Projet AlpFire ::évaluation et gestion des dangers naturels liés aux incendies de forêt

Dans le cadre d'une étude menée par le groupement d'étude EcoEng SA et l'HEIG-VD en collaboration avec les cantons de Vaud, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Tessin et Berne, une méthodologie de simple application a été développée pour l'évaluation des impacts des feux sur les forêts et sur leur capacité protectrice contre les aléas naturels de type gravitationnel tels que les avalanches, les coulées de boue et de débris, les laves torrentielles, les glissements de terrain et les chutes de pierres. Le résultat est un diagramme de flux permettant d'identifier l'effet cascade des processus et des mesures qui précèdent et qui suivent le moment de l'incendie. En ce qui concerne les effets cascades après incendie, l'échelle temporelle considérée va de la première année après l'incendie jusqu'à quelques décennies après l'événement. Le schéma propose des approches pratiques concernant les procédures, les évaluations, les mesures qui précèdent et suivent le moment de l'incendie, et constitue un outil de gestion facilement adaptable aux spécificités des différentes régions pyrologiques de Suisse

The challenges of reproducibility for research based on geodata web services

Modern research applies the Open Science approach that fosters the production and sharing of Open Data according to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. In the geospatial context this is generally achieved through the setup of OGC Web services that implements open standards that satisfies the FAIR requirements. Nevertheless, the requirement of Findability is not fully satisfied by those services since there’s no use of persistent identifiers and no guarantee that the same dataset used for a study can be immutably accessed in a later period: a fact that hinders the replicability of research. This is particularly true in recent years where data-driven research and technological advances have boosted frequent updates of datasets. Here, we review needs and practices, supported by some real case examples, on frequent data or metadata updates in geo-datasets of different data types. Additionally, we assess the currently available tools that support data versioning for databases, files and log-structured tables. Finally, we discuss challenges and opportunities to enable geospatial web services that are fully FAIR: a fact that would provide, due to the massive use and increasing availability of geospatial data, a great push toward open science compliance with ultimately impacts on the science transparency and credibility

Relative validity and reproducibility of a semi-quantitative web-based Food Frequency Questionnaire for swiss adults

Background/Objectives: Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are widely used in large epidemiological studies to assess diet and elucidate its impacts on health. However, they must be validated in the target population before use. Methods: We assessed the relative validity, reproducibility, and usability of the Swiss eFFQ, a web-based, 83-item food frequency questionnaire, using a convenience sample of 177 adults (53.1% females, aged 18–75 years) from German- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland. The participants completed the Swiss eFFQ twice and kept a 4-day estimated food record (4-d FR). The dietary data were compared for energy, nutrient, and food group intakes by calculating mean group-level bias, performing the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, quartile cross-classification, weighted Cohen’s kappa (Kw), and correlation coefficients. Results: The Swiss eFFQ was highly rated by the participants, with a completion time under 35 min, although it tended to underestimate nutrient and food intake compared to the 4-d FR. For 31 of 36 nutrients, fewer than 10% of the participants were classified in opposite quartiles. The median proportion of subjects classified in the same or adjacent quartile was 74.7% (median Kw: 0.25). The median crude and de-attenuated Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.37 and 0.42 for nutrients and 0.45 and 0.52 for food groups, respectively. The median Spearman and intraclass correlation coefficients for the reproducibility of the Swiss eFFQ were 0.70 and 0.69 for nutrients and 0.70 and 0.61 for food groups, respectively. Conclusions: The Swiss eFFQ was shown to be reproducible and user-friendly, with acceptable accuracy in categorizing study participants based on food intake, and offers several advantages for dietary assessment of Swiss adult populations

FOSTER_DHN : un nouvel outil de simulation open-source pour planifier les réseaux CAD

Le projet FOSTER_DHN a permis de développer un outil de simulation dédié aux réseaux de chauffage à distance. Cet outil peut servir à planifier des réseaux de chauffage à distance intégrant davantage d’énergies bas-carbone, baisser les niveaux de température et identifier les synergies. L’outil FOSTER_DHN constitue ainsi une plateforme idéale afin d’impliquer les différents acteurs d’un territoire dans la planification énergétique

When aesthetic uniqueness makes products less (vs. more) attractive to consumers

Common wisdom suggests that unique product designs appeal more to consumers. Recent research indicates that the effect might also be negative. We suggest that the impact of aesthetic uniqueness is negative, particularly when bought for usage. However, when purchased as investments, the effect of aesthetic uniqueness reverts to be positive

Financing the energy transition ::analysis and solution within the Swiss legislative framework

This paper investigates new financing solutions to facilitate energy transition in the real estate renovation sector. Recognizing financing as a significant barrier to energy efficient renovations, the study aims to understand the role of investors and to develop innovative financial products. Our approach involved conducting detailed interviews with key financial sector stakeholders, including banks, pension funds, and fund managers, to gage their perspectives on current challenges and to explore novel financing hypotheses. This was achieved through the co-design methodology. The findings indicate that while mortgages remain the prevalent financing method for renovations, there is a pressing need for more tailored financial products that can address issues related to insufficient equity and borrowing capacity. The research underscores the potential of a hybrid financial product that combines features of Energy Performance Contracting, leasing, crowdfunding, and secured financing, providing a more flexible and accessible financing avenue for energy renovations. This new financial model needs field testing to confirm its effectiveness and suitability within the Swiss energy renovation context

Patch-based encoder-decoder architecture for automatic transmitted light to fluorescence imaging transition ::contribution to the lightmycells challenge

Automatic prediction of fluorescently labeled organelles from label-free transmitted light input images is an important, yet difficult task. The traditional way to obtain fluorescence images is related to performing biochemical labeling which is time-consuming and costly. Therefore, an automatic algorithm to perform the task based on the label-free transmitted light microscopy could be strongly beneficial. The importance of the task motivated researchers from the FranceBioImaging to organize the LightMyCells challenge where the goal is to propose an algorithm that automatically predicts the fluorescently labeled nucleus, mitochondria, tubulin, and actin, based on the input consisting of bright field, phase contrast, or differential interference contrast microscopic images. In this work, we present the contribution of the AGHSSO team based on a carefully prepared and trained encoder-decoder deep neural network that achieves a considerable score in the challenge, being placed among the best-performing teams

Dangers of designing with data

In an analytical discussion structured by the framework of social justice, we scrutinize the shift of attention and focus in the HCI and interaction design communities towards “designing with data”. Specifically, acknowledging social justice as a horizon for design research to work towards [10], we investigate the six strategies for social justice as developed by Lötter [24], namely, recognition, reciprocity, enablement, distribution, accountability, and transformation. For each of these dimensions, we demonstrate how the inherent features associated with data-oriented design processes may be a substantial impediment to our attempt toward a more just society