Automatic Dwelling Segmentation of Buenos Aires Province for the 2010 Argentinian Census

In planning for a population census, determining which dwellings within a census tract each enumerator must visit is a logistical challenge. This challenge, which we call the dwelling segmentation problem, generally includes a set of constraints on the enumerators’ assigned routes and various criteria regarding the homogeneity and uniformity of the segmentation solutions. In this paper, we present a computational approach to solve this problem. We successfully applied our solution, which is a substantial improvement over manual methods, to the Province of Buenos Aires in the 2010 Argentinian census.Fil: Bonomo, Flavia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló"; ArgentinaFil: Duran, Guillermo Alfredo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Delle Donne, Diego. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; Argentina. Universidad de Santiago de Chile; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Marenco, Javier. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Computación; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento. Instituto de Ciencias; Argentin

Computer Science and Technology Series : XV Argentine Congress of Computer Science. Selected papers

CACIC'09 was the fifteenth Congress in the CACIC series. It was organized by the School of Engineering of the National University of Jujuy. The Congress included 9 Workshops with 130 accepted papers, 1 main Conference, 4 invited tutorials, different meetings related with Computer Science Education (Professors, PhD students, Curricula) and an International School with 5 courses. CACIC 2009 was organized following the traditional Congress format, with 9 Workshops covering a diversity of dimensions of Computer Science Research. Each topic was supervised by a committee of three chairs of different Universities. The call for papers attracted a total of 267 submissions. An average of 2.7 review reports were collected for each paper, for a grand total of 720 review reports that involved about 300 different reviewers. A total of 130 full papers were accepted and 20 of them were selected for this book.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Sistema de Información Geográfica como apoyo a las actividades del Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas 2010 de la provincia de Buenos Aires

Los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (GIS)4 constituyen una plataforma tecnológica de gran utilidad para las agencias de estadística, brindando software apropiado para la administración de una base de datos geográfica y la generación de cartografía digital o impresa. Con el objeto de apoyar las actividades para el Censo Nacional de Población Viviendas y Hogares 2010, la Dirección Provincial de Estadística de la provincia de Buenos Aires (DPE) encomendó a Impronta IT S.A. (IM) la actualización de la plataforma GIS y el desarrollo de aplicaciones y algoritmos para la segmentación automática de viviendas. A través de un contrato de vinculación tecnológica, se incorporaron al equipo de trabajo expertos en optimización del Departamento de Matemática y Computación de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales de la UBA. El trabajo presenta el caso de vinculación Universidad – Industria – Gobierno que permitió incorporar novedosos algoritmos de optimización al proyecto GIS para el Censo Nacional 2010 en la provincia de Buenos Aires.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Computer Science and Technology Series : XV Argentine Congress of Computer Science. Selected papers

CACIC'09 was the fifteenth Congress in the CACIC series. It was organized by the School of Engineering of the National University of Jujuy. The Congress included 9 Workshops with 130 accepted papers, 1 main Conference, 4 invited tutorials, different meetings related with Computer Science Education (Professors, PhD students, Curricula) and an International School with 5 courses. CACIC 2009 was organized following the traditional Congress format, with 9 Workshops covering a diversity of dimensions of Computer Science Research. Each topic was supervised by a committee of three chairs of different Universities. The call for papers attracted a total of 267 submissions. An average of 2.7 review reports were collected for each paper, for a grand total of 720 review reports that involved about 300 different reviewers. A total of 130 full papers were accepted and 20 of them were selected for this book.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Computer Science & Technology Series : XIX Argentine Congress of Computer Science. Selected papers

CACIC’13 was the nineteenth Congress in the CACIC series. It was organized by the Department of Computer Systems at the CAECE University in Mar del Plata. The Congress included 13 Workshops with 165 accepted papers, 5 Conferences, 3 invited tutorials, different meetings related with Computer Science Education (Professors, PhD students, Curricula) and an International School with 5 courses. CACIC 2013 was organized following the traditional Congress format, with 13 Workshops covering a diversity of dimensions of Computer Science Research. Each topic was supervised by a committee of 3-5 chairs of different Universities. The call for papers attracted a total of 247 submissions. An average of 2.5 review reports were collected for each paper, for a grand total of 676 review reports that involved about 210 different reviewers. A total of 165 full papers, involving 489 authors and 80 Universities, were accepted and 25 of them were selected for this book.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Harnessing the Science of Social Marketing and Behaviour Change for Improved Water Quality in the GBR: background review of the literature

This document is intended to provide an extensive review of the existing literature relating to behaviour change, either directly in the agri-environment context, or from wider contexts where findings may then be applied to agri-environmental issues. A specific focus is placed on the use of social marketing approaches, acknowledging the complex range of influences on behaviours and pressures, such as climate change and extreme weather events that are beyond the control of land managers

Harnessing the Science of Social Marketing and Behaviour Change for Improved Water Quality in the GBR: background review of the literature

This document is intended to provide an extensive review of the existing literature relating to behaviour change, either directly in the agri-environment context, or from wider contexts where findings may then be applied to agri-environmental issues. A specific focus is placed on the use of social marketing approaches, acknowledging the complex range of influences on behaviours and pressures, such as climate change and extreme weather events that are beyond the control of land managers

On The Application Of Computational Modeling To Complex Food Systems Issues

Transdisciplinary food systems research aims to merge insights from multiple fields, often revealing confounding, complex interactions. Computational modeling offers a means to discover patterns and formulate novel solutions to such systems-level problems. The best models serve as hubs—or boundary objects—which ground and unify a collaborative, iterative, and transdisciplinary process of stakeholder engagement. This dissertation demonstrates the application of agent-based modeling, network analytics, and evolutionary computational optimization to the pressing food systems problem areas of livestock epidemiology and global food security. It is comprised of a methodological introduction, an executive summary, three journal-article formatted chapters, and an overarching discussion section. Chapter One employs an agent-based computer model (RUSH-PNBM v.1.1) developed to study the potential impact of the trend toward increased producer specialization on resilience to catastrophic epidemics within livestock production chains. In each run, an infection is introduced and may spread according to probabilities associated with the various modes of contact between hog producer, feed mill, and slaughter plant agents. Experimental data reveal that more-specialized systems are vulnerable to outbreaks at lower spatial densities, have more abrupt percolation transitions, and are characterized by less-predictable outcomes; suggesting that reworking network structures may represent a viable means to increase biosecurity. Chapter Two uses a calibrated, spatially-explicit version of RUSH-PNBM (v.1.2) to model the hog production chains within three U.S. states. Key metrics are calculated after each run, some of which pertain to overall network structures, while others describe each actor’s positionality within the network. A genetic programming algorithm is then employed to search for mathematical relationships between multiple individual indicators that effectively predict each node’s vulnerability. This “meta-metric” approach could be applied to aid livestock epidemiologists in the targeting of biosecurity interventions and may also be useful to study a wide range of complex network phenomena. Chapter Three focuses on food insecurity resulting from the projected gap between global food supply and demand over the coming decades. While no single solution has been identified, scholars suggest that investments into multiple interventions may stack together to solve the problem. However, formulating an effective plan of action requires knowledge about the level of change resulting from a given investment into each wedge, the time before that effect unfolds, the expected baseline change, and the maximum possible level of change. This chapter details an evolutionary-computational algorithm to optimize investment schedules according to the twin goals of maximizing global food security and minimizing cost. Future work will involve parameterizing the model through an expert informant advisory process to develop the existing framework into a practicable food policy decision-support tool

Place Vibrancy and its Measurement: Construct Development, Scale Development, and Field Study of its Relationship to Planning Interventions for Three Villages in the Town of Montague, Massachusetts

The process of using arts and culture to change the physical and social character of places has been defined as ‘creative placemaking’. Creative placemaking granting agencies originally considered constructing ‘livability’ and ‘vibrancy’ indicators to characterize the outcomes of their programs. However, the research community critiqued these indicators, which were considered too nebulous, and efforts to develop them were halted. Other researchers have sought to measure place vibrancy in other contexts. This study revives the initial line of inquiry for using ‘vibrancy’ as a measure of creative placemaking effectiveness and of revitalization efforts more generally. Here, place vibrancy is proposed as a construct that can be measured through creation, review, and testing of scales regarding resident and visitor attitudes toward vibrancy. Literature searches, expert reviews, focus groups, and interviews have been conducted to define the construct of place vibrancy, and results were coded in relation to seventeen themes: forward-looking governance, local ownership of media, education, infrastructure, natural beauty, social capital, well-being, arts and culture, gathering places, pedestrians, unique and historic architecture, cleanliness, strong economy, safety, diversity, buzz, and moderate tourism. Scales were constructed for each theme. With the scales, baseline place vibrancy was measured in three villages in the town of Montague, Massachusetts, which are undergoing varying degrees of cultural intervention: Turners Falls (TF), Millers Falls (MF), and Montague Center (MC). Turners Falls has received cultural funding over the last 10 years, MF is about to received planning attention, including cultural interventions, and MC will not receive any new planning or funding in the near future. The hypotheses were that baseline place vibrancy levels would be higher for TF than MF or MC, and that MF will show the greatest increase over time. The scales were administered as a hand‑delivered paper survey to a census-based sample of households in each village. Baseline place vibrancy was found to be statistically significantly higher in TF than in MF but not in MC, thus problematizing the first hypothesis. Later assessments will be made yearly for the next three years to test changes in place vibrancy for MF relative to TF and MC

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2009

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics