Scipedia: Documents published in 2015

Fenton's reagent minimum dosage for remediation of water contaminated with dyes

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:11:18 +0200

Effluents from the textile industry not only represent a latent threat to biodiversity on our planet but also to humans due to the pollution generated by industrial dyes. In this study a Fenton process was evaluated for the decoloration of water contaminated with yellow 160, blue 81 and red 190 with an initial concentration of 3300 mg.L-1 and a chemical oxygen demand of 1719 mg.L-1. Changes in pH and molar doses of ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide were evaluated. The Fenton process allowed 99,9% removal of organic matter and 100% removal of turbidity when it worked at pH 3,5 and molar dose Fe+2/ H2O2 between 1:3 and 1:5. By spectrophotometric scanning and measurement of redox potential, it was shown that the quality of decontaminated water resembled the ultrapure water type I.

Chitosan application as a biocoagulant in wastewater contaminated with hydrocarbons

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:11:07 +0200

The environment contamination in Ecuador, done by the production, transport and commercialization of hydrocarbons, requires further research regarding new treatment alternatives that use biodegradable substances. In this study, abdominal shrimp shell waste, Litopenaeus vannamei was used to obtain chitosan and then apply it as a biocoagulant to a wastewater sample contaminated with hydrocarbon products. The produced chitosan was characterised by potentiometric titration, resulting in a deacetylation degree (%DD) of 87.18%– 93.72% and by intrinsic viscosimetry, obtaining an average molecular weight (g/mol) of 5.2x105 –5.4x105. The application of chitosan was done in a jar test, for which a completely randomised factorial design 2k was set, resulting in an evident statistically significant effect for all the factor studied, that is, pH (Initial), chitosan type and agitation method, using the turbidity percentage removal as the response variable. As a result, a pH of 5.5, a 2 mg(Chitosan)/L(sample) and a fast agitation method were applied to a contaminated sample reducing the turbidity in 98.19%, the oxygen chemical demand in 78.17%, color in 91.45% and total petroleum hydrocarbon in 99.09%.

Windows Server 2012 vulnerabilities and security

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:10:56 +0200

This investigation analyses the history of the vulnerabilities of the base system Windows Server 2012 highlighting the most critic vulnerabilities given every 4 months since its creation until the current date of the research. It was organized by the type of vulnerabilities based on the classification of the NIST. Next, given the official vulnerabilities of the system, the authors show how a critical vulnerability is treated by Microsoft in order to countermeasure the security flaw. Then, the authors present the recommended security approaches for Windows Server 2012, which focus on the baseline software given by Microsoft, update, patch and change management, hardening practices and the application of Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS). AD RMS is considered as an important feature since it is able to protect the system even though it is compromised using access lists at a document level. Finally, the investigation of the state of the art related to the security of Windows Server 2012 shows an analysis of solutions given by third parties vendors, which offer security products to secure the base system objective of this study. The recommended solution given by the authors present the security vendor Symantec with its successful features and also characteristics that the authors considered that may have to be improved in future versions of the security solution.

Automated system for load flow prediction in power substations using artificial neural networks

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:10:45 +0200

The load flow is of great importance in assisting the process of decision making and planning of generation, distribution and transmission of electricity. Ignorance of the values in this indicator, as well as their inappropriate prediction, difficult decision making and efficiency of the electricity service, and can cause undesirable situations such as; the on demand, overheating of the components that make up a substation, and incorrect planning processes electricity generation and distribution. Given the need for prediction of flow of electric charge of the substations in Ecuador this research proposes the concept for the development of an automated prediction system employing the use of Artificial Neural Networks.

Integration of management control tools. Analysis of a case study

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

The objective of this article is to design and to implement a procedure that integrates management control tools focusing on process, to improve the efficiency and the efficacy. It was carried out an experimental study where is defined a procedure, based in the Balanced Scorecard, which integrates the process management into the strategic planning and their evaluation. As results of this work, we define the key factors of success associated with the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard that are linked through the cause-effect relations obtaining the strategic map that allows visualizing and communicating the enterprise strategy. The indicators evaluate the key factor of success, integrating the process with the assistance of a software. The implementation of the procedure in a commercialization enterprise contributed to integrate the process definition into the strategic planning. The alignment was evaluated and the efficiency and efficacy indicators improved the company´s performance.

Improving productivity software through the adaptation of an agile development framework

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:10:24 +0200

(Received: 2015/02/20 - Accepted: 2015/06/17)The current research suggests that using of agile methodologies in conjunction with open source software tools can improve productivity, reduce costs and optimize resources in the process of software development, and helps improve user satisfaction due to implementation of excellent quality software. The following analysis shows the most important variables for the successful implementation of IT development projects and their relation with the use of traditional and agile software development methodologies.

Development tools to provide collaboration in Software Engineering

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:10:15 +0200

(Received: 2015/4/30 - Accepted: 2015/06/08)Software development is an activity, inherently collaborative; usually development teams have members located in different places, talking different languages and with another culture. Therefore, knowledge about helping tools is necessary. These tools could be helpful in the whole process of software development, and mainly in the coding stage. This paper shows new perspectives in collaborative software development, its relevance; then, shows a set of important tools. They include plugins and web-based tools. A set of important features and a comparison are shown. This information would be helpful if you are thinking about build or use one.

Association rules in computing the use of books in a university library

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:10:06 +0200

(Received: 2015/03/18 - Accepted: 2015/05/29)This work recreates a proposal to evaluate the usage of different books categories in a university library. The model employs a mechanism to carry out usage statistics and a mechanism to carry out discovering association rules, from use data stored in the library system. Usage statistics are computed based on the degree of importance, or relevance, with respect to an area of knowledge, and association rules provide support to determine the final use of the various categories. In the process we take into account that stored data correspond to books requested on loan, renewal or consultation. The study presents knowledge discovery in data, aiming to enhance the management of a university library

Empirical approach for single attributes sampling plans design under normal inspection based on standards COVENIN 3133-1:2001 and MIL-STD-105E

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:09:53 +0200

(Received: 2015/05/02 - Accepted: 2015/06/11)An empirical rule is proposed for determining the sample size n to be taken depending on the lot produced size N for a single attributes sampling under normal inspection based on the standards COVENIN 3133-1: 2001 and MIL-STD-105E; also, the acceptance number c for a given level of acceptable quality was calculated, and the corresponding operating characteristic curves were constructed. Two potential regression equations were obtained for calculation of sample size to fit R2 of 99.91% and 99.38% for lot sizes N≤666 and N>666, respectively, in addition, a sampling plan was designed for a lot size of 176,000 units with an acceptable level of quality of 0.65% defectives units. The proposed sampling plan presented a smaller sample size (n=560) than the standard (n=800), with operating characteristic curve very similar to the closest sampling plan recommended by the standard (n=500). The application of the empirical approach is recommended for the design of cheaper sampling plans which in turn are consonant with the rules COVENIN 3133-1: 2001 and MIL-STD-105E

Using plukenetia volubilis (sacha inchi) to improve the nutritional components of burger

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:09:42 +0200

(Received: 2015/03/18 - Accepted: 2015/05/27)Three levels of paste Plukenetia volubilis (Sacha Inchi) consisting of 10, 15% and 20% were evaluated to replace the weight percent lard conventionally used to improve the nutritional quality of the common hamburger, compared with a reference group. The experimental units were 10 burgers, weighing 100 g. each and a total of 120 were analyzed in a completely randomized design with three replications. The research was conducted in the Universidad Estatal Amazónica and bromatológics and microbiological analyzes to determine the quality of the raw material and products are made in laboratory of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the Universidad Central del Ecuador. As supplements sensory tests and studies Benefit / Cost performed. The results show the variation of 10% pulp Sacha Inchi as the most recommended for use in industry.

Implementation of laboratory practice with minimal cost

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:09:29 +0200

(Received: 2015/05/04 - Accepted: 2015/06/15)In this work is reported an initiative to implement 24 assembly laboratories for General Physics, Applied Physics and Heat and Electromagnetism, in the premises of the Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial (Santo Domingo, Ecuador). For this purpose three student memoires where designed and performed with unused, stored equipment, plus some additional material coming from students contribution. Each practice was set up and validated for teaching purposes with the methods of calculation errors and linear regression. This work saved the institution $16,369.57 compared with the cost of buying a commercial set for the laboratory.

Prediction of operational variables involved in the Production Process of Crude Oil by Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:09:18 +0200

(Received: 2015/04/16 - Accepted: 2015/05/29)This paper presents the oil deposit and operational variables that influence the implementation of the Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) process for the Production of Heavy and Extra-heavy Crude Oil. This process consists of drilling two parallel horizontal wells, one above the other, where the upper well is used for steam injection and the lower well is used for production. The efficiency of the process is greatly affected by the deposit and operating parameters (vertical spacing of wells, injection pressure, preheating period, among others). Furthermore, the prediction of the maximum rate of oil extraction was determined using an example with currently available real data of Block 20 of the Pungarayacu Field.

Sick building syndrome in blocks of an academic institution of higher education

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:09:08 +0200

(Received: 2015/04/28 - Accepted: 2015/06/17)This research focusses on characterizing the sick building syndrome (SBS) on three buildings of the Engineering Sciences Faculty, at the Occidental Campus of the Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial. By means of a comparative analysis between the prevalence result obtained within the research work and a comparison with the allowable levels according to NTP290 Spanish Code, determination was made that, in effect SBS exists in the studied buildings. The physical risk questionnaire was applied to the universe of studied people (N=64). Based on the results and in accordance to the prevalence appraisal, a proposal was formulated for the remediation of the involved working conditions on the studied buildings. This research will serve as an institutional reference for the building quality indicator of the University facilities and also for future researches.

Determinants of exposure to particulate matter in textiles

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:56 +0200

(Received: 2015/05/11 - Accepted: 2015/06/03)The objective of the research was to determine the exposure to particulate material in the textil area of a manufacturing company of linens and duvets, where it is carried out measurements of particulate material in respirable fraction 2.5 μg/m3. The same were made through the use of the equipment of direct reading and the results are compared with the value set limit. The study found that in the operation with the overlock machines is where there is a greater amount of particulate matter getting the maximum value in the entire production plant of 244 μg/m³, and a lower value machine in the bender with a value of 9 μg/m³ During the course of the investigation, it wanted to know the perception of the employees, to do this a survey was administered in a manner that takes first-hand the opinion with regard to the work. Among the results is that the staff is aware that there is particulate matter and if you have had respiratory complaints, indicate that the organization presents a great deal of commitment to the security and they also are involved in the tasks.

Effect of replacing pork backfat with avocado oil on the quality of chicken sausages "Swiss type"

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:44 +0200

(Received: 2015/01/27 - Accepted: 2015/03/27)A kind of chicken sausage “Swiss type” was developed with avocado oil content to replace all fat from pork back fat in its formulation. Analysis of lipid profile for pork back fat reported: SFA 35.45 %; MUFA 41.95 %; PUFA 20.71 %. For avocado oil: SFA 18.66 %; MUFA 68.37 %; PUFA 12.19 % . Treatments used which corresponding to the percentages of avocado oil content as a substitute for pork back fat in their formulation were: T1 = 50 %, T2 = 75 %, T3 = 100 %. Sensory acceptability of treatments was performed. There were no statistically significant differences. Treatment T3 with highest score was chosen as the best treatment. Physicochemical and microbiological characterization was performed for T3 treatment and for a treatment which didn’t have in its formulation avocado oil, T0 treatment. T0. Protein was 13.23% in T0 and 12.56% in T3. Total fat, SFA and PUFA in T3 were reduced in 3.7%, 5.24% and 2.53% respectively. MUFA showed an increase of 3.51% in T3. Trans acids was 0% for both treatments. The results obtained were located within the acceptable range established in the NTE (INEN) 1338:12.

Diagnostic of enteric indicators in coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and parsley (Petroselinum sativum) sold at popular food markets in Quito

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:33 +0200

(Received: 2015/01/20 - Accepted: 2015/03/25)In this research, 108 samples were analyzed (54 of coriander and 54 of parsley). These samples were obtained under a random method in three distribution spots on each of the markets around the north of the city of Quito. Total coliforms (TC), fecal coliforms (FC) and Escherichia coli (EC) were detected. The average of TC value for coriander was 5.09 log UFC/g and 6.39 log UFC/g for parsley. Values of 607.0 NMP/g for F for the market #1, 597.7NMP/g for the market # 2, and 474.2 NMP/g for the market # 3 were found. The 23.1% of the parsley samples presented positive recounts for Escherichia coli while for the coriander the 14.8% of the samples were positive for this bacterium. The presence of enteric indicators (TC, FC, and EC) was independent from the market and the distribution point which indicates a high contamination level and demonstrates the necessity of a microbiologic control on the irrigation system, farming, transport and hygienic conditions of handlers in order to assure the quality of the leafy vegetables, is recommended to set local norms to evaluate the microbiological quality of these foods.

Evolutionary multi-objective optimization for software development teams building: a way of obtaining quality in the final product

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:21 +0200

(Received: 2015/01/29 - Accepted: 2015/03/25)In this research a mathematical model to approach the process of creating software development teams as a discrete multi-objective problem is proposed. The objectives considered are the level of competition and the level of utilization of professionals in the team. Given the complexity of the problem search space, the application of an approximate optimization method is proposed. Specifically, the genetic algorithm NSGA-II based on the concept of Pareto dominance was selected. This method was applied in six different scenarios in order to analyze the quality of the obtained solutions. In general we can say that the method is efficient and gets solutions (assignments) of high quality.

Relationship between the inorganic chemical composition of water, precipitation and evaporation in the basin of Rio Grande, Chone, Ecuador

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:11 +0200

(Received: 2015/01/19 - Accepted: 2015/03/25)In the Rio Grande basin, the Chone Multi-Purpose dam (PMCH) is built with an investment of approximately $66 million, to irrigate over 7000ha. The marked differences in precipitation could impair the quality of water; therefore the aim of this study was to establish the relationship between the ions and their location in the graph: relationship of ions and mechanisms of chemical processes, water behavior and trend setting. The study was a non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive research. 111 samples were collected in the group of channels that form the Rio Grande basin, in 2013 and 2014 during times of drought and rain. The parameters were measured in the sample anions and cations. The processes that control the chemistry of surface water in the studied area during the rainy season have a predisposition to mineralization in equilibrium with rocks. However, in the time of drought, water movement was observed towards the area where evaporation with respect to precipitation predominates, increasing the inorganic chemistry of the waters that, in time, could be extended.

Influence of the cutting parameters on flank wear of coated inserts during turning of AISI 316L

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:00 +0200

(Received: 2015/01/20 - Accepted: 2015/03/25)The continuous improvement of manufacturing processes is critical to achieve optimum levels of productivity, quality and cut production of components and products. This research aims to determine the cutting tool flank wearing progression, during a high speed dry turning, for AISI 316L steel parts. Experimental data were acquired using two cutting feed levels, two material levels, three cutting speeds, and four principal cutting times. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to measure and analyze the wear of the cutting tools. Results were compared using analysis of variance and multiple regression for describing the relation between the variables used in the study. The analysis showed that the three layers coating insert did not exceed the end of life wearing criterion, while the one layer insert suffered a catastrophic wearing at the highest cutting speed. It was found that a relation exists between the experimental data and the predicted values for flank wear with a general average error of 4.1182%.

Textile wastewater biocoagulation by Caesalpinia spinosa extracts

Scipedia content — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:07:43 +0200

(Received: 2014/12/06 - Accepted: 2015/03/24)The textile industry in Ecuador is still a matter of concern because of the inappropriate disposal of their effluents into the local water supply. The present research was carried out in Pelileo (Tungurahua-Ecuador) where textile wastewaters are discharged into waterways. An environmentally friendly solution to treat highly contaminated organic textile wastewaters is herein evaluated: a remediation process of biocoagulation was performed using extracts from the Caesalpinia spinosa plant also known as guarango or tara. It was determined that using C. spinosa extracts to treat wastewater has the same statistical effect as when applying a chemical coagulant (polyaluminum chloride 15%). Activated zeolite adsorbed color residuals from treated water to obtain turbidity removal more than 90%. A mathematical model showed that turbidity removal between 50-90% can be obtained by applying 25-45 g/L of guarango extracts and zeolite per 700 mL of textile wastewater. The natural coagulation using C. spinosa extracts produced 85% less sludge than polyaluminum chloride, and removed high organic matter content in the wastewater (1050 mg/L) by 52%.

An error estimator for real-time simulators based on model order reduction

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:21:47 +0100

Model order reduction (MOR) is one of the most appealing choices for real-time simulation of non-linear solids. In this work a method is presented in which real time performance is achieved by means of the o-line solution of a (high dimensional) parametric problem that provides a sort of response surface or computational vademecum. This solution is then evaluated in real-time at feedback rates compatible with haptic devices, for instance (i.e., more than 1kHz). This high dimensional problem can be solved without the limitations imposed by the curse of dimensionality by employing Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) methods. Essentially, PGD assumes a separated representation for the essential eld of the problem. Here, an error estimator is proposed for this type of solutions that takes into account the non-linear character of the studied problems. This error estimator allows to compute the necessary number of modes employed to obtain an approximation to the solution within a prescribed error tolerance in a given quantity of interest.

Effect of the separated approximation of input data in the accuracy of the resulting PGD solution

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:09:17 +0100

The Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) requires separability of the input data (e.g. physical properties, source term, boundary conditions, initial state). In many cases the input data is not expressed in a separated form and it has to be replaced by some separable approximation. These approximations constitute a new error source that, in some cases, may dominate the standard ones (discretization, truncation…) and control the nal accuracy of the PGD solution.
In this work the relation between errors in the separated input data and the errors induced in the PGD solution is discussed. Error estimators proposed for homogenized problems and oscillation terms are adapted to asses the behaviour of the PGD errors resulting from approximated input data. The PGD is stable with respect to error in the separated data, with no critical amplification of the perturbations.
Interestingly, we identified a high sensitiveness of the resulting accuracy on the selection of the sampling grid used to compute the separated data. The separation has to be performed on the basis of values sampled at integration points: sampling at the nodes defining the functional interpolation results in an important loss of accuracy.
For the case of a Poisson problem separated in the spatial coordinates (a complex diffusivity function requires a separable approximation), the final PGD error is linear with the truncation error of the separated data. This relation is used to estimate the number of terms required in the separated data, that has to be in good agreement with the truncation error accepted in the PGD truncation (tolerance for the stoping criteria in the enrichment procedure). A sensible choice or the prescribed accuracy of the PGD solution has to be kept within the limits set by the errors in the separated input data.

Real time parameter identification and solution reconstruction from experimental data using the Proper Generalized Decomposition

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:00:30 +0100

Some industrial processes are modelled by parametric partial differential equations. Integrating computational modelling and data assimilation into the control process requires obtaining a solution of the numerical model at the characteristic frequency of the process (real-time). This paper introduces a computational strategy allowing to efficiently exploit measurements of those industrial processes, providing the solution of the model at the required frequency. This is particularly interesting in the framework of control algorithms that rely on a model involving a set of parameters. For instance, the curing process of a composite material is modelled as a thermo-mechanical problem whose corresponding parameters describe the thermal and mechanical behaviours. In this context, the information available (measurements) is used to update the parameters of the model and to produce new values of the control variables (data assimilation). The methodology presented here is devised to ensure the possibility of having a response in real-time of the problem and therefore the capability of integrating it in the control scheme. The Proper Generalized Decomposition is used to describe the solution in the multi-parametric space. The real-time data assimilation requires a further simplification of the solution representation that better fits the data (reconstructed solution) and it provides an implicit parameter identification. Moreover, the analysis of the assimilated data sensibility with respect to the points where the measurements are taken suggests a criterion to locate the sensors.

An efficient and general approach for implementing thermodynamic phase equilibria information in geophysical and geodynamic studies

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:41:00 +0100

We present a flexible, general, and efficient approach for implementing thermodynamic phase equilibria information (in the form of sets of physical parameters) into geophysical and geodynamic studies. The approach is based on Tensor Rank Decomposition methods, which transform the original multidimensional discrete information into a separated representation that contains significantly fewer terms, thus drastically reducing the amount of information to be stored in memory during a numerical simulation or geophysical inversion. Accordingly, the amount and resolution of the thermodynamic information that can be used in a simulation or inversion increases substantially. In addition, the method is independent of the actual software used to obtain the primary thermodynamic information, and therefore, it can be used in conjunction with any thermodynamic modeling program and/or database. Also, the errors associated with the decomposition procedure are readily controlled by the user, depending on her/his actual needs (e.g., preliminary runs versus full resolution runs). We illustrate the benefits, generality, and applicability of our approach with several examples of practical interest for both geodynamic modeling and geophysical inversion/modeling. Our results demonstrate that the proposed method is a competitive and attractive candidate for implementing thermodynamic constraints into a broad range of geophysical and geodynamic studies. MATLAB implementations of the method and examples are provided as supporting information and can be downloaded from the journal's website.

Fast r-adaptivity for multiple queries of heterogeneous stochastic material fields

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:27:46 +0100

We present an r-adaptivity approach for boundary value problems with randomly fluctuating material parameters solved through the Monte Carlo or stochastic collocation methods. This approach tailors a specific mesh for each sample of the problem. It only requires the computation of the solution of a single deterministic problem with the same geometry and the average parameter, whose numerical cost becomes marginal for large number of samples. Starting from the mesh used to solve that deterministic problem, the nodes are moved depending on the particular sample of mechanical parameter field. The reduction in the error is small for each sample but sums up to reduce the overall bias on the statistics estimated through the Monte Carlo scheme. Several numerical examples in 2D are presented.

Proper generalized decomposition of a geometrically parametrized heat problem with geophysical applications

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:20:23 +0100

The solution of a steady thermal multiphase problem is assumed to be dependent on a set of parameters describing the geometry of the domain, the internal interfaces and the material properties. These parameters are considered as new independent variables. The problem is therefore stated in a multidimensional setup. The proper generalized decomposition (PGD) provides an approximation scheme especially well suited to preclude dramatically increasing the computational complexity with the number of dimensions. The PGD strategy is reviewed for the standard case dealing only with material parameters. Then, the ideas presented in [Ammar et al., “Parametric solutions involving geometry: A step towards efficient shape optimization.” Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng., 2014; 268:178–193] to deal with parameters describing the domain geometry are adapted to a more general case including parametrization of the location of internal interfaces. Finally, the formulation is extended to combine the two types of parameters. The proposed strategy is used to solve a problem in applied geophysics studying the temperature field in a cross section of the Earth crust subsurface. The resulting problem is in a 10‐dimensional space, but the PGD solution provides a fairly accurate approximation (error ≤1%) using less that 150 terms in the PGD expansion.

A recovery-explicit error estimator in energy norm for linear elasticity

María Jesús Samper — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 14:01:05 +0100

Significant research effort has been devoted to produce one-sided error estimates for Finite Element Analyses, in particular to provide upper bounds of the actual error. Typically, this has been achieved using residual-type estimates. One of the most popular and simpler (in terms of implementation) techniques used in commercial codes is the recovery-based error estimator. This technique produces accurate estimations of the exact error but is not designed to naturally produce upper bounds of the error in energy norm. Some attempts to remedy this situation provide bounds depending on unknown constants. Here, a new step towards obtaining error bounds from the recovery-based estimates is proposed. The idea is (1) to use a locally equilibrated recovery technique to obtain an accurate estimation of the exact error, (2) to add an explicit-type error bound of the lack of equilibrium of the recovered stresses in order to guarantee a bound of the actual error and (3) to efficiently and accurately evaluate the constants appearing in the bounding expressions, thus providing asymptotic bounds. The numerical tests with h-adaptive refinement process show that the bounding property holds even for coarse meshes, providing upper bounds in practical applications.

Two-fluid flow problem for viscoelastic fluids using the level set method and pressure enriched shape functions

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:18:10 +0200

The numerical simulation of complex flows has been a subject of intense research in the last years with important industrial applications in many fields. In this paper we present a finite element method to solve the two immiscible fluid flow problem using the level set method. When the interface between both fluids cuts an element, the discontinuity in the material properties leads to discontinuities in the gradients of the unknowns which cannot be captured using a standard finite element interpolation. The method presented in this work features a local enrichment for the pressure unknowns which allows one to capture pressure gradient discontinuities in fluids presenting different density values. The method is tested in two problems: the first example consists in a sloshing case that involves the interaction of a Giesekus and a Newtonian fluid. This example shows that the enriched pressure functions permit the exact resolution of the hydrostatic rest state. The second example is the classical jet buckling problem used to validate our method. To permit the use of equal interpolation between the variables, we use a variational multiscale formulation proposed recently by Castillo and Codina in Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 279 (2014) 579–605, that has shown very good stability properties, permitting also the resolution of the jet buckling flow problem in the the range of Weissenberg number 0 < We < 100, using the Oldroyd-B model without any sign of numerical instability. Additional ingredients of the work are the inclusion of a discontinuity capturing technique for the constitutive equation and some comparisons between a monolithic resolution and a fractional step approach to solve the viscoelastic fluid flow problem from the point of view of computational requirements

On some time marching schemes for the stabilized finite element approximation of the mixed wave equation

María Jesús Samper — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:11:54 +0200

In this paper we analyze time marching schemes for the wave equation in mixed form. The problem is discretized in space using stabilized finite elements. On the one hand, stability and convergence analyses of the fully discrete numerical schemes are presented using different time integration schemes and appropriate functional settings. On the other hand, we use Fourier techniques (also known as von Neumann analysis) in order to analyze stability, dispersion and dissipation. Numerical convergence tests are presented for various time integration schemes, polynomial interpolations (for the spatial discretization), stabilization methods, and variational forms. To analyze the behavior of the different schemes considered, a 1D wave propagation problem is solved.

A three‐field stabilized finite element method for fluid‐structure interaction: elastic solid and rigid body limit

María Jesús Samper — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:37:01 +0200

We propose a full Eulerian framework for solving fluid‐structure interaction (FSI) problems based on a unified formulation in which the FSIs are modelled by introducing an extra stress in the momentum equation. The obtained three‐field velocity, pressure and stress system is solved using a stabilized finite element method. The key feature of this unified formulation is the ability to describe different kind of interactions between the fluid and the structure, which can be either elastic or a perfect rigid body, without the need of treating this last case via penalization. The level‐set method combined with a dynamic anisotropic mesh adaptation is used to track the fluid‐solid interface.

Weak imposition of essential boundary conditions in the finite element approximation of elliptic problems with non‐matching meshes

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:14:55 +0200

In this work, we propose a method to prescribe essential boundary conditions in the finite element approximation of elliptic problems when the boundary of the computational domain does not match with the element boundaries. The problems considered are the Poisson problem, the Stokes problem, and the Darcy problem, the latter both in the primal and in the dual formulation. The formulation proposed is of variational type. The key idea is to start with the variational form that defines the problem and treat the boundary condition as a constraint. The particular feature is that the Lagrange multiplier is not defined on the boundary where the essential condition needs to be prescribed but is taken as a certain trace of a field defined in the computational domain, either in all of it or just in a region surrounding the boundary. When approximated numerically, this may allow one to condense the DOFs of the new field and end up with a problem posed only in terms of the original unknowns. The nature of the field used to weakly impose boundary conditions depends on the problem being treated. For the Poisson problem, it is a flux; for the Stokes problem, a stress; for the Darcy problem in primal form, a velocity field; and for the Darcy problem in dual form, it is a potential.

Numerical modeling of chlorine concentration in water storage tank

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:07:49 +0200

In this paper, we describe a numerical model to simulate the evolution in time of the hydrodynamics of water storage tanks, with particular emphasis on the time evolution of chlorine concentration. The mathematical model contains several ingredients particularly designed for this problem, namely, a boundary condition to model falling jets on free surfaces, an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation to account for the motion of the free surface because of demand and supply of water, and a coupling of the hydrodynamics with a convection–diffusion–reaction equation modeling the time evolution of chlorine. From the numerical point of view, the equations resulting from the mathematical model are approximated using a finite element formulation, with linear continuous interpolations on tetrahedra for all the unknowns. To make it possible, and also to be able to deal with convection‐dominated flows, a stabilized formulation is used. In order to capture the sharp gradients present in the chlorine concentration, particularly near the injection zone, a discontinuity capturing technique is employed.

Analysis of an unconditionally convergent stabilized finite element formulation for incompressible magnetohydrodynamics

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:59:00 +0200

In this work, we analyze a recently proposed stabilized finite element formulation for the approximation of the resistive magnetohydrodynamics equations. The novelty of this formulation with respect to existing ones is the fact that it always converges to the physical solution, even when it is singular. We have performed a detailed stability and convergence analysis of the formulation in a simplified setting. From the convergence analysis, we infer that a particular type of meshes with a macro-element structure is needed, which can be easily obtained after a straight modification of any original mesh.

Finite element dynamical subgrid-scale model for low Mach number flows with radiative heat transfer

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:50:56 +0200

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a finite element approximation of the low Mach number equations coupled with radiative equations to account for radiative heat transfer. For high-temperature flows this coupling can have strong effects on the temperature and velocity fields.

Design/methodology/approach – The basic numerical formulation has been proposed in previous works. It is based on the variational multiscale (VMS) concept in which the unknowns of the problem are divided into resolved and subgrid parts which are modeled to consider their effect into the former. The aim of the present paper is to extend this modeling to the case in which the low Mach number equations are coupled with radiation, also introducing the concept of subgrid scales for the radiation equations.

Findings – As in the non-radiative case, an important improvement in the accuracy of the numerical scheme is observed when the nonlinear effects of the subgrid scales are taken into account. Besides it is possible to show global conservation of thermal energy.

Originality/value – The original contribution of the work is the proposal of keeping the VMS splitting into the nonlinear coupling between the low Mach number and the radiative transport equations, its numerical evaluation and the description of its properties.

First, second and third order fractional step methods for the three-field viscoelastic flow problem

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:26:02 +0200

In this paper, three different fractional step methods are designed for the three-field viscoelastic flow problem, whose variables are velocity, pressure and elastic stress. The starting point of our methods is the same as for classical pressure segregation algorithms used in the Newtonian incompressible Navier–Stokes problem. These methods can be understood as an inexact LU block factorization of the original system matrix of the fully discrete problem and are designed at the pure algebraic level. The final schemes allow one to solve the problem in a fully decoupled form, where each equation (for velocity, pressure and elastic stress) is solved separately. The first order scheme is obtained from a straightforward segregation of pressure and elastic stress in the momentum equation, whereas the key point for the second order scheme is a first order extrapolation of these variables. The third order fractional step method relies on Yosida's scheme. Referring to the spatial discretization, either the Galerkin method or a stabilized finite element formulation can be used. We describe the fractional step methods first assuming the former, and then we explain the modifications introduced by the stabilized formulation we employ and that has been proposed in a previous work. This discretization in space shows very good stability, permitting in particular the use of equal interpolation for all variables.

Assessment of variational multiscale models for the large eddy simulation of turbulent incompressible flows

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:10:32 +0200

In this work we study the performance of some variational multiscale models (VMS) in the large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. We consider VMS models obtained by different subgrid scale approximations which include either static or dynamic subscales, linear or nonlinear multiscale splitting, and different choices of the subscale space. After a brief review of these models, we discuss some implementation aspects particularly relevant to the simulation of turbulent flows, namely the use of a skew symmetric form of the convective term and the computation of projections when orthogonal subscales are used. We analyze the energy conservation (and numerical dissipation) of the alternative VMS formulations, which is numerically evaluated. In the numerical study, we have considered three well known problems: the decay of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, the Taylor–Green vortex problem and the turbulent flow in a channel. We compare the results obtained using different VMS models, paying special attention to the effect of using orthogonal subscale spaces. The VMS results are also compared against classical LES scheme based on filtering and the dynamic Smagorinsky closure. Altogether, our results show the tremendous potential of VMS for the numerical simulation of turbulence. Further, we study the sensitivity of VMS to the algorithmic constants and analyze the behavior in the small time step limit. We have also carried out a computational cost comparison of the different formulations. Out of these experiments, we can state that the numerical results obtained with the different VMS formulations (as far as they converge) are quite similar. However, some choices are prone to instabilities and the results obtained in terms of computational cost are certainly different. The dynamic orthogonal subscales model turns out to be best in terms of efficiency and robustness.

Variational MultiScale based dissipation models for the estimation of Atmospheric Seeing

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:03:18 +0200

In this work we present a numerical model for the estimation of atmospheric seeing in observation sites. The particularity of the method is that it is based on a Variational Multiscale turbulence model, its main feature being that the numerical mechanisms which are used to deal with stability issues (convection and the inf–sup condition for incompressible flows) do also take care of the modeling of turbulence. Based on this turbulence model, we develop the expressions for the viscous and thermal dissipations, ∊∊num and χnum, which are later used for evaluating the constant of structure of the refraction index Cn2 following the classical model developed by Tatarski. Numerical examples show the behavior of the proposed numerical scheme when applied to turbulent flow practical cases, which include a convective boundary layer, the flow inside a transfer optics room, and a telescope enclosure.

A direct elimination algorithm for quasi-static and dynamic contact problems

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 10:30:38 +0200

This paper deals with the computational modeling and numerical simulation of contact problems at finite deformations using the finite element method. Quasi-static and dynamic problems are considered and two particular frictional conditions, full stick friction and frictionless cases, are addressed. Lagrange multipliers and regularized formulations of the contact problem, such as penalty or augmented Lagrangian methods, are avoided and a new direct elimination method is proposed. Conserving algorithms are also introduced for the proposed formulation for dynamic contact problems. An assessment of the performance of the resulting formulation is shown in a number of selected benchmark tests and numerical examples, including both quasi-static and dynamic contact problems under full stick friction and frictionless contact conditions. Conservation of key discrete properties exhibited by the time stepping algorithm used for dynamic contact problems is also shown in an example

An empirical comparison of machine learning techniques for dam behaviour modelling

María Jesús Samper — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 12:02:45 +0200

Predictive models are essential in dam safety assessment. Both deterministic and statistical models applied in the day-to-day practice have demonstrated to be useful, although they show relevant limitations at the same time. On another note, powerful learning algorithms have been developed in the field of machine learning (ML), which have been applied to solve practical problems. The work aims at testing the prediction capability of some state-of-the-art algorithms to model dam behaviour, in terms of displacements and leakage. Models based on random forests (RF), boosted regression trees (BRT), neural networks (NN), support vector machines (SVM) and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) are fitted to predict 14 target variables. Prediction accuracy is compared with the conventional statistical model, which shows poorer performance on average. BRT models stand out as the most accurate overall, followed by NN and RF. It was also verified that the model fit can be improved by removing the records of the first years of dam functioning from the training set.

Numerical and Experimental Study of Overtopping and Failure of Rockfill Dams

María Jesús Samper — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 11:13:38 +0200

This paper aims to present and validate a numerical technique for the simulation of the overtopping and onset of failure in rockfill dams caused by mass sliding. This goal is achieved by coupling a fluid dynamic model for the simulation of the free surface and through-flow problems together with a numerical technique for the calculation of the rockfill response and deformation. Both the flow within the dam body and in its surroundings are taken into account. An extensive validation of the resulting computational method is performed by solving several failure problems on physical models of rockfill dams for which experimental results have been obtained by the authors.

Two-noded zigzag beam element accounting for shear effects based on an extended Euler Bernoulli theory

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:11:36 +0200

We present a new 2-noded beam element based on the refined zigzag theory and the classical Euler–Bernoulli beam theory for the static analysis of composite laminate and sandwich beams. The proposed element is able to take into account distortion effects due to shear elastic strains and can predict delamination. The element has four degrees of freedom per node. A C1 cubic Hermite interpolation is used for the vertical deflection while a C0 linear interpolation is employed for the other kinematics variables. The stiffness matrix and the load vector are calculated in explicit form using exact integration. The element is free from shear locking as confirmed with numerical tests on a wide range of the slenderness ratios. Numerical results show the ability of the EEBZ2 element to reproduce accurately the vertical deflection along the beam length and complex zigzag distributions of the axial displacement and the stresses across the thickness. Delamination effects are modeled by incorporating of an additional zigzag function corresponding to the kinematics of a zero thickness layer where delamination occurs. An example showing the capability of the new EEBZ2 element for accurately reproducing delamination effects is presented.

Finite element modeling of free surface flow in variable porosity media

María Jesús Samper — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:22:40 +0200

The aim of the present work is to present an overview of some numerical procedures for the simulation of free surface flows within a porous structure. A particular algorithm developed by the authors for solving this type of problems is presented. A modified form of the classical Navier–Stokes equations is proposed, with the principal aim of simulating in a unified way the seepage flow inside rockfill-like porous material and the free surface flow in the clear fluid region. The problem is solved using a semi-explicit stabilized fractional step algorithm where velocity is calculated using a 4th order Runge–Kutta scheme. The numerical formulation is developed in an Eulerian framework using a level set technique to track the evolution of the free surface. An edge-based data structure is employed to allow an easy OpenMP parallelization of the resulting finite element code. The numerical model is validated against laboratory experiments on small scale rockfill dams and is compared with other existing methods for solving similar problems.

Agenda

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:55:01 +0200

Innovación, eficiencia y tecnología en OCLC: el reto de los nuevos usuarios

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:53 +0200

Informe

Scholarly publishers indicators: Prestige, specialization and review systems of scholarly book publishers

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:45 +0200

This work presents the updated version of the public information system SPI (Scholarly Publishers’ Indicators), developed by ÍLIA (research group on scholarly books), which belongs to the Spanish National Research Council. SPI contains three types of indicators about book publishers: prestige according to expert opinions; thematic specialization according to Dilve (information on Spanish books for sale) classification; and manuscript selection procedures according to each publisher’s answers to a survey. SPI Expanded is also described as an information system which provides information about each scholarly publisher’s indexation in four international information systems. The methodological specifications for the design of SPI Expanded in each of the dimensions are presented. Finally, the functionalities and current use as a reference in the assessment process of scholarly publishers’ output are detailed.

Scholarly publishers’ indicators: Prestige, specialization, and review systems of scholarly book publishers

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:36 +0200

Data journals: emergence of new journals specializing in data

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:25 +0200

Two major facts: the huge increase in the amount of data that scientists produce, and the pressure for transparency and economic efficiency of public budgets, have caused that a good data management has become much more important. A compilation and an analysis of some data journals –journals specializing in data- is presented. Their origins, evolution and characteristics are described. Finally, a reflection is done on the role that data journals can play in the scientific communication ecosystem.

Information reuse in smart cities' ecosystems

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:16 +0200

Smart cities are service providers as well as sources of public data. The reuse of cities’ data through the application of technology enables the creation of innovative services for citizens. Apps, developed by reusing information, are considered a key indicator for the creation of services. This paper explores the main characteristics of these apps and their relationship to services. The analysis performed in the main smart cities in Europe shows the importance of timely information release and the geo-location of published data. Transport and tourism seem to be the most popular areas of application. This article builds on the area of research in previous studies and includes additional information of apps’ characteristics to meet service needs.

Volunteer participation in citizen science projects

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:54:07 +0200

The purpose of this research is to assess the current state of citizen science projects and reveal the role of volunteers in the research process. This is achieved by performing a literature review and content analysis of three international and one state-owned citizen science platforms (Wikipedia, SciStarter, CitSci and Precipita) that contain more than 800 research projects. Projects have been analyzed according to four categories: the academic disciplines, the way the project is designed, the phases of the research in which volunteers participate, and the tasks they perform. The results show that projects in the arts, humanities, and social sciences disciplines are almost non-existent. In addition, in the field of natural and physical sciences, projects are fostered with a top-down approach and volunteers participate primarily in the data collection phase in order to obtain a large volume of data, thereby receiving more financing from the European Union.

The new media business concept led by Netflix: a study of the model and its projection into the Spanish market

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:55 +0200

New actors who link their activity to content distribution are leading the business of online media content. These actors adapt their operations to the demands of converging media context, and they propose business models oriented to user satisfaction. Among them, Netflix is notably highlighted for leadership in its home market, the United States, and in its international expansion. This paper presents in detail the Netflix business model with a case study that focuses on three key areas: the catalogue and monetization formula, policy relationships with key audiences (users, content providers and internet providers) and its internationalization strategy. Based on the results, the projection of this model in the Spanish media market can begin to be discussed.

Review of social practices and ways of exercising the policy through new media

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:47 +0200

This article reviews the elements that have facilitated greater communicative autonomy for significant contemporary social movements and organizations through new media. Taking as reference the historical diagnosis of Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1970) for an emancipatory use of social media, we analyse the process of emergence and development of a new information paradigm in the global activity of contemporary social movements. Finally, we offer a selection of common elements implemented by these movements for the promotion of open and emancipatory management of new media as a tool for social empowerment.

Letters, sources of knowledge for research on libraries, old books and reading

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:38 +0200

Letters are one of the main sources of information for researchers on old books, especially from the 18th century, when correspondence was the main vehicle of communication in the Europe of the Enlightenment. From them we can rebuild the world’s libraries, the circulation of books and ideas, and the world of reading from a more personal perspective. Through some examples, one can explore the possibilities that epistolary relationships offer future researchers on the history of the book.

Public online epitexts as a tool to book promotion

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:28 +0200

Genette introduced and defined the concept of paratext in 1987, and applied studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of this methodological approach. However, reviewing the scientific literature shows a lack of studies of a paratext that is essential to the promotion of reading on social networks: public virtual epitext. The first aim of this paper is to review and analyze the scientific literature about virtual epitext. Next, we propose lines of research to advance the promotion of books and reading on social networks. Finally, we show the need to broaden the virtual epitext concept in order to analyze internet-related changes in the dissemination of books and reading.

Evolutionary trends of digital content in mobile applications

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:18 +0200

In recent years, mobile applications have come to constitute an ecosystem of their own, becoming an important driver for innovation. The consolidation of mobile applications as the prevalent interface for content access has consequences for the production, distribution and consumption of content, merging the functional spheres of digital content: performance, creation, management and communication. This paper proposes a functional typology of mobile content applications, along with an evolutionary analysis model. It analyses the functional evolution of 153 versions of 12 relevant applications developed during two years (March 2013 through March 2015). Though statistical representativeness is limited, the sample analysis allowed validation of the model. The results point to intervention capacity and communication capacity over content as important value-added drivers in mobile content applications, although not in homogeneous terms for all the kinds of mobile applications analysed.

Innovative services in public libraries in Colombia. Results of a Delphi study

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:53:08 +0200

A Delphi study was performed to identify trends about innovative services in Colombian public libraries. An expert panel participated in three rounds with on-line questionnaires. Four trends were found: stronger community relationships; coexistence of books, technology and users; spaces for creativity, communication, collaborative work and networking. The study concluded that innovation at a public library is the capability to adapt services within its context and constantly engage in the necessary reflection and action about the methods, results and impact of its services.

Tratamiento de la información científica en las ediciones digitales de los periódicos españoles

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:59 +0200

The treatment of scientific information is analysed in the digital edition of the most-read newspapers in Spain: El país, El mundo, ABC and 20 minutos in December 2012, 2013 and 2014. The subject of inquiry is the published news, of which the quantity has been determined, the sources identified, and each issue categorized by the area of science to which it refers. The data obtained leads to the conclusion that the online editions, rather than overcoming the disadvantages of homogenisation and selectivity, have accentuated them. Biology and biomedicine, along with astrophysics, are the most high-profile areas. Furthermore, they rely fundamentally on two types of source: high-impact journals and research centres, most of them international.

Our seniors’ challenge to the new media: uses and opinions

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:50 +0200

This research was aimed at determining the media use by the Spanish population over 61 years, their relation with the new technologies and their opinions. We interviewed 383 Spaniards as part of the 2013 World Internet Project (WIP). The sample was segmented into two categories: young olds (from 61-70 years), and middle-old olds (71 and over). The results have been compared to the Spanish general population to detect the most relevant specifities. It can be concluded that, although the assessment they made of traditional media is above average, the Spanish senior population shows considerable interest for internet and more than 60% of them check their email daily. Their use of internet, however, is eminently pragmatic, so they tend to not use its potential as a socialization media.

Exploring interaction patterns for use on the semantic web

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:42 +0200

In recent years, multiple sets of interaction patterns have been proposed for use in the design and the development of website interfaces. The semantic web also has enhanced websites with semantic content. This paradigm shift allows the reexamination of usual end-user tasks, which, as semantic web end-user tasks, might remain the same, be completely changed, or give rise to the development of new tasks. We have defined a list of semantic web end-user tasks and built an inventory of most of the interaction patterns proposed for semantic web use. We then classified these patterns according to the semantic web end-user tasks where they can be used and analyzed how interaction patterns can improve the functionality of each of those semantic web end-user tasks.

Digital transition of teaching-learning resources at Spanish universities

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:32 +0200

The objective of this study is to establish which document types are considered essential for learning at universities and, therefore, are recommended to students. Additionally, an analysis was conducted to determine if electronic resources are a part of the recommended reading lists for the various subjects across the curriculum and what exactly their weight is in relation to other document types. The current syllabi for the 2014-2015 academic year were accessed for each subject in ten majors offered at three Spanish universities: University Carlos III of Madrid, University of León, and University of Salamanca. The primary finding is the lack of homogeneity in the number of references by university and major which is due to the disparity observed as far as the number of references per subject. Books are the resources most frequently suggested in all of the curricula analyzed. The scarce use in course syllabi of journal articles and, particularly, conference papers, is significant. Links to institutional websites predominate, whereas the presence of electronic books is residual despite a proven inclination to prioritize recommendations for monographs and textbooks. The presence of electronic journals and electronic articles is also marginal. It is evident that traditional document types continue to be recommended despite the increase of electronic documents in academic libraries’ collections.

Digital transition of teaching learning resources at Spanish universities

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:23 +0200

Web indicators for research evaluation. Part 3: books and non standard outputs

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:13 +0200

This literature review describes web indicators for the impact of books, software, datasets, videos and other non-standard academic outputs. Although journal articles dominate academic research in the health and natural sciences, other types of outputs can make equally valuable contributions to scholarship and are more common in other fields. It is not always possible to get useful citation-based impact indicators for these due to their absence from, or incomplete coverage in, traditional citation indexes. In this context, the web is particularly valuable as a potential source of impact indicators for non-standard academic outputs. The main focus in this review is on books because of the much greater amount of relevant research for them and because they are regarded as particularly valuable in the arts and humanities and in some areas of the social sciences.

Reading and university: Study of reading habits of Spanish and Portuguese university students

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:03 +0200

The process of adaptation to the Bologna process undergone by Spanish universities only provides for reading skill as a transversal or cross-cutting competency of a basic instrumental nature within the framework of development of generic competencies. It is, however, essential to achieve said reading skill at university; this consists of the development and strengthening of voluntary reading behaviours, generating lifelong reading habits. Although it may seem surprising, the data obtained from the study of a significant sample of Spanish and Portuguese students reflect that a number of university students lack reading habits or do not read voluntarily. The data obtained reaffirm the fact that educational institutions and university libraries must offer resources and services aimed at promoting reading, with the goal of strengthening the reading skills of university students.

Review of national and international initiatives on books and book publishers assessment

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:53 +0200

This article presents various systems for assessing academic books and/or book publishers in several European countries and two in Latin America. It has been structured according to the methodologies used in each system: expert opinion, reviews, holdings in academic libraries, specialization, original selection procedures, citations and systems integrating different variables. The objective is to offer a panoramic view for evaluators, authors, librarians, and editors to use in decision making. Also included are conclusions about various assessment systems, their potential and the optimum conditions for their use in practice.

Review of national and international initiatives on books and book publishers assessment

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:44 +0200

This article presents various systems for assessing academic books and/or book publishers in several European countries and two in Latin America. It has been structured according to the methodologies used in each system: expert opinion, reviews, holdings in academic libraries, specialization, original selection procedures, citations, and systems integrating different variables. The objective is to offer a panoramic view for evaluators, authors, librarians, and editors to use in decision making. Also included are conclusions about various assessment systems, their potential, and the optimum conditions for their use in practice.

Book publication and distribution

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:32 +0200

The entire circuit of the book, both traditional and eBook, has moved into the digital realm. Metadata, recommendation algorithms, and programs to limit and control the reading take on a new importance. Powerful digital intermediaries now control most of the author-reader process.

Agenda

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:23 +0200

Congresos,

Studies and analysis of reference management software: A literature review

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:14 +0200

ResumenLos gestores de referencias son una herramienta clásica para el trabajo de investigación científica. Desde la década de 1980 han sido objeto de revisiones y evaluaciones en la bibliografía especializada. Este trabajo plantea una revisión sistemática de los trabajos publicados que evalúan gestores de referencias con un enfoque comparativo. El objetivo del mismo es identificar los tipos, modelos y criterios de evaluación que han adoptado los autores, para determinar si los métodos utilizados ofrecen el rigor metodológico adecuado, y si suponen una aportación al conocimiento sobre el tema objeto de estudio.

Bibliometric data on mobile phones: description and characteristics of the UGRinvestiga app

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:51:04 +0200

It is quite common in the library and information world to find mobile applications (apps) to query scientific journals, bibliographic databases or university libraries. However, there are no apps that offer bibliometric indicators about universities, researchers, etc. We describe the development and functionality of the pioneer bibliometric app UGRinvestiga, launched on January 2015, which offers rankings of researchers from the University of Granada based on citations collected from Google Scholar Profiles. Information on the technical features of the app, the data collection process, the indicators used, the current coverage of researchers and a description of its interface and functionalities are described. Finally we emphasize the great potential of mobile applications as a tool for representing and disseminating bibliometric data.

Library roles in information literacy for postgraduate distance learning students at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:55 +0200

The library of the Spanish open university Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) is involved in distance learning of information skills in formal postgraduate courses. This paper discusses action levels, structure, content, method, learning resources, tutoring, etc., and describes the student evaluation exercises. The formation of teams and the functions performed by embedded librarians is explained. Finally, the results of satisfaction surveys and the convenience to continue these training activities are discussed.

Research promotion and digital identity: the case of the Universidade da Coruña

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:45 +0200

The results of a study on the situation of digital identity of the research community of the University of A Coruña are presented. The universe has been established with the faculty members listed in the university’s research catalog, and their presence in Orcid, ResearcherID, Scopus Author, Google Scholar Citations, ResearchGate and Mendeley was examined. The results show that the presence should be increased, but compared with others found in the literature, it can be assessed as positive. The role that researchers, the university library and the university must assume in this issue is suggested.

From research to researchers. Adapting services at the Rector Gabriel Ferraté Library

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:37 +0200

Research services have traditionally been a priority of university libraries, particularly at universities with a research vocation. We are in a changing environment in which researchers often have temporary needs. Libraries find it difficult to provide adequate answers to phenomena such as open access to information, crisis in the journal subscription model, need of more processes to evaluate the work of researchers, internationalization, diversity of researcher profiles, etc.). As a result, library services extend the focus of their offerings, giving more support to researchers in their role as writers, and adapting to the priorities of the institution at all times. This article explores the responses of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya- BarcelonaTech’s Rector Gabriel Ferraté Library to these new challenges.

Presence of Spanish universities on scientific digital social networks: case of communication studies

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:27 +0200

Scientific social networks are a new meeting place for researchers and a major instrument for the promotion of knowledge. Their use is increasing in the scientific community, as they are practical tools to disseminate research results and to share knowledge. This paper examines the presence of 77 Spanish universities in the two main scientific social networks (ResearchGate and Academia.edu). The results show that, despite the continuous development that those networks are having worldwide, the number of Spanish members in them is considered insufficient and in some universities is almost anecdotal. These results should be the starting point for an action program of the universities to increase the membership of their academic staff in those networks, as part of their mission of disseminating knowledge.

The Finch Report and the open access to biomedical publications

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:19 +0200

We analyse why the open access movement split into two paths, gold and green, and try to explain the reasons behind the choices between them that were made in the UK and USA. The analysis shows that lobbying in favor of the gold path had its origins in the publication policies of The New England journal of medicine: its director, Franz J. Ingelfinger, introduced the publication rule of not accepting manuscripts that previously had been circulating as pre-prints, known as the “Ingelfinger rule”.

Self-diagnosis and online health information seekers: the Chilean case

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:50:09 +0200

The factors that affect users as they search for health information and conduct a self-diagnosis online among a nationally representative sample of Chileans with internet access were analysed. The results indicate that three groups of variables largely explain this phenomenon: 1) the experiences that users had when commenting to their doctors about what they found online; 2) individual-psychological aspects such as pre-existing medical conditions; and 3) technological factors such as confidence and efficacy regarding internet use. Our research showed that this is a growing trend: more than 90% of respondents said that during the last year they had searched for health information on the internet at least once, while 85% said they had revised their symptoms and self-diagnosed.

Web indicators for research evaluation. Part 2: Social media metrics

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:49:58 +0200

This literature review assesses indicators derived from social media sources, including both general and academic sites. Such indicators have been termed altmetrics, influmetrics, social media metrics, or a type of webometric, and have recently been commercialised by a number of companies and employed by some publishers and university administrators. The social media metrics analysed here derive mainly from Twitter, Facebook, Google+, F1000, Mendeley, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu. They have the apparent potential to deliver fast, free indicators of the wider societal impact of research, or of different types of academic impacts, complementing academic impact indicators from traditional citation indexes. Although it is unwise to employ them in formal evaluations with stakeholders, due to their susceptibility to gaming and lack of real evidence that they reflect wider research impacts, they are useful for formative evaluations and to investigate science itself. Mendeley reader counts are particularly promising.

Web indicators for research evaluation. Part 1: Citations and links to academic articles from the Web

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:49:49 +0200

The extensive use of the web by many sectors of society has created the potential for new wider impact indicators. This article reviews research about Google Scholar and Google Patents, both of which can be used as sources of impact indicators for academic articles. It also briefly reviews methods to extract types of links and citations from the web as a whole, although the indicators that these generate are now probably too broad and too dominated by automatically generated websites, such as library and publisher catalogues, to be useful in practice. More valuable web-based indicators can be derived from specific types of web pages that cite academic research, such as online presentations, course syllabi, and science blogs. These provide evidence that is easier to understand and use and less likely to be affected by unwanted types of automatically generated content, although they are susceptible to gaming.

Analysis of production and scientific visibility of Ecuador in the Andean context (2000-2013)

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:49:41 +0200

A quantitative analysis of the scientific production of Ecuador in the Andean context is provided for 2000-2013, using data provided by the SCImago journal & country rank (SJR). We identified the indicators of absolute production and growth rate, and used three indicators to evaluate visibility: absolute citation, cites per document and international collaboration. We concluded that 1) Ecuador enjoyed positive growth in scientific production during the study period, except in 2010 and 2011; 2) it rebounded at the end of the period analyzed; 3) half of the production was in the areas of agriculture and medicine, which therefore appeared as the main areas of national scientific development; and 4) the most productive area, agriculture, was also the most cited.

Evaluation of scientific production in Mexicna state public universities (2007-2011) using principal component analysises

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:49:33 +0200

AbstractThis article focuses on the application of the principal component analysis (PCA) method to evaluate the competitiveness of scientific production in Mexican universities, based on the identification and classification of a set of indicators, grouped into seven dimensions and 18 criteria. Specifically, the method was performed in the educational institutions included in the category of state public universities (33 in total), over a period of five years (2007-2011), and ultimately identified only seven criteria as principal components, resulting in a scale of positions that indicate the index of relative potential (IPR in Spanish). Thus, the levels of opportunity for each university in relation to their group are defined, and the university that showed the highest competitiveness is identified and it in turn becomes a quality parameter.

Evaluation of scientific production in Mexican state public universities (2007-2011) using principal component analysis

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:47:21 +0200

This article focuses on the application of the principal component analysis (PCA) method to evaluate the competitiveness of scientific production in Mexican universities, based on the identification and classification of a set of indicators, grouped into seven dimensions and 18 criteria. Specifically, the method was performed in the educational institutions included in the category of state public universities (33 in total), over a period of five years (2007-2011), and ultimately identified only seven criteria as principal components, resulting in a scale of positions that indicate the index of relative potential (IPR in Spanish). Thus, the levels of opportunity for each university in relation to their group are defined, and the university that showed the highest competitiveness is identified and it in turn becomes a quality parameter.

Ranking institutions within a university based on their scientific performance: A percentile-based approach

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:47:12 +0200

Over the recent years, the subject of university rankings has attracted a significant amount of attention and sparked a scientific debate. However, few studies on this topic focus on elaborating the scientific performance of universities’ institutions, such as institutes, schools, and faculties. For this reason, the aim of this study is to design an appropriate framework for evaluating and ranking institutions within a university. The devised methodology ranks institutions based on the number of published papers, mean normalized citation score (MNCS), and four percentile-based indicators using the I-distance method. We applied the proposed framework and scrutinized the University of Belgrade (UB) as the biggest and the best-ranked university in Serbia. Thus, 31 faculties and 11 institutes were compared. Namely, an in-depth percentile-based analysis of the UB papers indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIe) and the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) for the period 2008-2011 is provided. The results clearly show considerable discrepancies in two occasions: first, when it comes to the question of leading author, and second, when it comes to analyzing the percentile rank classes (PRs) of groups of faculties.

Features and visibility of Spanish health sciences journals in selected databases

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:47:02 +0200

The main features of 207 Spanish health sciences journals active in 2014, and their visibility in six biomedical and multidisciplinary databases are described. Of these databases, Scopus and Ibecs provide the best coverage of these journals, and Medline and WoS the worst. The discipline best represented is medicine, followed by psychology, nursing and pharmacy. Among the observed characteristics, there were an absence of journals published exclusively on paper and the presence of journals published in English or bilingual Spanish-English and with open access. The article includes the journal list, which can be a reference tool for researchers selecting target journals for publication, for publishers in the health sciences areas and for information scientists for use in their database management tasks or in advising other professionals.

Adoption of ICTs by communication researchers for scientific diffusion and data analysis

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:53 +0200

This study examines the actual use of ICTs by communication and media researchers for scientific diffusion and data analysis. Survey data were collected from members of the International Communication Association (ICA) (n=295). Adoption rate averages of most of the tools were close to the median, except for Twitter, grids, and simulation software. Consistent with past research and the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (Utaut), we found that performance expectancy is a predictor of adoption, though this relation was not moderated by age or gender. In the case of scholarly environments, we found that scientific collaboration is a stronger predictor of actual use. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Challenges of publishing open access journals

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:45 +0200

A survey of 1,280 publishers of Spanish scientific journals (43% response rate; n=561) revealed their experiences with open access in scientific production. Quantitative analysis of the data showed that 72% (n=404) of respondents had experience with open access or were engaged in the conversion process. Of these, about 80% valued their experience in positive or very positive terms. Among the most common difficulties associated with the adoption of open access in their journals were the financial constraints and challenges related to organizational structure.

Spanish scientific production in humanities and social sciences. Some proposals from Dialnet

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:36 +0200

Social and human sciences are underrepresented in the international databases. This imbalance is accentuated when the articles are written in Spanish, making it difficult to carry out an evaluation of the scientific production in the Spanish language. This article provides a brief description of the Dialnet database, and of the tools that have been developed to give greater prominence to the author / researcher, which can greatly alleviate the aforementioned lack of visibility. A proposal is made to create a National CRIS (current research information system) based on the existing information in Spanish universities and in Dialnet. Finally, the upcoming launch is reported of a wizard integrated into a single platform that will provide quantitative and qualitative data about researchers’ publications in any language. The author considers it essential that the important and invaluable collaboration of institutions participating in Dialnet –for fourteen years now- continues, and desirable that new institutions join in this effort.

News and social networks: audience behavior

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:26 +0200

Based on a quantitative approach, this paper presents some of the preliminary results of a research project focused on the analysis of the motivations that encourage citizens to actively participate in online news media, using the mechanisms provided by their websites, and through open social network platforms. The findings show that, although there is a widespread discourse of distrust in connection to journalists and the traditional media institutions, as well as general criticism of the actual practices of journalists, the common understanding of the participatory dimension of the media does not entail discourses of change or modification of the existing hegemony. Instead of turning to alternative sources, such as citizen journalism or non-traditional media, or taking the lead by creating their own content, citizens prefer to continue to respect journalism as a profession and the traditional media institutions as the main producers of news as well as the most trusted sources of information. Furthermore, although in previous studies audience participation “in” the media has been highlighted, the findings of this research show that the practice of user recommendation or dissemination of media content through social networks has been adopted by a large number of citizens.

Agenda

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:18 +0200

Library systems report. Operationalizing innovation

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:46:08 +0200

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UNIR: a project of classification of the best Latin American advertising

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:58 +0200

The UNIR Ranking is a meta-product that evaluates the quality of ads and advertising agencies in Latin America through the awards made in national and international advertising festivals. The project is a novelty due to the vacuum of advertising rankings in the Latin American context. It has three main activity areas: the Iberoamerican advertising ranking and subnational rankings, a repository of the best adverts of the Latin American geographical area, and a directory of Latin American publicity agencies. These three dimensions make the UNIR Ranking an ideal product for academic research on Latin American advertising activities as well as for university teaching.

Organizational creativity and technological innovation in the iVoz system of La voz de Galicia

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:48 +0200

Among the information systems that have emerged in recent years there is iVoz, created in 2012, that comes from the combination of organizational creativity and technological innovation. The creativity of an organization —the Voz de Galicia Corporation - allowed the design of a procedure to deal with information, and consequently to manage its objectives, processes, and results. Technological innovation has made possible an information management procedure focused on very specific aims. The new procedure has allowed the introduction of important changes in the aims of the company, in the production of new information contents, and its dissemination. Details on how this management system works, how it fits into the Corporation , and the main results are explained. Finally, the communication possibilities that are now open, especially for local information, are discussed.

Information, multimediality and customization in radioapps of Spain and Portugal

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:39 +0200

The shift of radio listeners from radios to smartphones has expanded the communicative potential of the broadcasters due to the characteristics of this new distribution platform. The convergence of content and communication on the smartphone screen gives radio stations the opportunity to enrich their multimedia messages, explore new ways of distribution and achieve advances in customization of the medium. The connectivity of these devices and location technologies also multiply the potential for local information, enabling a contextualized experience. This paper aims to analyse the adaptation of talk radio stations in Spain and Portugal to the radioapps from a content perspective and also to assess the possibilities of customizing access and consumption.

Slow journalism in the immediacy era. Experiences in Ibero-America

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:30 +0200

Slow journalism is a reaction to the dominant journalistic trend to immediacy and scoop and invites us to reflect on the time required to produce and consume rigorous, creative and quality information. After describing the historical and conceptual grounds of this emerging trend, we analyse four paradigmatic experiences in the Ibero-American context: Jot down, FronteraD, La silla vacía, Anfibia and El puercoespín . Born in the late 2000s, these digital natives exemplify the revival of long-form and carefully executed journalism aimed at specialized clubs of readers who demand a more thoughtful approach to journalism.

Adaptation of traditional media to the metamedia innovation

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:20 +0200

The aim of this study is to observe how the disruptive innovation generated by technologies, processes and information management systems (creation, recovery, traffic, and access), which is implemented through social metamedia on the Web, are adopted by traditional media to rebalance their business models and value-added networks. In the last ten years, print media in Europe have lost more than 50 million copies in daily circulation, and television is suffering from audience fragmentation and loss of advertising sales. Many newspapers around the world have stopped printing and other large media companies have changed hands or undergone major restructuring. The global media industry’s annual growth is expected to be 5.5% until 2018 but digital advertising is estimated at 10.7% per year.

News media credibility in Spain: differences in perception and characterization of the skeptics

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:10 +0200

The aims of this article are twofold: to examine attitudes towards news media in Spain in order to measure to what extent consumers are critical about them, and to establish possible predictors that characterize the individuals who are the most skeptical. A national survey showed that, in general, Spaniards trust their media, although they do not consider them to be impartial; it also revealed a set of typical characteristics of the more incredulous media consumer group: they are mainly middle-aged men with a high level of education living in large cities in the north of Spain who are distrustful towards interpersonal relationships and watch less TV than the average.

Stages, conversion factors and a model for the analysis of the new interactive online audiovisual products

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:45:01 +0200

Over the past few years, two new audiovisual products have arrived to the Web: documentary web (webdoc) and interactive music video. The emergence of these new subgenres is due to three related conversion factors: the evolution of online audience participation, the arrival of new web standards and codes html5, and the interest of the media and authors in the innovation of online narratives. From the study of the technical qualities of two case studies –the interactive documentary One Million Tower and the interactive music video The Wilderness Downtown - this article asserts a new typology for the study and analysis of these interactive audiovisual productions.

Immersive journalism or how virtual reality and video games are influencing the interface and the interactivity of news storytelling

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:44:50 +0200

The possibilities of virtual reality technologies, on the one hand,and the strong influence of videogames as a cultural industry, on the other, are greatly affecting nonfiction digital rhetoric, and journalism in particular. Immersive journalism is an emerging trend that amplifies the impact of the story by creating a sensory and interactive experience. The author presented the firstdoctoral thesis on this topic and summarizes here the context and the main features of this kind of factual storytelling.

Brand equity management in the newspaper industry. The case of La vanguardia

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:44:37 +0200

Newspaper companies have extended their brands through new media. Brand equity is their main competitive advantage. However, most of them do not manage that asset. On the one hand, this article analyses the literature on brand management in media companies. On the other hand, it studies the brand equity of a very reputable newspaper: La vanguardia. We did an extensive survey of nearly 1,200 users. The results show the need for products and corporate behaviour that clearly reflect the editorial principles in order to generate greater brand equity. This article proposes as one of the appropriate means to achieve brand equity the implementation of a comprehensive and strategic communication system. It also encourages the study of other similar cases to verify how newspaper companies manage the value of their brands and to identify methods to help them strengthen it.

Labs as a formula for media innovation

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:44:26 +0200

This study analyzes the characteristics, activities and results of the laboratories –also known simply as labs– promoted in recent years by certain high-quality international news companies. A comparative study of 31 labs was performed, based on the corporate information offered on their websites and on their Twitter accounts. This analysis identifies the prototypical structure, tasks, operations and results of the media-promoted labs as of January 2015. The research identifies four main models: 1) labs that develop applications and digital technologies; 2) labs that explore multimedia news storytelling and data journalism formats; 3) labs that promote business projects and startups; and finally, 4) labs focused on training activities and media literacy programs.

ICT and journalistic deontology: a comparative analysis between traditional and digital native media

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:44:16 +0200

The perceptions of journalists who work in traditional media with an online version and journalists working in online native media about the advantages and disadvantages of digital journalism in realtion to conventional one are compared. Citizen participation in the informative processes is analyzed, as well as some ethical and deontological journalism principles.

New media accountability systems. Exploration of the Spanish online environment

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:44:05 +0200

In a profoundly changing context, media accountability systems have clearly undergone a process of evolution by taking advantage of the internet and web 2.0 possibilities. While traditional instruments have a limited impact on professional practice and are scarcely used by citizens, the digital environment allows new ways of self-regulation, transparency, and monitoring of news quality, in which users’ participation plays a decisive role. The article identifies, describes and categorizes the new online accountability systems that have emerged in the Spanish media landscape, examining those that operate both within and outside digital media. The analysis of the identified systems has allowed the elaboration of a first classification of the innovative accountability systems existing in Spain.

Study of media habits among youth. The 15M and the Umbrella movements

Scipedia content — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:43:54 +0200

The study of a population’s media habits and, in particular, the youth population, can allow us to predict the new communication ecosystem. Current networked social movements are characterized by citizen mobilization (especially young people), the occupation of public space, and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Therefore, monitoring these movements can detect technological development and communication trends. This article presents a longitudinal study of media devices used by activists to be informed about the 15M Movement in Spain and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. The study was carried out through three surveys conducted in 2011 (N=339), 2013 (N=6167) and 2014 (N=419). The results show the emergence of mobile devices as information channels, especially among young people. However, this does not imply the abandonment of traditional media; both large and small screens coexist and complement each other.Nevertheless, traditional media are losing the privileged role that they have had