in connected TV: a user study

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:48 +0200

Methodology and results of a user study on several connected TV devices is presented. Heuristic evaluation, user testing and eye tracker are applied. The results point out a low usability in the tasks that require keyboard and those related to the video on demand service (VoD). These latter tasks have been analysed in depth with eye tracker technology in the device that follows the HbbTV protocol.

Rhetoric at the service of users: analysis of reader comments of Elpaís.com, Abc.es and Lavanguardia. es

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:40 +0200

The use of rhetoric as the “art of persuasion” in discourse (Eco, 1974) has been the subject of reflection and study. As applied to informative communication, Gomis (1994) shows how journalism develops and operates its own rhetoric. With the arrival of the Internet and specifically with the opening of public communication to the average citizen, the use of participation as a rhetorical resource gains prominence and at the same time users add the rhetorical uses to their contributions. This article focuses on user comments in the front page of ElPaís.com, Abc.es and Lavanguardia.es with two objectives: to detect patterns of participation (in reference to the volume and to the presence of popular topics that generate a greater number of contributions) and to observe the rhetorical uses that are included in the comments of the readers to determine the predominant kind of participation.

School libraries: rising in value?

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:31 +0200

Survey data from a 2011 study on school libraries, comparing the results to the 2005 survey. The satisfaction reported by management teams, teachers, students and library managers is analyzed. Compared to 2005, management teams, teachers and library managers were more satisfied, although the latter provided the most criticism. Most students reported satisfaction at all levels and in all aspects analyzed.

Merging education and libraries: the evolution of a permanent challenge

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:19 +0200

An assessment is made of educational services provided by school, public and university libraries in Spain. Opportunities and challenges to increase the involvement and support of librarians at the various educational levels are identified. Aspects such as the need for change in the teaching culture and the integration of libraries in e-learning are highlighted.

The new Highly cited researchers list from Thomson Reuters and the Shanghai Ranking: Spain’s position and university map

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:09 +0200

One of the products of Thomson-Reuters is the list of highly cited researchers, which became more important when it was incorporated into the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities. Scores on the Shanghai Ranking HiCi indicator are related to the number of highly cited researchers (HCR) by university. In the 2013 edition, methodological changes have been made in listing highly cited authors. The main aim of this paper is to analyze these changes and the new HCR distribution by country. The paper also lists the new HCR from Spain. At the national level, Spain increased its global representation to 2.52% and at the institutional level 23 universities are scored on the HiCi indicator, helping to configure a new map of research excellence. The paper concludes with a preliminary assessment of the impact of the new lists on the position of Spain’s universities in the Shanghai ranking.

Open data and data repositories: a new challenge for librarians

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:01:00 +0200

The concept of open data, which demands that many more conditions be met than simple internet accessability in any format, is analyzed. Some examples are given about the importance of open data repositories in efforts to promote transparency in science and avoid scientific fraud. Some of the main problems in the management of data repositories are discussed.

Situation report on Spanish public libraries in 2012

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00:51 +0200

In 2012 Spanish libraries were still affected by the economic crisis, as indicated by the negative trends observed in published statistical data. Simultaneously, the data show that libraries are one of the most valued public services. Although budget constraints do not allow to take advantage of new media and technology tools, such as e-book or mobile applications, there is evidence of considerable effort by Spanish library professionals to make libraries places to meet, read, inform and learn, which increased the activities offered and the number of people visiting the library.

Digital scene 2.0, repository of the Museum of the Performing Arts (MAE)

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00:38 +0200

Libraries, archives and museums are increasingly committed to making their resources available through online digital repositories. However, progress in this area has been stalled for years, both in the functional design arena and in the relevant technology. Now, a group of universities with a long tradition in this area has created the Hydra Project: a framework that allows each institution to create their own repository and provides all needed utilities. This article describes the experience of the Documentation Centre and Museum of the Performing Arts, one of the first European partners to opt for this new generation of repositories, when faced with this challenge. It aims to explain what was done and how, the problems encountered, the mistakes and successes, and finally, the conclusions that can be drawn from the whole process.

Documentary resource management in Artium

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00:29 +0200

Aware of the need for the optimal management of documentary resources to help us fulfil the goals set by the museum, we are presenting the work being undertaken in this direction by the Artium Library and Documentation Centre. An overview is provided on bibliographic heritage management, digital content creation through DokuArt and the creation of sound archives and museum activity.

Documentation and access to collections and libraries of Spain’s State Museums

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00:18 +0200

The Office of State Museums of the Education, Culture and Sports Department has developed a number of strategies in order to improve the technical documentary processing of museum collections and their visibility on the internet.

Improving Europeana search results: the Assets project

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:00:08 +0200

Since its launch several years ago, Europeana has continued to improve the quantity and quality of its content, attempting to offer new services and differentiate itself from the more popular search engines. The Assets project has contributed to this goal by developing innovative content-based search technologies and services, improving existing functionality, and designing more user-friendly interfaces. This paper describes in detail some of the new services that were implemented in a replica of the Europeana website. A user evaluation process was conducted in several European countries, with a total of 51 usability tests performed. The results reveal the benefits and drawbacks of the portal. The identified problems were systematically prioritized. In the final phase of the project, a redesign resolved 74% of all usability incidents. The result is a number of features that enhance the original Europeana portal, giving the user more and better search tools.

Use of 3D technologies in high patrimonial value document digitalization and dissemination

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:57 +0200

We analyze the limitations of two-dimensional (2D) raster digital images for graphic representation of documents with volume or three-dimensional (3D) elements, proposing a visual model based on 3D techniques that complements the visual information conveyed by the 2D raster images that are usually offered in digital archives or library services. The proposed model concurrently applies stereoscopic photography techniques, reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) and 3D models obtained by structure for motion (SfM) procedures.

Strategic management of museum publics. From identification to communication

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:45 +0200

The current social and cultural environment requires museums to adopt new models of management that include the need to communicate effectively with diverse publics considered important for the development of their activity. The aim of this paper is assess the coherence between the importance assigned to strategic publics and the way museums communicate with them. The study was done on a wide sample (111 entities) of museums in Catalonia. The results indicate consistency with only a few groups, suggesting that museums are still in an early stage of adopting any new models, but a trend towards broadening the scope to include groups of interest other than museum visitors.

Space as a filter. Accessing online museums’ content

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:36 +0200

The online museum has been defined since its early days as a place devoid of spatial references. However, institutional communication and content mediation in museum websites is commonly linked to the museum’s physical space. This connection produces a mismatch due to a lack of correlation between the physical museum’s topology and the Net hypermedia system. Consequently, access to museographic online information is mostly laid out in taxonomic structures, typical of gallery cataloguing systems, rather than syntagmatic structures, inherent to online exploration. Furthermore, the profusion of online references to the museum’s architectural structure help to consolidate the museum’s physical space as a model for the online discourse, as well as to restore the museum’s building as an identity symbol, a value blurred by virtuality.

Poets in times of misery: limits and challenges of museum documentary services

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:27 +0200

In museums, the scope of documentation must be extended through the concept of documentary services: libraries, archives and services of documentation have to work together to achieve a better knowledge and diffusion of the collections of each museum. If libraries have an uncertain future, archives can play an important role in the future of the institution. Documentary services must be open to everything from internal service to the diffusion of all bibliographic, documentary and artistic collections using the most recent means available, such as those proposed for the semantic web.

Uneix, the interuniversity information system of Catalonia

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:18 +0200

Uneix, the information system that integrates the management data of twelve Catalonian universities, is described. It tracks needs, resources and results in numerous categories: faculty, staff, programs of study, students, job market for recent graduates, costs, etc. The system is based on three design elements: cooperation, data reliability (with strict quality control), and wealth of information that fits the needs of many user types.

cybermedia economics: revenue model and sources of financing

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:59:06 +0200

The paper proposes an approach to the study of the economics of cybermedia, with the aim of describing the structure and economic logic of communications and cultural industries on the Internet. Given the breadth of the subject, the article analyzes the economics of cybermedia by studying the competitive model of the industry, describing the main actors involved in this market and analysing the business and financing model of cybermedia, with a focus on revenue structure.

cybermedia economics: revenue model and sources of financing

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:58 +0200

Information as an economic good: some thoughts on the 2008 financial crisis

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:50 +0200

Information is a key economic resource. Its proper conceptualization, as well as its practical integration in socioeconomic environment, poses several questions and follows general premises. These are reviewed, and once this framework is estab lished it is illustrated with an informational analysis of the 2008 financial crisis, including remarks on changes in the financial system information environment that affected stakeholders’ information behaviour and decision making.

Information in the knowledge economy: challenges and opportunities for Spain

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:41 +0200

Based on the concept of information, we begin with a brief review of the definition of the knowledge economy. There are two lines of evaluating the knowledge economy: the first is based on the use of summary indicators in a model with four pillars: regulatory environment, education, ICT infrastructure and innovation; the second is more quantitative, using economic techniques of accounting knowledge. We then defend the use of an existing international summary indicator that provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities for the generation and use of knowledge in Spain, enhanced by the results of a recent study on the dissemination of knowledge in various productive sectors. After completing the analysis from both perspectives, we obtain some conclusions and recommendations that would enable a more optimal use of knowledge in Spain.

Adding value in times of crisis

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:33 +0200

The viewpoint of an experienced professional on the career paths in the field of library and information science is presented, addressing the trends in recent years and especially the future prospects. The current economic crisis and some of its consequences are taken into account. Given their professional, economic, cultural and social importance, knowledge management and its critical role in innovation processes are proposed as being at the core of the profession’s future.

Communication as a key factor for implementing corporate social responsibility: the case of Crédit Agricole España

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:24 +0200

This paper considers the role of communication in the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a vital management system for achieving advantages and motivation in employees. The paper also highlights the relevant functions assumed by information professionals to overcome communication deficiencies and lack of knowledge about these relatively new areas of responsibility. A case study of Crédit Agricole España (CAE) is presented, with results that highlight the importance of all the communication-related aspects of implementing CSR.

Journalistic interviews and statement texts: a procedure for information analysis and retrieval based on pronominal search modes

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:15 +0200

This study proposes a pragmatic procedure of factual data analysis and retrieval of journalistic interviews and what we call “statement texts”. Journalistic documentation systems do not always offer the precision required to meet the specific demands of their end-users (journalists, historians, teachers, social scientists, general audience), as is the case with factual data. The retrieval of fact-based information is optimized by determing how users will ask for these data, simulating their pronominal searching behaviour, and then transforming those search modes into analytical categories for use by press documentalists. However, such studies should focus on a specific journalistic genre (in this case interviews and “statement texts”) because the conditions and structures of each genre or text type impose different analytical procedures and rules. Nonetheless, the resulting analogies and extrapolations should be carefully studied to improve the accuracy and relevance of the information system’s search results.

Impactrimonio: information technologies applied to assessing the economic impact of culture

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:58:05 +0200

This paper proposes an informational service, Impactrimonio , to assess the economic impact of a particular museum, library, festival or heritage element on the economic development of a particular territory. This service takes on increasing importance in the context of the new development paradigm linked to the Cultural Economy. From the information contained in the input-output tables and the data supplied by the user on various questionnaires, Impactrimonio estimates the direct, indirect and induced effects necessary to quantify the economic impact of the cultural activity.

Socioeconomic uses of ICT related to employment in Europe

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:57 +0200

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are often related to economic and social improvements. They have been associated with job creation as well as increases in the quality of work and remuneration. However, at a macroeconomic level, it is noteworthy that while the digitization process increases, employment and wages are generally deteriorating. Referencing EU-15 data, this article explores some uses of these technologies in relation to unemployment and wages, within an economic context marked by increasing problems of profitability and by the rise of financial markets.

Longitudinal study of the forms of information exchange in Spanish companies

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:49 +0200

The changes that have occurred in the use of digital media in the internal and external organizational communication of Spanish companies are analyzed. Through a longitudinal empirical study of 1.089 Spanish companies (606 in 2002 and 483 in 2012), it explores the types of information distributed inside and outside companies, as well as the media used. There is a special focus on whether more electronic media is used or more classic forms such as meetings in person or telephone contact. The study observed a considerable increase in the use of electronic means but, contrary to what might be expected, it also reveals an increased use of in-person modes of communication.

Personal information: the new currency of the digital economy

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:40 +0200

Technological progress has profoundly changed the way personal data are collected, accessed and used. Those data make possible unprecedented customization of advertising which, in turn, is the business model adopted by many of the most successful Internet companies. Yet measuring the value being generated is still a complex task. This paper presents a review of the literature on this subject. It has been found that the economic analysis of personal information has been conducted up to now from a qualitative perspective mainly linked to privacy issues. A better understanding of a quantitative approach to this topic is urgently needed.

Understanding the economics of culture as a way to overcome the crisis

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:32 +0200

A defence for the need to redefine cultural policies, making them the focus of efforts to end the economic crisis, is presented. Although the intrinsic goal of cultural policy is the satisfaction of citizens’ cultural rights, in most cases even these are not fulfilled. We propose brand new cultural policies that pursue such rights but are also able to lead the transformation of the production model and the achievement of other social goals. The dimensions of the cultural sectors have causal effects on the wealth of European regions. The proposed new policy should recognize intellectual property rights and their economic effects in a new way, facilitate cultural entrepreneurship, democratize the use of the premises and public spaces, and try to understand in more depth the relationship between individuals and cultural facts.

Information services and return on investment: How to calculte it

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:24 +0200

Cultural services, and specifically libraries, must justify to society -and to governments- their social and economic performance. They must prove they are not an expense but rather an investment that yields net benefits with a return on investment (ROI) that in some cases can reach 4.5%. Five methods to calculate the value of library services, and some Spanish initiatives with this purpose, are described. The conclusion is that information services have plenty of annual activity data, but the lack of knowledge about the necessary methodology limits the capacity to exploit these data.

Excellence with leadership: the crown indicator of SCImago Institutions Rankings Iber report

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:16 +0200

Although there are many models for ranking higher education institutions, the SCImago Institutions Rankings methodology stands out for its ability to present quantitative and qualitative indicators of scientific output. Besides Total number of published papers, several indicators are concerned with quality dimensions of published papers, such as International collaboration, Scientific leadership or High quality publications . However, official rankings are provided solely on the basis of one indicator: Output (total number of published papers ). This paper presents a statistical I-distance method that integrates all the indicators into one value, which therefore represent a rank and show which of the input indicators is the most important for the process of ranking. Our results clearly showed that Excellence with Leadership occupies the most significant spot.

Excellence with leadership: the crown indicator of SCImago Institutions Rankings Iber report

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:57:07 +0200

The need for end-user customization of the journal-sets of the subject categories in the Scimago Journal Ranking Database for more appropriate league lists. A case study for the library & information science field

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:56:59 +0200

The open access SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) service -built from data in the subscription-based Elsevier ’s Scopus database- offers bibliographic information and bibliometric indicators for nearly 20,000 journals and other serial publications for 1996-2011. Journals are assigned to 300+ pre-defined subject categories and 26 broad subject areas to produce league lists. The set of 134 journals assigned to the Library and Information Sciences (LIS) subject category and a sample set of 50 other LIS journals, scattered across several other categories, were analyzed in the latest edition (SJR - 2011). Recommendations are made on how SJR could be enhanced by its developers to include simple customization options in the interface to facilitate a more efficient look-up and more valid comparison of the standing of journals and other serials and to reflect the prevailing preferences at the institutions where the rank positions in journal league lists are used to inform career advancement and funding decisions. It is argued that extending the current three-year citation window to five years would be more appropriate for all disciplines, and would also make SJR comparable to metricsbased journal league lists produced from the open access Microsoft Academic Search (MAS ), Google Scholar Metrics for Publications (GSMP ), and Eigenfactor.org (EF) data and the subscription-based Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which pioneered the idea of a metrics-based journal league list.