Assessing verticalization effects on urban safety perception

We describe an experiment with the modeling of urban verticalization effects on perceived safety scores as obtained with computer vision on Google Streetview data for New York City. Preliminary results suggests that for smaller buildings (between one and seven floors), perceived safety increases with building height, but that for high-rise buildings, perceived safety decreases with increased height. We also determined that while height contributing for this relation, other zonal aspects also influences the perceived safety scores, suggesting spatial structuring also influences such scores.Comment: 2017 SIGSPATIAL Student Research Competitio

Economies of scale and scope in the provision of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals

This paper analyses the provision of auxiliary clinical services that are typically carried out within the hospital. We estimate a flexible cost function for the three most important (cost- wise) diagnostic techniques and therapeutic services in Portuguese hospitals: Clinical Pathology, Medical Imaging and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Our objective in carrying out this estimation is the evaluation of economies of scale and scope in the provision of these services. For all services, we find evidence of ray economies of scale and some evidence of economies of scope. These results have important policy implications and can be related to the ongoing discussion of where and how should hospitals provide these services.translog cost function, economies of scale, economies of scope, clinical services, hospitals

The Impact of Regulations on Brazilian Labor Market Performance

The objective of this paper is to identify whether the prevailing Brazilian labor market regulations, largely the result of the 1988 constitutional change, have any impact on labor market performance. To reach this objective we explore alternative methodologies, sources of information and measures of labor market performance.

Female - headed households, poverty, and the welfare of children in urban Brazil

The authors analyze the characteristics and behavior of households headed by women in urban Brazil and identify some of the consequences for child welfare on the growth of these households. The following was among their findings. First, households headed by women are a heterogeneous group, which varies strongly by region - as does the extent of poverty among them. Such households are more common in the northeast and increase with urbanization. Second, households headed by women are not, on average, a"vulnerable group"in Brazil, as some are quite well off. The subset of such households that are very poor is quite vulnerable. Households headed by women tend to be poorer in the northeast, especially around Recife, than in Porto Alegre in the south, where there is virtually no gap. Third, less than half the households headed by women contain dependent children, and only a third are headed by the stereotypical"single mother."When there are children in households headed by women, especially households headed by single mothers, the income gap is greater than in other households. As a portion of households in Brazil, households headed by women and containing children represent only 3.4 percent of urban households, but this group tends to be poor, which is worrisome for child outcomes. Poor children tend to live in households headed by women. These households are poor not because there are more children or fewer adults but because women earn less than men. Women heading households do not earn less than other women - on the contrary. However, it female heads of households earned as much as male heads of households, the average income in households headed by women would be above that for other households and fewer single mothers would be poor. The best interventions toeliminate poverty in this group are those that focus on: (a) ending wage discrimination; and (b) ending occupational segregation. Interventions that focus on raising skill levels and educational attainment for the whole workforce, including women, would also help alleviate absolute poverty, although not necessarily relative income differences."Workfare"or public employment policies would not help this group since most already participate in the labor force. Programs targeted to this group would not be particularly progressive, given the heterogeneity and income spread among these households. But the results do suggest the need for special interventions for children in households headed by women, given those children's tendency to stay out of school.Poverty Assessment,Anthropology,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,VN-Acb Mis -- IFC-00535908,Housing&Human Habitats

Development of a self-diagnosis tests system for integration in a cyber-physical system

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia InformáticaHoje, a CONTROLAR fornece para a Bosch a Intelligent Functional Test System Machine, um sistema ciber-físico desenvolvido para realizar diferentes níveis de testes funcionais em dispositivos e componentes electrónicos. A Bosch utiliza-a para testar o correto funcionamento dos auto-rádios produzidos. Durante este processo, os auto-rádios são submetidos a vários testes e o problema surge quando a máquina detecta erros em vários auto-rádios consecutivos e não é possível saber se a própria máquina está com problemas, pois não possui nenhum módulo que permita saber se está a funcionar corretamente ou não. A origem deste trabalho surge da necessidade de encontrar uma solução que resolva o problema enunciado, mas também, inovadora e com contribuições para o mundo da investigação em sistemas ciber-físicos e sistemas de testes de autodiagnóstico. A solução é integrar um sistema de autodiagnóstico na máquina que possa testar o seu funcionamento para que a Bosch possa ter certeza se o problema está na máquina ou nos auto-rádios. Como a máquina é um sistema ciber-físico, permite a integração de um sistema de software que possa gerir a execução de testes, sendo capaz de detectar falhas nas máquinas. O trabalho aqui apresentado aborda o problema criando um novo sistema de testes de autodiagnóstico que garantirá a confiabilidade e integridade do sistema ciber-físico. Em detalhe, esta dissertação começa por expôr um estudo sobre o estado da arte atual de sistemas ciber-físicos, automação de testes, metodo logia de teste keyword-driven e mais alguns conceitos relacionados a linguagens específicas de domínio que serão relevantes para a solução final. São apresentadas a especificação e análise do sistema, a fim de definir bem os seus componentes. Uma nova arquitetura modular e extensível é proposta para siste mas de testes de autodiagnóstico, bem como uma arquitetura para estendê-lo e integrá-lo num sistema ciber-físico. Foi proposto um novo sistema de testes de autodiagnóstico que aplica a arquitetura proposta provando que é possível realizar o autodiagnóstico em tempo real do sistema ciber-físico e permitindo a integração de qualquer tipo de teste. Para validar o sistema, foram realizados 28 casos de teste, abran gendo todas as suas funcionalidades. Os resultados mostram que todos os casos de teste passaram e, portanto, o sistema cumpre todos os objetivos propostos.Nowadays, CONTROLAR supplies with Bosch the Intelligent Functional Test System Machine, a cyber physical system developed to perform different levels of functional tests on electronic devices and compo nents. Bosch uses it to test the correct functioning of the produced car radios. During this process, the car radios are subjected to several tests and the problem arises when the machine detects errors in several consecutive car radios and it is not possible to know if the machine itself has any problems, as it does not have any module that allows knowing whether it’s working correctly or not. The origin of this work arises from the need to find a solution that solves the referred problem, but also, innovative and with contributions to the world of research in cyber-physical systems and self-diagnosis tests systems. The solution is to integrate a self-diagnosis system into the machine that can test its functionality so that when these car radio failures appear, Bosch can be sure whether the problem is with the machine or the car radio. As the machine is a cyber-physical system, it allows the integration of a software system to control and manage all its actions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a system to manage the tests and their execution, being able to detect internal failures in the machines. The work presented here addresses the problem by creating a new self-diagnosis tests system that will guarantee the reliability and integrity of the cyber-physical system. In detail, this dissertation begins by exposing a study on the current state of the art of cyber-physical systems, test automation, keyword-driven test methodology and some more concepts related to domain-specific languages that will be relevant to the final solution. The specification and analysis of the system are presented, to define well its compo nents. A new modular and extensible architecture is proposed for self-diagnosis test systems, as well as a methodology for extending and integrate it into a cyber-physical system. A new self-diagnosis tests sys tem has been proposed that applies the proposed architecture proving that it is possible to carry out the self-diagnosis in real-time of the cyber-physical system and allowing the integration of any type of test. To validate the implementation of the system, 28 test cases were carried out to cover all its functionalities. The results show that all test cases passed and, therefore, the system meets all the proposed objectives.This work is a result of the project POCI-01-0247-FEDER-040130, supported by Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

El utilitarismo: Referente de la teoría Rawlsiana.

This text will look at some categories of John Rawls’ political theory emphasizing on those aspects of his thought that can be contrasted with some aspects of classical utilitarian thought. The point of this exercise is to measure how many contemporary thinkers such as Rawls are indebted to classical authors of the XIX century such as Bentham and Mill.En este escrito se presentan algunos desarrollos de la teoría política de John Rawls ahondando en aquellas categorías que permitan contrastar aspectos de los planteamientos rawlsianos con spectos del pensamiento utilitarista clásico. El propósito es discernir qué tan grande es la deuda que tienen pensadores contemporáneos como Rawls con autores clásicos del siglo XIX tales como Bentham y Mill

Systemic intervention for computer-supported collaborative learning

This paper presents a systemic intervention approach as a means to overcome the methodological challenges involved in research into computer-supported collaborative learning applied to the promotion of mathematical problem-solving (CSCL-MPS) skills in schools. These challenges include how to develop an integrated analysis of several aspects of the learning process; and how to reflect on learning purposes, the context of application and participants' identities. The focus of systemic intervention is on processes for thinking through whose views and what issues and values should be considered pertinent in an analysis. Systemic intervention also advocates mixing methods from different traditions to address the purposes of multiple stakeholders. Consequently, a design for CSCL-MPS research is presented that includes several methods. This methodological design is used to analyse and reflect upon both a CSCL-MPS project with Colombian schools, and the identities of the participants in that project